I always had and have a facination with the early RC, RCA, and Cunningham tube boxes probably because they were the first and most common and easyist to find and buy statrting in the mid 1970’s. As most collectors know, most tube shipping boxes are quite often harder to find in good condition than the...
Category: Blog
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Did DeForest make a Type 20 tube or not?
Modern vacuum tube collectors have been trying to find concrete evidence that the DeForest Type 20 was not only made but designated type 20. This author believes he has found what has been missing or perhaps re-found again within my information? As all collectors know, Otis Moorhead was the first to bring together DeForest and,...
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Schickerling Line of Tubes – A few Examples
Conrad Schickerling, besides his radio vacuum tubes, made various electrical products, and claimed to have been in business since 1898. Here are a few of those products named below- Ultra-Violet sun lamps, Automatic Ultra-Violet aquarium heaters for tropical fish, Ultra-Violet vapor health lamps, Ultra-Violet window-glass light fixtures(reflectors), Ultra-Violet water purifiers, Ultra-Violet water and air-cooling apparatus,...
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Le Radion, Le Clairton: Made by French Tube Makers?
Click on the pictures above for a larger view. These exceptionally beautiful UV Le Radion and Le Clairton vacuum tubes, made in the 1923 time- line, imply they were made by a French maker, but were they? It seems not. A contemporary shipping box for the Le Radion brand indicates they could have been made...
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Pacific Radio News – Moorhead Tubes on the Cover
Pacific Radio News magazines were first published in January, 1917 by the San Francisco Radio Club with H. W. Dickow as editor, P. R Fenner as manager, L. O Fassett as assistant manager, and D. B. Mcgown as assistant editor, It was a monthly magazine featuring up-to-date radio communication news from around the country, and...
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Observations on the Western Electric VT-15, 1920
Very little is known about the W. E. VT-15 save for these facts: It is rare. Perhaps only 4 or 5 known. It has the same specs as the Western Electric 215-A but with a “Duck Foot” splayed base pin configuration for possible use by the US Navy. Specs of the W.E. 215 A here:...
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A Few Notes on the DeForest CF 185
Figs.1, and 2 show the CF 185 detector tube with the US Navy 3- point base. The side pin and one of the bottom pins are the filament connections. These were made by DeForest for Navy use starting in Nov., 1916 as can be seen in the document on the left below. Etched on the...
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Sonatron 3 Tube Amplifier
Sonatron made very interesting and at this date, somewhat rare amplifier units with red, white, and blue colored tubes that made for a outstanding marketing scheme. The buyer could choose what their MU tubes to be included with his purchase according to what was needed, higher volume, tone quality, high amplification, etc. It is also...
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W. E. & M’s UV 201 Vacuum Tube
George Westinghouse, (1846-1914), industrialist extraordinaire, had the business acumen to start many business ventures that changed people’s lives. In 1884 he formed the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, later to be known as the Westinghouse Electric Company. This article will concentrate on the vacuum tube division of W. E. & M and its subsidiary, Westinghouse...
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Robert Von Lieben and the LRS Relay
Contrary to popular belief, Robert Von Lieben, was the first to design and patent a triode amplifier valve. His triode amplifier patent, numbered 179,807, was published on Nov., 18th, 1906 in Germany. By contrast, DeForest had a working audion triode in his lab on Dec., 30th, 1906. He filed for a patent on Jan., 29th,...