Technology
The Solid State was one of the first computers to use some solid-state components. However, much of the computer's logic was made out of magnetic amplifiers, not transistors. The decision to use magnetic amplifiers was made because the point-contact germanium transistors then available had highly variable characteristics and were not sufficiently reliable. The magnetic amplifiers were based on tiny (about 1/8" ID) toroidal stainless steel spools wound with two or so layers of 1/32" wide 4-79 moly-permalloy magnetic material to form magnetic cores. These cores had two windings of #60 copper wire surrounding the 4-79 molypermalloy.
The magnetic amplifiers required clock pulses of heavy current that could not be produced by the transistors of the day. The system used a clock derived from a timing band recorded on the main storage drum. This signal was read and amplified, processed and sent to the driver tubes, a pair of 6146 power pentode output tubes. The output from these tubes then fed the main clock power amplifier consisting of six 4CX250B metal/ceramic power tetrode tubes running in push-pull/parallel, yielding an output of a kilowatt. The powerful high-voltage signal was stepped down to a 36-volt, high-current clock by oil-filled transformers that were distributed about the machine. The SS80/90 computer could be heard quite clearly in the AM broadcast band at 707 kHz and 1414 kHz. The 4CX250B tetrodes used a grounded plate (anode) due to forced aircooling requirements. This tube is still in demand by amateur radio operators. The clock tube was enclosed in a shielding box that constrained both radio emissions and viewing by eyes of other than Univac's field engineers. The power supply output was -1.6 kV for cathode supply and -800 V screen grid supply at 1.8 A capacity. The supply weighed nearly 100 pounds and was mounted at the very top of the power supply stack. Thus the SS 80/90, for the heart of its operation, depended on the very technology it claimed to replace, a marketing tactic.
Read more about this topic: UNIVAC Solid State
Famous quotes containing the word technology:
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