How about my first rig?
This is the Nike electro/mechanical analog computer. First built in 1951 it was about the size of 5 refrigerators. It used 76 op amps each consisting of two and a half vacuum tubes and 7 precision motor driven potentiometers to convert analog range, azimuth and elevation data from two radars to compute an intercept path and provide guidance information for Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules surface to air missiles. It was in service in the US from 1954 through the mid 80’s. The last I heard Nike systems were still in service in Italy, Turkey and South Korea (SK is a surface to surface role only) although the computer in those systems was replaced with a digital computer in the 70’s or 80’s. It wasn’t until the late 70’s that digital technology was reliable enough to replace this 1940's technology.
This is the Nike electro/mechanical analog computer. First built in 1951 it was about the size of 5 refrigerators. It used 76 op amps each consisting of two and a half vacuum tubes and 7 precision motor driven potentiometers to convert analog range, azimuth and elevation data from two radars to compute an intercept path and provide guidance information for Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules surface to air missiles. It was in service in the US from 1954 through the mid 80’s. The last I heard Nike systems were still in service in Italy, Turkey and South Korea (SK is a surface to surface role only) although the computer in those systems was replaced with a digital computer in the 70’s or 80’s. It wasn’t until the late 70’s that digital technology was reliable enough to replace this 1940's technology.
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