"History - Preservation - Application"

 2010 - TCA's Twelfth Year
When you join the TCA you automatically get the current year's back issues! If you have questions, please contact TCA's editor, Lud Sibley: tubelore@jeffnet.org.

Volume 12, Number 1 - February, 2010
  • Sylvania "House Numbered" CRT's - Part 2
    The second part of Peter Keller's article on 3000 Series CRTs.
  • Old -Time Tube Hints from the Sylvania News
    Ideas on tube substitution, tube repair and checking gassy tubes.
  • The Boom of CRT Manufacture in Argentina
    Information on the Transworld Electronics Argentina S. A. Company.
  • A Bit More on Garrett Lewis
    The early career of Garrett Lewis.
    • Geisler - Another Obscure Company
      Information on Geisler Laboratories, a maker of microwave tubes.
    • The Whippany Effect
      A reprint from the RCA Victor Plain Talk and Technical Tips.
    • Tubeless Radio, What if It?
      From the Journal of the Institute of Radio Service Men, Oct. - Nov. - Dec. 1932.
    • 1999 to 2009 Cumulative Index
    On The Cover: An RCA promo item from 1929 from the dealer publication "Good News", plugging the sale of replacement tubes.

    Volume 12, Number 2 - April, 2010
    • "Export " Tubes in Canada
      Philco tubes for Canada
    • Those A B C Grades of Vacuum Tubes
      Radio Engineering, Sept. 1929.
    • Bell Labs Controls Tubes
      Admistration of Bell Labs supply of tubes.
  • The CK703 Crystal Triode
    Radio-Television Service Dealer, Jan. 1951.
    • Sparton Tubes
      A history of the Sparton tubes.
    • 1931 De Forest Tube Kit
      Radio Industries, March 1931.
    • The 6AJ5 Mystery
      Delaware Valley Historic Radio Club Oscillator, April 1999.
    • The Tenth Anniversary of "Emission Labs"
      A history of the Emission Labs of the Czech Republic
    • Weird Tubes of the Month: The Last "Red Bank" Types
      The Bendix Red Bank line of military tubes.
    • Factory Identifiers for "CV" Valves
      A list of factory identifiers for the British military valves.
    • QRS Rectifiers
      The data sheet with a QRS gas rectifier from 1927.
    On The Cover: A stash of rare Philco-branded "export" tubes as recently found in Canada.

    Volume 12, Number 3 - June, 2010
    • History and Development of the All - Metal Radio Tube
      A study of the history and construction of the metal tube
    • Some Thoughts on Metal Tubes
      Competitive countermeasures from manufacturers outside the GE-RCA orbit.
    • Crosley Declares in Favor of Metal Tubes
      Corsley declares that metal tubes to be superior in many respects to glass tubes.
  • Edison Lamp in Receiver
    Radio-Craft, February, 1933.
    • The Hytron HY117
      A tube number issued to a solid state device.
    • "VEC"
      A transmitting tube rebuilder from Argentina.
    • The WC-23
      A sub-miniture gas-filled thyratron.
    • Tube Failures in ENIAC
      Analysis of causes for tube failures in the 18,800-tube electronic computing machine.
    • Unusual Service Calls
      Odd radio troubles printed in a 1933 issue of the IRC Servicer.
    • Wierd Tube of the Month: The RCA A109
      A developmental magnetron from RCA.
    • Soviet-Era Amateur Rig
      An odd combination of American and German tubes.
    On The Cover: A fine old WECo (pre - Bell Labs) shot of a "tennis-ball" repeater bulb.

    Volume 12, Number 4 - August, 2010
    • A Trip to Remember
      A visit to a radio/tube collector's estate
    • ETL Dekatron Survey 2009
      A report on the rusults of a large survey of British Dekatrons.
    • Weird Tube of the Month: RCA 20 KW VHF Tetrode
      A novel tetrode developed by RCA in 1939.
  • Classical Philips Transmitting Valves
    A view of the power-tube situation before the wide adoption of ceramic construction in the late '50s.
    • More on GE Metal Tubes
      Remarkable prototype tubes developed by General Electric.
    • UHF-TV Microminiature Ceramic Tubes
      GE press release adds a consumer member to GE's line of ceramic planar triodes.
    • The Varian Honeycomb Grids
      Fabrication of Varian's honeycomb grids used in klystrons.
    On The Cover: A collection of developmental metal tubes.

    Volume 12, Number 5 - October, 2010
    • TCA Board/Membership meeting
      Gold Hill, Ore. September 25, 2010
    • Bell Labs Transistors
      The date code mystery.
    • Origins and Uses of the Eimac 4W20000A
      Results of a Signal Corps contract in 1946 for high power RADAR tubes.
  • The Eimac 4W20000A
    A draft of a discussion on the design and application of VHF power tubes.
    • Sylvania Tetrode Transistor
      Radio-Television Service Dealer, Nov. 1953.
    • The Audion of the "Instituto De Fisica De La Plata"
      Early use of wireless equipment at the Physics Institute at the La Plata National University in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    • RCA Field Sales Report - 6C4 and 6F4
      Sales report on tube failures.
    • The Tube-Base Asbestos Racket
      Lawsuits over asbestos content in radio tube bases is exposed.
    • Practical Uses of the Radio Tube
      Lee De Forest's discussion of the many applications for tubes.
    • Wartime Servicing in New Zealand
      Problems of radio technicians in 1944 New Zealand where tubes and parts came from many sources.
    • Arcturus Retains Du Mont
      In order to expand the high power tube line of Arcturus, they have hired Allen DuMont. (1931)
    On The Cover: Hisashi Ohtsuka inspecting an LRS Relay at the Technical Museum in Stockholm.
    Volume 12, Number 6 - December, 2010
    • Deciphering Date Coding of Post-WWII GE Tubes
      The meanings of the sand blasted dot codes on GE tubes.
    • Tube Exhibits at AWA-Rochester
      Photos of tube related displays from the AWA meet.
    • The History of Vatea Radio and Electrical Corp.
      The history of the Vatea Corp. from Hungary.
  • National Union
    The history of NU formed from the merger of Sonatron, Magnatron, Marathon and Televocal.
    • The 12AP4 Picture Tube
      Details of an obscure early TV picture tube.
    • Wierd Tube of the Month: The Arc Oscillator
      GE experimental from the 1930s.
    • Radio Checkers and Chess
      "Fun with Radio Parts" Radio-Craft , December 1937.
    • The Nuvistaplug
      Plug in replacement for vacuum tubes.
    • RCA Surrenders Rights to Four Trademarks
      RCA surrenders rights to the names Iconoscope, Orthicon, Kinescope and Acorn.
    • The Concentrated-Arc Lamp - Introduction
      A high intensity white-light source.
    • The Development of the Concentrated - Arc Lamp
      Western Union Technical Review, April 1948
    • Experiments with Magnets
      Radio & Television, June 1940
    On The Cover: The front cover of an RCA service-dealer magazine from the mid-twenties, featuring the "Selling Fool" doll.
    Special Publication No. 18 - February 2010
    Public Address Systems
    1922 AT&T Bulletin
    This is a reproduction of the 1922 work covering WE outdoor sound systems.
     
    Special Publication No. 19 - December 2010
    Index of RCA Developmental and Commercial Type Numbers
    A Standardnizing Notice from the 1930s to 1968.