Specialized group A1 (Blue Dot): Rectifier Tubes
Specialized group A2 (Yellow Dot): Mixed Tubes
This is for chronological order of individual typical types.
Thus tube types for all possible purposes.
Specialized group B (red dot):
There typical receiver tube families are summarized.
They differ externally by form and by different base pin arrangements.
One recognizes from this the hard competition between the companies and
between America and Europe, and also sometimes misleading advertising announcements.
Until it finally came to standardization between the European Union and the USA.
Specialized group C (green Dot):
This is a special group. During the Second World War the Armed forces had to develop special tube types.
After the war the winning powers acquired all radio material and all tubes of the armed forces.
Our samples were saved in adventurous way.
(see the detailed report in specialized group C)
Now you know, for what these tubes are used.
Not only in transmitters, receivers, amplifiers etc. were they used:
the first computers ran with tubes. They needed thousands of tubes, in order
to perform simple calculations. In order to perform calculations,
which you can do today with a cheap pocket calculator, an entire hall was filled with tube machines
weighing tons and which had to be cooled because of continuously strong heat.
So, now you can begin with the view of the specialized group A. Open in the
booklet this side up.
There you find a short explanation for each issued tube.
Follow links to the tube pages!
Oh so, you would like to know still more technical details over tubes.
Then you read on here:
Perhaps with the rectifier valves you noticed that most have a shiny mirror like
coating on the inside of the glass. The reason is:
If the tube is evacuated, then a few molecules of oxygen and nitrogen remain
from air. Sometimes that does not harm anything, sometimes we would gladly
have a still better vacuum. So one attaches a small container to the inside
of the tube, containing magnesium metal. The finished tube is, before
the attachment of the base, led past a source of high frequency. The high frequency heats
this container. The magnesium evaporates. The magnesium atoms convert themselves,
with the oxygen, to magnesium oxide,and with the nitrogen to magnesium nitride. The
remainder of the magnesium settles as a metallic mirror on the cold glass wall.
If the tube gets leakage from some air, then this mirror disappears and the tube is useless.
Each tube has its own character. One can express it with numbers. The tube
specialist can recognize from these numbers whether the tube for the intended
purpose is useful.
The most important numbers are:
Vf: Heater Voltage
Ia: Heater Current
Va: Anode Voltage
Ia: Anode Current
Vg1: Negative Grid Voltage at the Control Grid
Win: max. Power at the Control Grid
Vg2 to Vg4 : voltage at additional grids
Wout: Power Output
μ: Amplification Factor
S: Conductivity in mA/V or μmhos
In the electrical Schematics a symbol had to be found for the Tube.
