So I'm picking out a 6V rectifier tube for a pre Amp and see that 6X5GT fits the bill as I have many of them in stock from old tube caddies. And its a 6S base so 6AX5 will fit it too and I have many of those too. Then I see the Russian tube 6C5S is a substitute for 6X5GT. But the Russians call it a Kenotron, USA calls 6X5 a rectifier. Whats up with that? Is a Kenotron in any smallest way different than a rectifier?
https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/127/6/6X5.pdf
https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/113/6/6C5S.pdf
https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/127/6/6X5.pdf
https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/113/6/6C5S.pdf
Early 20th century, new tube types were coming every month. Someone proposed standardized classes. GE took this up, but bent the definitions as convenient. Kenotrons are generally vacuum rectifier diodes. Pliotrons seem to be triodes. (The air cleaner business has adopted this term.) Thyratron seems to be in the family and that did become the common name for "SCRs" that worked on bottled Mercury (or H) vapor.
Well heck. This guy wrote it all up.
https://www.rfcafe.com/references/radio-news/vaccum-tube-saga-radio-news-november-1944.htm
Covering the development of the "Kenotron," "Pliotron," "Dynatron," and "Magnetron," by Drs. Langmuir, Dushman and Hull of the General Electric Laboratories
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1666779
https://www.orau.org/health-physics...ubes/general-electric-kr-3-kenotron-tube.html
https://www.radartutorial.eu/08.transmitters/Thyratron.en.html
http://www.nj7p.org/Tubes/PDFs/Frank/141-GE/Kenotrons.pdf
In short: condenser, capacitor, tomAto, tomAHto, potato, potaHto, diode, kenotron.....
Well heck. This guy wrote it all up.
https://www.rfcafe.com/references/radio-news/vaccum-tube-saga-radio-news-november-1944.htm
Covering the development of the "Kenotron," "Pliotron," "Dynatron," and "Magnetron," by Drs. Langmuir, Dushman and Hull of the General Electric Laboratories
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1666779
https://www.orau.org/health-physics...ubes/general-electric-kr-3-kenotron-tube.html
https://www.radartutorial.eu/08.transmitters/Thyratron.en.html
http://www.nj7p.org/Tubes/PDFs/Frank/141-GE/Kenotrons.pdf
In short: condenser, capacitor, tomAto, tomAHto, potato, potaHto, diode, kenotron.....
GE seemed to invent names for lots of already existing common tubes. I had some really nice looking Phanotrons but sold them since the buyer liked their looks in spite of the mercury. The FG-32's that I had were the early globe versions as seen in the drawing, not the picture.
Take a 211 tube, call it a Pliotron and it becomes the FP-285. It seems that even the venerable 807 can "identify" as a Pliotron if it wants to....the GL807 that is.
The Thyratron did become the common name for the vacuum tube version of the SCR and the Magnetron is a diode that makes microwave energy by virtue of a resonant cavity and a strong magnetic field. The Klystron is a vacuum tube amplifier for frequencies in the 300 MHz and up range. They were quite common in TV transmitters 20+ years ago.
My favorite was the BWO, a Backward Wave Oscillator commonly seen in old RF sweep generators. Never did figure out how that one worked.
If you watch US digital TV (8VSB), you are watching one (or more tubes in parallel).
They are a highly modified klystron (or a really complete re-design of a klystron).
Just an arguable point for the knowledgeable Patent Lawyers.
I remember one station engineer in Texas that called me up with a measurement question (I can not remember the question).
But I do remember how he described his transmitter site:
There were 4 of those 'new design' tubes, each one putting out 60,000 Watts.
They all were connected to a 4 to 1 combiner; and from there to the high power coax to the antenna.
There was only 238,000 Watts out of the combiner. The rest of the power was 2,000 Watts of Heat.
(The combiner became a nice continuous 2,000 Watt space heater for cold winter days).
I also remember when one of those first high power 8VSB digital TV went on the air.
I got a call from a hospital technician. Their distributed RF patient monitoring system was clobbered into non-working.
They had the TV station go off the air, while they worked on fixing the problem.
I recommended that for a more permanent system, they might consider wired, fiber, or some other method (not RF) communication of the patient monitors.
Hospital administrators hate having a lawsuit when a patient dies, not because of Doctor/Nurse malpractice, but instead if Hospital systems that can not and do not sustain the conditions necessary to keep the patient living.
They are a highly modified klystron (or a really complete re-design of a klystron).
Just an arguable point for the knowledgeable Patent Lawyers.
I remember one station engineer in Texas that called me up with a measurement question (I can not remember the question).
But I do remember how he described his transmitter site:
There were 4 of those 'new design' tubes, each one putting out 60,000 Watts.
