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A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

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Re: A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

#11

Post by asddubs »

kazinator wrote: post #6

Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion? Do you really need pentodes at the speeds involved? It looks like the guy is toggling a switch by hand to generate a clock signal. Pentodes are devices for RF amplification. Those 6AU6 tubes are 7 pin units, but they contain only one pentode element. Two pins for the heater, then five pins to hook up the pentode. There exist common 8 or 9 pin tubes that…

Why not tubes? Anyone building a computer this primitive out of discrete components isn't doing it because of its utility anyway

Re: A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

#12

Post by dharma1 »

kazinator wrote: post #6

Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion? Do you really need pentodes at the speeds involved? It looks like the guy is toggling a switch by hand to generate a clock signal. Pentodes are devices for RF amplification. Those 6AU6 tubes are 7 pin units, but they contain only one pentode element. Two pins for the heater, then five pins to hook up the pentode. There exist common 8 or 9 pin tubes that…

Warmer

Re: A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

#13

Post by BoxOfRain »

kazinator wrote: post #6

Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion? Do you really need pentodes at the speeds involved? It looks like the guy is toggling a switch by hand to generate a clock signal. Pentodes are devices for RF amplification. Those 6AU6 tubes are 7 pin units, but they contain only one pentode element. Two pins for the heater, then five pins to hook up the pentode. There exist common 8 or 9 pin tubes that…

> Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion?

I'm planning on building a stereo Mullard 5-10 next year, I know it will be objectively worse than a modern HiFi amp or even a more recent valve-based design at actually being an audio amplifier but I think it would be a fun anachronism to use a homebuilt 1950s amp with modern equipment and there's a lot to be said for the aesthetics of valve amps as well.

Re: A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

#14

Post by qwery »

kazinator wrote: post #6

Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion? Do you really need pentodes at the speeds involved? It looks like the guy is toggling a switch by hand to generate a clock signal. Pentodes are devices for RF amplification. Those 6AU6 tubes are 7 pin units, but they contain only one pentode element. Two pins for the heater, then five pins to hook up the pentode. There exist common 8 or 9 pin tubes that…

Considering the primary use case seems to be for public demonstration, the tubes are a good way to get people to look at it. I have a sneaking suspicion that the creator might also like tubes.

What's the concern with using tubes? Do you really need tubes for guitar distortion?

Re: A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

#15

Post by deelowe »

kazinator wrote: post #6

Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion? Do you really need pentodes at the speeds involved? It looks like the guy is toggling a switch by hand to generate a clock signal. Pentodes are devices for RF amplification. Those 6AU6 tubes are 7 pin units, but they contain only one pentode element. Two pins for the heater, then five pins to hook up the pentode. There exist common 8 or 9 pin tubes that…

We could just as easily ask why would you use tubes for guitar distortion?

Re: A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

#16

Post by jovial_cavalier »

kazinator wrote: post #6

Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion? Do you really need pentodes at the speeds involved? It looks like the guy is toggling a switch by hand to generate a clock signal. Pentodes are devices for RF amplification. Those 6AU6 tubes are 7 pin units, but they contain only one pentode element. Two pins for the heater, then five pins to hook up the pentode. There exist common 8 or 9 pin tubes that…

Idk. Why not just simulate it on your Ryzen 9?

Re: A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

#17

Post by DeathArrow »

kazinator wrote: post #6

Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion? Do you really need pentodes at the speeds involved? It looks like the guy is toggling a switch by hand to generate a clock signal. Pentodes are devices for RF amplification. Those 6AU6 tubes are 7 pin units, but they contain only one pentode element. Two pins for the heater, then five pins to hook up the pentode. There exist common 8 or 9 pin tubes that…

> Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion?

Why even bother building something when you can simulate it on your PC in 10th of the time?

Re: A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

#18

Post by dboreham »

kazinator wrote: post #6

Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion? Do you really need pentodes at the speeds involved? It looks like the guy is toggling a switch by hand to generate a clock signal. Pentodes are devices for RF amplification. Those 6AU6 tubes are 7 pin units, but they contain only one pentode element. Two pins for the heater, then five pins to hook up the pentode. There exist common 8 or 9 pin tubes that…

It's an art project.

Re: A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

#19

Post by doogieboo »

qwery wrote: post #14
kazinator wrote: post #6

Why would you use tubes if you're not making guitar distortion? Do you really need pentodes at the speeds involved? It looks like the guy is toggling a switch by hand to generate a clock signal. Pentodes are devices for RF amplification. Those 6AU6 tubes are 7 pin units, but they contain only one pentode element. Two pins for the heater, then five pins to hook up the pentode. There exist common 8 or 9 pin tubes that…

Considering the primary use case seems to be for public demonstration, the tubes are a good way to get people to look at it. I have a sneaking suspicion that the creator might also like tubes . What's the concern with using tubes? Do you really need tubes for guitar distortion?

Vacuum tubes are his specialty area. He's building a much larger vacuum tube computer and this is supposed to be a more mobile display version he can demo at events.

He's also done quite a few videos restoring old vacuum tube based test equipment from like HP. He does some really cool work.

Re: A Vacuum Tube Single Board 1-Bit Computer [video]

#20

Post by JKCalhoun »

osigurdson wrote: post #3

I always thought it would be fun to create a vacuum tube computer in which the primary computation is performed by a couple of vacuum tubes (i.e. forming a single NAND gate). All of the intermediate results, would be handled by a regular microprocessor but the vacuum tubes are employed to perform the computation. It would glow and look cool (maybe).

Interesting.

Also, maybe: build some op-amp analog adders, multipliers, and wire them into a digital computer via ADCs and DACs for your math functions. (Could also do log, antilog, maybe other functions as well.)

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