Ge 5 star high rel tubes, document in .pdf, very interesting:
http://www.tubebooks.org/tubedata/GE_5star.pdf
An interesting point is made there, that "reliability can not be tested into tubes",
rather they make many improvements in how they are manufactured.
From this discussion:
http://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=209571
RCA, Raytheon, and General Electric all responded to requests by ARINC, an airline communications coordination group, for High Reliability tubes. RCA was the first to respond in '48 with the 5691, 5692, and 5693. GE, the last of the three to start a Hi-Rel program, began its 5 Star effor with eleven different types, which eventually expanded to 33, 24 of which, had no commercial equivalent. Sylvania eventually produced a Hi-rel tubes as well. JAN specifications for tubes had been around for several years prior to the 5 Star program, and were constantly improving though on a somewhat hit or miss basis. GE saw that they could serve both markets, and established the program, in the early 50s. New JAN specs, specifically aimed at high reliability tubes, were soon issued to all manufacturers, and co-operative, industry wide research and production was established. So in this respect JAN and 5 Star tubes were one and the same, as were the offerings of RCA and Raytheon.
Several aspects manufacturing were modified, and new processes established to meet the needs of producing "Hi-Rel" tubes. Higher heater currents, Gold plated grids, Higher G-force specs, Thyratron welding processes, use of binocular microscopes for assembly and inspection, Heater cycling tests, and 50 hour burn-in prior to final test. These changes, coupled with the establishment of special assembly lines, elimination of piece work incentives and establishing higher wage scales, placed the emphasis squarely on improved product quality. Failures per thousand hours in a few cases dropped from a rate of 60% per thousand hours to a rate of less than 2%. Obviously the program worked well.
RCA had their "Red Label" tubes which touted 10,000 hour operational lifetimes, a bit of a misnomer, and Raytheon had their "Ruggedized and Reliable" line of tubes as well. This whole movement was also spurred on by the needs of the tremendous expansion of remote Micro-wave transmission towers across the country after the war.
Hi-Rel types continued to be introduced as late as the early/mid 60s by Matsushita and Toshiba.
http://www.tubebooks.org/tubedata/GE_5star.pdf
An interesting point is made there, that "reliability can not be tested into tubes",
rather they make many improvements in how they are manufactured.
From this discussion:
http://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=209571
RCA, Raytheon, and General Electric all responded to requests by ARINC, an airline communications coordination group, for High Reliability tubes. RCA was the first to respond in '48 with the 5691, 5692, and 5693. GE, the last of the three to start a Hi-Rel program, began its 5 Star effor with eleven different types, which eventually expanded to 33, 24 of which, had no commercial equivalent. Sylvania eventually produced a Hi-rel tubes as well. JAN specifications for tubes had been around for several years prior to the 5 Star program, and were constantly improving though on a somewhat hit or miss basis. GE saw that they could serve both markets, and established the program, in the early 50s. New JAN specs, specifically aimed at high reliability tubes, were soon issued to all manufacturers, and co-operative, industry wide research and production was established. So in this respect JAN and 5 Star tubes were one and the same, as were the offerings of RCA and Raytheon.
Several aspects manufacturing were modified, and new processes established to meet the needs of producing "Hi-Rel" tubes. Higher heater currents, Gold plated grids, Higher G-force specs, Thyratron welding processes, use of binocular microscopes for assembly and inspection, Heater cycling tests, and 50 hour burn-in prior to final test. These changes, coupled with the establishment of special assembly lines, elimination of piece work incentives and establishing higher wage scales, placed the emphasis squarely on improved product quality. Failures per thousand hours in a few cases dropped from a rate of 60% per thousand hours to a rate of less than 2%. Obviously the program worked well.
RCA had their "Red Label" tubes which touted 10,000 hour operational lifetimes, a bit of a misnomer, and Raytheon had their "Ruggedized and Reliable" line of tubes as well. This whole movement was also spurred on by the needs of the tremendous expansion of remote Micro-wave transmission towers across the country after the war.
Hi-Rel types continued to be introduced as late as the early/mid 60s by Matsushita and Toshiba.
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GE news about going from the 6L6GB to GC and the use of a 5-ply plate material with copper in the middle, also used in the 7581, and a few others:
http://www.triodeel.com/ham1.gif
http://www.triodeel.com/ham2.gif
1950s paper on the 5881 "A New Beam Power Tube":
http://www.pearl-hifi.com/06_Lit_Archive/07_Misc_Downloads/TungSol_5881_Info.pdf
This is a post I made about 6L6 types:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=8622975&postcount=24
http://www.triodeel.com/ham1.gif
http://www.triodeel.com/ham2.gif
1950s paper on the 5881 "A New Beam Power Tube":
http://www.pearl-hifi.com/06_Lit_Archive/07_Misc_Downloads/TungSol_5881_Info.pdf
This is a post I made about 6L6 types:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=8622975&postcount=24
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5 Star 5751s xD, all the GE stuff is awesome to me though xD, They do some of the best like Super Rodded Country/Blues sounds haha
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