small valves

[Arno Kletzander]

>> Some mil gear (eg PRC-41) has very small ceramic tubes -not sure if 
>> they are quite as small as the Nuvistor but they must be close- 
>> likewise some hearing aid amp tubes were pertty damn small as well.

And don't forget the first generation of R/C receivers intended for use in
model airplanes. They needed something small, lightweight, battery-powered
and inexpensive, so voila - miniaturized valves. I can't claim to have seen
one "in the flesh" yet, but I have a hobbyist book on what they used to call
"micro-electronics" in the mid-50s (ooh, printed circuit boards instead of
solder lug strips!) which shows a device about the size of a packet of
cigarettes with several such valves directly soldered onto a board with the
wires coming out of them.

Anybody here been R/C-ing back then?

cheers

-- 
Arno Kletzander
Stud. Hilfskraft Informatik Sammlung Erlangen
www.iser.uni-erlangen.de

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