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[–] 2 pts

In 1973 I re-enlisted in the Marines to go to "data systems technician school". The UNIVAC CP808 we trained on (and the ones I saw at different installations) had diode vacuum tubes as rectifiers in the power supply. The modem between the CPU and HF radio was the size of a refrigerator.

[–] 1 pt

The power supply for the 808 was designed to provide the DC necessary for the unit from the incoming 3-phase power systems. It was a special unit designed to fit the specialty MTDS shelter.

Vacuum diodes were probably the best way to do that at the time.

[–] 1 pt

Once you overcome the voltage requirements, triodes are amazingly simple to make work.