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hackaday@xn--y9azesw6bu.xn--y9a3aq
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Hackaday Prize 2022: Glass Tube Solar Thermionic Converters

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Typically, if you want to convert solar energy into electrical energy, you use either photovoltaic (PV) cells, or you use the sunlight to create steam to turn a turbine. Both of these methods are well-established and used regularly in both small- and grid-scale applications. However, [Nick Poole] wanted to investigate an alternative method, using thermionic converters for solar power generation.

[Nick] has been gearing up to produce various styles of vacuum tubes, and noted that the thermionic effect that makes them work could also be used to generate electricity. They are highly inefficient and produce far less power than a photovoltaic solar cell, meaning they're not in common use. However, as [Nick] notes, unlike PV cells etched in silicon, a thermionic converter can be built with basic glassworking tools, requiring little more than a torch, a vacuum pump, and a spot welder.

Experiments with a large lens to focus sunlight onto a 6V3A diode tube showed promise. [Nick] was able to generate half a volt, albeit at a tiny current, with the design not being optimized for thermionic conversion. Further experiments involved electrically heating a pair of diode tubes, which was able to just barely light an LED at 1.7 V and a current of 7.5 uA. The conversion efficiency was a lowly 0.00012%, around 5 orders of magnitude worse than a typical PV cell.

[Nick]'s hope is that he can produce a tube designed specifically to maximize thermionic conversion for energy generation purposes. It's likely there is some low-hanging fruit in terms of gains to be made simply by optimizing the design for this purpose, even if the technique can't compete with other solar generation methods.

In any case, we're eager to see what [Nick] comes up with! We love to see makers building tubes in their own home workshops.

The HackadayPrize2022 is Sponsored by:

Digi-Key

Supplyframe

#contests #science #thehackadayprize #2022hackadayprize #solar #solarpower #thermionic #thermionicconversion #thermionictube #tube #tubes #vacuumtube

Hackaday Prize 2022: Glass Tube Solar Thermionic Converters

Typically, if you want to convert solar energy into electrical energy, you use either photovoltaic (PV) cells, or you use the sunlight to create steam to turn a turbine. Both of these methods are w…

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hackaday@xn--y9azesw6bu.xn--y9a3aq
hackaday unofficial

The First New Vacuum Tube Computer Design For Well Over Half A Century

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In a few museums around the world, there lies the special experience of seeing some of the earliest computers. These room-filling monsters have multiple racks of vacuum tubes that are kept working by the dedication and care of their volunteer maintainers. A visit to the primordial vacuum tube computer, Colossus at Bletchley Park, UK, led [Mike] on the path towards designing an entirely new one. He thinks it's the first to see the light of day in over five decades. ENA, the Electron tube New Automatic Computer, is the result.

It uses 550 Soviet 6N3P double triodes, and its 8-bit Von Neumann architecture is constructed from the tubes wired up as 5-input NOR gates. ROM is a diode matrix, and RAM comes courtesy of reed relays. The whole thing is assembled as eleven PCBs on a wall-mounted frame, with a console that holds the piece de resistance, a display made from an array of LEDs. A Pong game is in development, meanwhile the machine makes an impressive room heater.

If you'd like to see some more vacuum tube computational goodness, we saw Colossus at the National Museum of Computing, back in 1996.

#computerhacks #retrocomputing #colossus #tubecomputer #vacuumtube

The First New Vacuum Tube Computer Design For Well Over Half A Century

In a few museums around the world, there lies the special experience of seeing some of the earliest computers. These room-filling monsters have multiple racks of vacuum tubes that are kept working …

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ceorl@diasp.org
Ceorl

Tesslor R601

I recently bought a newly manufactured #vacuumtube radio from Tesslor and am on a total #nostalgia #geek high from it.

The sound takes me back to the HiFi sets of my youth. I know it is debatable whether tubes or integrated circuits give the truer sound, but my ears tell me that they just like the analog sound of tubes better.

This set does have a modern tuner, which amazed me the other night by pulling in an FM station from New Brunswick, which is over 400 miles away. So hybrid is good :)

In fact, even Samsung is getting on the bandwagon with some #vacuumtube amplified speakers.

Now I am considering restoring some of the old #vaccumtube #radio sets I have from the 30s 40s 50s. Are there any #vintage #radio aficionados on D*?