[Boatanchors] For Sale NOS 6146 Tube

[Jim Simmons]

IBM used beam power amplifier tubes in the magnetic core memory unit of 
the AN/FSQ-7.  It took a lot of power to drive those huge units. This 
was the main computer for the Air Defense Command centers back during 
the cold war.  It's been so long ago that I don't remember the exact 
tube types, but I think they were 6146's.  That core memory unit was 
huge, but its capacity was only 4096 words consisting of 32 bits each 
(131,072 individual cores) and it took a lot of current to switch them 
from one state to the other.


Jim N5MSJ

On 4/15/2014 11:18 PM, Charles Ring wrote:
> I should have asked what would IBM do with any beam power tube?
>
> 73 de W3NU
>
>
>
> On 4/15/2014 1834, donroden at hiwaay.net wrote:
>> Quoting Larry Oneets <oneets123 at gmail.com>:
>>
>>> As a retired IBM'er of 36 years I never saw anything with 6146's in it.
>>> Lots of other tubes but not that critter.  Interesting.
>>> Larry K9LWI
>>
>> But I bet if it had an IBM part number, it went through the supply chain
>> with little notice. IBM hams may have been the only ones to know the 
>> numbers.
>>
>> Don W4DNR 
>
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