
22 makezine.com
NICK POOLE is an electronics
engineer, product designer, and
serial hobbyist in Southwest Virginia.
A long-tenured team member at
SparkFun Electronics, he spends his
free time doing other nerdy things
that you can follow on his YouTube
channel SignalDitch.
Building a functional vacuum tube in the
home lab isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible!
Written and photographed by Nick Poole
A BIT OF INSPIRATION
In 2022, I was skimming through YouTube
videos to pass the time when I stumbled across
a channel called Usagi Electric. The channel
belongs to a guy named David who — among
other things — is building a vacuum tube
computer with a