A tinkerer built an 8-bit computer from 460 vacuum tubes that runs software but needs a stepladder for repairs
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The takeaway: A homemade computer built with 460 vacuum tubes puts early computing technology to work in a modern project. The wall-mounted 8-bit system runs custom software, accepts user input, and drives a flip-digit display without a microprocessor, microcontroller, or modern integrated circuit. Its design highlights both the capabilities of tube-based computing and the limitations that led the industry to adopt semiconductor technology.
The project, called The Tube Computer MK3, was built by Mike, a self-taught electronics tinkerer who recently documented the machine on Hackaday. It is the third vacuum-tube computer he has developed this decade.
Vacuum tubes powered early electronic computers before transistors and integrated circuits replaced them. Tubes are large and fragile, generate heat, and have shorter working lives than semiconductor components. Mike's computer shows why the industry moved on...
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