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using valves
using valves
Probably rate of burnout and heat. But this was common to all vacuum tube computers, not just Colossus.
Probably rate of burnout and heat. But this was common to all vacuum tube computers, not just Colossus.
The Colossus was built using thermionic valves, thyratrons, relays and stepping switches.The Colossus Mark 1 used about 1600 valves and the Colossus Mark 2 used about 2400 valves. After the Colossus Mark 2 was in production and use the single Colossus Mark 1 was briefly shutdown and upgraded to a Colossus Mark 2. Five of the ten Colossus machines also had a device called the "gadget" that aided in a process called "rectangling", the number of additional valves added to each of these enhanced Colossus Mark 2 machines is unknown.
The Colossus was built using thermionic valves, thyratrons, relays and stepping switches.The Colossus Mark 1 used about 1600 valves and the Colossus Mark 2 used about 2400 valves. After the Colossus Mark 2 was in production and use the single Colossus Mark 1 was briefly shutdown and upgraded to a Colossus Mark 2. Five of the ten Colossus machines also had a device called the "gadget" that aided in a process called "rectangling", the number of additional valves added to each of these enhanced Colossus Mark 2 machines is unknown.
The Colossus computer worked using one to two thousand thermionic valves.
Reliability and heat were the main problems. Valves were fragile devices that, due to the relatively primitive way they were manufactured, failed pretty quickly. In addition to that, they gave off vast amounts of heat. This meant they needed expensive air-conditioning systems to keep their temperature down.
Reliability and heat were the main problems. Valves were fragile devices that, due to the relatively primitive way they were manufactured, failed pretty quickly. In addition to that, they gave off vast amounts of heat. This meant they needed expensive air-conditioning systems to keep their temperature down.
To many people dying and changing valves for something else
To many people dying and changing valves for something else
The Colossus was created to decode encrypted messages from Germany during World War Two using the infamous "Enigma" machine. For full rundown see Simon Singh's "The Code Book".