Vacuum Tubes and Transistors
Table of Contents
COLLECTIONS
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1. Vacuum Tubes 1915-1930 : EARLY VACUUM TUBES: 1915-1930
2. Military and Special Purpose Tubes RADAR : MILITARY RADAR
3. Military and Special Purpose Tubes Part 1- NON RADAR up to 1946 : MILITARY NONRADAR
4. Military and Special Purpose Tubes Part 2- NON RADAR after 1946: MILITARY NONRADAR Part 2
5. Subminiature Tubes of the 20th Century: SUBMINIATURE
6. Tungar, Related Bulbs and their Applications: TUNGAR and RELATED Bulbs
7. Transistors 1949-1965: EARLY TRANSISTORS:1949-1965
PRODUCT LINES EVOLVE FROM VACUUM TUBES TO TRANSISTORS
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1. Hearing Aids: HEARING AIDS BEFORE 1960
2. Radio Family Lines Page 1: RADIO FAMILY PAGE 1
3. Radio Family Lines Page 2: RADIO FAMILY PAGE 2
DISCRETE COMPONENTS TO INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
1. Calculators and Toys: CALCULATORS AND TOYS
Vacuum Tubes- The Beginning of Electronics
Thomas Edison can be credited for the foundation of the vacuum tube, even though he had no understanding of how it worked. His engineering notes show how heating the light bulb filament not only provided light but also allowed electrons to migrate from the heated filament. How electrons are manipulated or controlled is the basis of electronics. It took the work of JJ Thompson, JA Flemming and Lee de Forest to demonstrate the principle and make the vacuum tube the first electronic device. JJ Thompson discovered the electron, JA Flemming with Marconi demonstrated the detection of wireless and Lee de Forest (1908) demonstrated amplification of signals which paved the way to radio. De Forest called his invention the Audion. The first major application was long distance telephone transmission. AT&T through Western Electric would perfect the Audion for the telephone repeater. Later GE would use it for high power applications like wireless transmission. Large scale consumer application was due to Edwin Armstrong inventions in wireless audio reception through his invention of radio.
Transistors- The Beginning of Miniaturization and Microelectronics
(AKA SOLID STATE DEVICES)The electronic technology revolution second half of the 20th century and the rise of tablet computers, mobile (cell) communications, the GPS system, flat panel or LCD television and of course landing a man on the moon in 1969 owes all this to the invention of the transistor in 1948. Although engineers and physicists have been tinkering with the using non vacuum tube or solid state devices in the 1920's and 1930's, it wasn't until 1947-1948 that three physicist Britain, Bardeen and Shockley of Bell Labs produced the first working unit that can amplify and oscillate like a vacuum tube as demonstrated almost a half century earlier by Lee Deforest. A new generation of engineers, designers and manufacturers arose. The big names of the vacuum tube years like RCA, GE, Raytheon, Sylvania, National Union etc continued on but a series of newcomers came. First came companies like Motorola, Texas Instruments, Fairchild, and National Semiconductor. Later as transistors could be made into circuit networks called integrated circuits or microchips came companies like Intel, and Advance Micro Devices.
1950's Circuit Miniaturization
Thick Film Integrated Networks
Passive networks or couplates by Centralab: To cut down production cost Centralab introduced passive networks of capacitors and resistors that were custom made or generic. They found their way first in low cost table radios and then in TV sets. These were what is called thick film process.
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