They all were connected to a 4 to 1 combiner; and from there to the high power coax to the antenna.
There was only 238,000 Watts out of the combiner. The rest of the power was 2,000 Watts of Heat.
(The combiner became a nice continuous 2,000 Watt space heater for cold winter days).
I also remember when one of those first high power 8VSB digital TV went on the air.
I got a call from a hospital technician. Their distributed RF patient monitoring system was clobbered into non-working.
They had the TV station go off the air, while they worked on fixing the problem.
I recommended that for a more permanent system, they might consider wired, fiber, or some other method (not RF) communication of the patient monitors.
Hospital administrators hate having a lawsuit when a patient dies, not because of Doctor/Nurse malpractice, but instead if Hospital systems that can not and do not sustain the conditions necessary to keep the patient living.
Modern TV transmitters use an IOT for the output device. The Inductive Output Tube is something like a cross between a Klystron and a Triode. It was invented and patented a long time ago as was the Klystron so the basic patents have expired, but the patents for modern improvements may still be valid. The IOT is more efficient than a Klystron, but it also has a broader bandwidth which is required for digital TV. Again a fancy name was born in the name of marketing, the Klystrode (Klystron + Triode).
Tubelab_com,
Thanks for the much more accurate and fuller explanation!
My 77 year old brain did not remember the term IOT (I used to know).
But I think I never knew the explanation of the Klystron and Triode 'cross'.
The only Klystron I remember seeing in action was the Local Oscillator of the 10GHz air search radar of our USN destroyer. Another memorable feature was the 30MHz dual triode cascode amplifier, right after the silicon diode mixer.
One day the surface search radar ETs came to me asking if I had some high voltage coax to replace their shorted coax that ran from the High voltage pulse circuit box, to the Magnetron box.
I said sure, handed them a Very stiff coax, about 1 1/4" diameter (including the armored sheath. Then it had teflon insulation with a very large distance from the 2nd shield to the 1/4' diameter solid copper center conductor. It was up to them to wrestle with it, from the pulse box to the magnetron box.
Who cared if one coax was 75 Ohms and the other coax was 50 Ohms; nothing arced, and even with a ragged pulse, the radar worked; call it the signature version.
When we were on a close-in formation multi-destroyer convoy, all the 10GHz surface search radars broke. I told our radar ETs to replace the silicon mixer diode.
When two ships' radar antennas point together, no TR and ATR devices can protect the diode from blowing out. We were the first to get our radar back up again.
Thanks for the much more accurate and fuller explanation!
My 77 year old brain did not remember the term IOT (I used to know).
But I think I never knew the explanation of the Klystron and Triode 'cross'.
The only Klystron I remember seeing in action was the Local Oscillator of the 10GHz air search radar of our USN destroyer. Another memorable feature was the 30MHz dual triode cascode amplifier, right after the silicon diode mixer.
One day the surface search radar ETs came to me asking if I had some high voltage coax to replace their shorted coax that ran from the High voltage pulse circuit box, to the Magnetron box.
I said sure, handed them a Very stiff coax, about 1 1/4" diameter (including the armored sheath. Then it had teflon insulation with a very large distance from the 2nd shield to the 1/4' diameter solid copper center conductor. It was up to them to wrestle with it, from the pulse box to the magnetron box.
Who cared if one coax was 75 Ohms and the other coax was 50 Ohms; nothing arced, and even with a ragged pulse, the radar worked; call it the signature version.
When we were on a close-in formation multi-destroyer convoy, all the 10GHz surface search radars broke. I told our radar ETs to replace the silicon mixer diode.
When two ships' radar antennas point together, no TR and ATR devices can protect the diode from blowing out. We were the first to get our radar back up again.
Kenotrons http://www.nj7p.org/Tubes/PDFs/Frank/141-GE/Kenotrons.pdf
Phanotrons http://www.nj7p.org/Tubes/PDFs/Frank/141-GE/Phanotrons.pdf
Pliotrons http://www.nj7p.org/Tubes/PDFs/Frank/141-GE/Pliotrons.pdf
Thyratrons http://www.nj7p.org/Tubes/PDFs/Frank/141-GE/Thyratrons.pdf
Phantron is a gas rectifier.
Phanotrons http://www.nj7p.org/Tubes/PDFs/Frank/141-GE/Phanotrons.pdf
Pliotrons http://www.nj7p.org/Tubes/PDFs/Frank/141-GE/Pliotrons.pdf
Thyratrons http://www.nj7p.org/Tubes/PDFs/Frank/141-GE/Thyratrons.pdf
Phantron is a gas rectifier.