Williams Tube memory, Selectron question, and Charactron

From: William Donzelli <aw288_at_osfn.org>
Date: Sun Aug 15 21:35:47 1999

> Yes, but those weren't particularly "bizarre". They were just common
> incandescent bulbs.

No, there really were little great grandsons of the 6E5. To quote from
*Tube Lore*:

6977 [AKA DM160]; T1 submin. computer indicator triode, blue green glow,
fil. 1.0 V _at_ 30mA; shows no light at Vg -8, full glow at 0 V (AX, MU,
RCA, SY, TS) (8-12-57).

T1 is the bulb size (tubular - 1/8 inch diameter). The "AX, ..." business
means that known makers were Amperex, Mullard, RCA, Sylvania, and Tung
Sol.

The advantage to these is that they have very good life expectancy -
probably in the 30 plus years range. Like other "eye tubes", the main
failure one finds is contamination of the target, causing the brightness
to decrease.

The Packard Bell 250 uses them.

William Donzelli
aw288_at_osfn.org
Received on Sun Aug 15 1999 - 21:35:47 BST