uccxmgm@unx2.ucc.okstate.edu (03/28/91)
While a 9-volt 500A supply is a pretty big beast, it wouldn't
really be that difficult to come up with that kind of voltage. If you
have a 12-volt center-tapped transformer, you will get 6 volts RMS
each side of center. If rectifier diodes are connected back-to-back
and their other ends connected to the two outside ends of the center
tap, you have a center-tapped full-wave rectifier configuration. If
you now put a capacitor between the center tap lead and the junction
of the diodes, you have a filtered full-wave DC supply. This voltage
will be 1.414 or the square root of two times the RMS voltage. For a
6-volt RMS output, this means that your DC will be at the peak voltage
or 6*1.414 or close to 9 volts. Such an arrangement has some 120hz
ripple in it, but it's close enough for government work.
I wonder if they used electrolitic rectifiers back then to handle
that kind of current?
Martin McCormick Oklahoma State University Computer Center
Stillwater, OK WB5AGZ