50th Anniversary of "Tennis for Two"

[Ugly]

Re: 50th Anniversary of "Tennis for Two"

Please follow up on this. I would be interested in building it. At the very least I could design a replacement, but it wouldn't be the same as recreating the original.

Thorn, you can still show this year you know :)


LosT

No response from him yet. I have a feeling we're SOL for doing this at the convention unless we're recreating it on our own. A shame really.

If/when I do get the remainder of the schematic, I'm all for building the original. I live walking distance from UAT and have at least one friend that wants to do this as well. I'm sure we can meet up and make it happen on our own.

[Thorn]

Re: 50th Anniversary of "Tennis for Two"

My dad just left, and we discussed tube op amps. although he said some transistor op amps were coming into play in that same period. He said he still has his design books from those days (both tube and transistor) and would see if he could find some representative circuits.

Thorn, you can still show this year you know :)

You have no idea how much I wish I could.

[LosT]

Re: 50th Anniversary of "Tennis for Two"

Make the wish come true :)

LosT

[Ugly]

Re: 50th Anniversary of "Tennis for Two"

I heard back from Peter T with BNL. The Op-Amp sections of that schematic are all part of a Donner/Systron Model 3000 analog computer. In reading some of the write-ups on the history of the game, the ball movement was based on bouncing ball circuits described in the manual for the computer.

If anyone can find a wiring diagram for that machine, we can go from there. He also mentioned they may use a model 3400 which is electrically compatible. He's offered his assistance via email, but he'll be unable to use it after Wednesday and he graciously provided a personal cell number as well.

Let's see what we can do with this.

[Ugly]

Re: 50th Anniversary of "Tennis for Two"

Got another reply from Peter at BNL. He confirmed that all 10 of those Op-Amp sections are black box interfaces in the Donner 3000. He also mentioned that they have a schematic for not only the Donner but also a period Philbrick op-amp that can be made with 12AU7 tubes and standard passive components. Giving us the chance to look in the black box and recreate as needed.

I've asked for his co-worker's email in the hopes I can get scans of both schematics. With those, I think the only thing that would keep us from building this during defcon is component availability.

[SmittyHalibut]

Re: 50th Anniversary of "Tennis for Two"

You think you can get tubes by this weekend? Anyone know of a source for tubes in Vegas?

I used to work for a company in Mtn. View called HalTek (not to be confused with HalTed or HSC) that had a HUGE stock of NOS (New Old Stock) tubes. But HalTek closed down years ago; I have no idea where their collection of tubes ended up. I know there are places on line you can order tubes from, but that probably won't do us any good by this weekend.

[Ugly]

Re: 50th Anniversary of "Tennis for Two"

12AU7 never went out of manufacture, you can buy them at guitar center. Not sure if I'll be able to afford all these components though.