Ham radio operators broadcast their enthusiasm for vintage electronics

La PORTE — Forget about the Internet, cell phones and solid-state anything at all. This group is sticking with old-fashioned vacuum tubes and antennas. Hundreds came to the Civic Auditorium in La Porte on Saturday to swap stories and hard-tofind electronic parts at the annual Cabin Fever Hamfest sponsored by Read More …

Scientists built a chip without semiconductors

Remember those old-timey room-sized vacuum-tube-powered computers with less processing power than your smartphone? That tech might be making a comeback, thanks to work from scientists from UC San Diego. They’ve built the first semiconductor-free, laser-controlled microelectronics device that uses free electrons, much as vacuum tubes do. The research could result in Read More …