Simon / Relay clock rates / was Re: Computer in 1900,

[Brent Hilpert]

woodelf wrote:
> 
> Gavin Melville wrote:
> > I've seen the stuff on the relay computer, and I suspect that simply
> > would not have worked in 1900, but works due to modern relays.

> We are talking high speed of  5? Hz for  relay computers.
> I am guessing a 1 HZ might practial for that era.

Just for a (partial) example, a year or two ago I breadboarded a 10-stage ring
counter from relays of late-40s/50s vintage while working on a completed design
of Simon*. Going purely by ear, I could clock it up to about 18Hz before it
started to falter.

* After the mention of Simon on the list a couple of years ago I set out to do
a completed design. This was done ( http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~hilpert/e/simon ) and
a simulator written, but I haven't built a complete physical implementation
(not enough relays on hand). The relay ring counter was a test of the timing
system.

I've been meaning to mention this here for ages, but speaking of relay
computers, Simon, and machines with minimal instruction sets, if anybody feels
like a masochistic, tear-your-hair-out exercise in programming frustration, I'd
like to solicit programs to run in the Simon simulator (see link above).