Oct 10, 2021 12:00:00

Introducing the newly designed computer 'Ena. Computer' using 550 Soviet vacuum tubes

With the advancement of technology, the

logic circuits of computers have become smaller to the nanoscale, and even palm-sized smartphones have the performance that surpasses that of PCs of the past. Meanwhile, the computer newly designed using the vacuum tube that was used 50 years ago is the Electron tube New Automatic Computer, commonly known as ' Ena.Computer '.

Ena.Computer
https://www.ena.computer/

Mr. Contact's Ena.Computer Is a Modern, Miniature Vacuum Tube Computer — and It Plays Pong --Hackster.io
https://www.hackster.io/news/mr-contact-s-ena-computer-is-a-modern-miniature-vacuum-tube-computer-and-it-plays-pong-31761ca39052

The size of Ena.Computer is about 2m x 1.3m, and the total weight is about 31kg. Ena.Computer, which is a combination of eight large printed circuit boards and three auxiliary printed circuit boards, uses a total of 550 triode 6N3P tubes.

The configuration diagram of Ena.Computer looks like this.

All 6N3P tubes are

configured as the same 5-input NOR gate , with NOR gate logic levels of 0V (-20V to 0.25V) and 10V (9V to 12V), and a fanout of approximately 25. In addition, there are military and household 6N3P vacuum tubes used, and the average lifespan is up to 5000 hours for military and 500 hours for household. However, since all 6N3P tubes have been sleeping in Russian warehouses for nearly 60 years, it is unclear how long they will actually last.

All registers and counters are made from the NOR gates of 6N3P tubes, forming D-type flip-flops , 8-bit ALUs , latch circuits and buffer circuits. Of course, since a large amount of vacuum tubes are used, the heat generated by the Ena.Computer in use seems to be at a tremendous level.

The graphical user interface is made of 8-row LEDs and can display binary numbers. The following is a video of Ena.Computer that actually displays the Fibonacci number.

Vacuum Tube Computer fibonacci sequence video, using a working tube computer. The Ena.Computer. --YouTube


Ena.Computer is produced by an engineer who calls himself '[email protected]' or 'Mr.Contact'. Mr. Contact inspired Ena. Computer to develop Tony, a British electronics engineer who launched a project to rebuild the world's first programmable computer, the Colossus, developed in 1943. ・I met the sale. In the wake of this encounter, Mr. Contact learned that a vacuum tube computer made more than 50 years ago was reproduced in addition to Colossus, but at the same time, 'a vacuum tube computer was newly designed for more than 50 years. I also noticed that I didn't.

Therefore, Mr. Contact, who retired after reaching retirement age, decided to develop a new vacuum tube computer from scratch. At first, he tried to design on a PC, but from the middle of the design, he proceeded with the design using an analog method of three-color pen, A4 paper, and a sticker for correction.

The assembled computer parts were placed on the kitchen floor or chair, and while the size, power, and danger of high voltage bothered the family, it took almost a year to design and build, and Mr. Contact was on May 28, 2021. We succeeded in starting Ena.Computer for the first time on the day. Mr. Contact said that he was surprised to hear a joyful voice from his family when he connected all the Ena.Computer parts scattered throughout the house and hung them on the wall.

Mr. Contact, the founder of Ena.Computer, said, 'The most important thing in everything is to have a lovable wife. I think it's great to live with a wife who knows her husband is a ridiculous idiot. I will. '