Applications of Stepper Switches
As well as the decoding of pulses from telephones, stepping switches could be used for a variety of purposes, depending on how they were wired. By connecting several in series with the highest output of one going to the stepping contact of the next, a counter could be constructed. Or by feeding the stepping contact with an endless pulse train via a relay, and controlling the relay from the switch's own output, it can be made to automatically hunt for the first unpowered line (or powered, depending on whether the relay is normally open or normally closed). They could also be used as a demultiplexer, so that two input lines could control a number of output devices. One input line steps the switch until the correct device is selected, and the other then powers that device. Many other applications are possible.
Such switches were used in a series of Japanese cypher machines during World War 2: CORAL, JADE, PURPLE (the names were American). Some of the equipment used to break the Enigma machine code also used many such switches, which some observers called the "Machine Gun" for the loud noise.
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Famous quotes containing the word switches:
“I find television very educational. Every time someone switches it on I go into another room and read a good book.”
—Groucho Marx (1895–1977)