Getting More Out of my Analog Computer (publ. 2025-06-19)

I've been busy during most of my lunch breaks, enjoying the beautiful weather and taking walks up by the Tanana, so I haven't had much time for writing gemlog posts.

I figured out a way to get a lot more out of my analog computer. I switched the integrator "1x" ports to become a direct connection to the summing junction (SJ). Then, I use banana cables that have resistors soldered inline. This way I can have as many inputs as I want on the integrators, without having to build a bigger patch panel. Fortunately, I have a friend who has many spare banana cables, so this is an affordable approach for me.

With this approach, at least the number of integrators and integrator inputs is not likely to be a problem in building many of the demo application circuits I am finding on the Internet. Another limitation, though, of my analog computer is that it has only five potentiometers. Many of the interesting circuits I am seeing call for at least 6.

I'm getting close to being able to purchase a THAT from Anabrid. They are out of stock at the moment, but are hoping to have another batch available by the end of July. This is probably for the best, because they also raised the price another 40 USD, meaning I'll need a little more time to save up the money.

Copyright

CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed