G.E. became a royal pain because of what Lee de Forest called their "Graeco-Schenectady" nomenclature. Power rectifiers were kenotrons, triodes were pliotrons, etc., etc. Happily the rest of the industry was not burdened with those absurdities.

I have an early battery charger, a G.E one, with a Tungar bulb. When I first opened the charger I saw the tube inside and thought it looked like a pre 1920 transmitting tube, it has a large screw base and an envelope the size of a street lamp, with a clip on lead at the top. It's likely more common then the TB-1 but it is still interesting, and it is an early rectifier.
I have another odd tube that I will have to dig out, it looks like a giant fuse in it's own holder. I will have a look at it and give you more details, and it isn't a Myers tube it's too large for one of those.
Best Regards
Arran

If it looks like a Hypodermic it would be a Connecticut J-117 tube.

Arran, the Tungar name is a contraction of TUNGsten(the filament) and ARgon, the noble gas inside at a wee bit of pressure.
There were many makers of these rectifiers, and they were generically called Tungar Bulbs, although Tungar is a registered trademark of G.E.

RCA was very nice and called all their tubes "Radiotrons" regardless of type.
And if you had a GM car you didn't have an alternator, you had a "Delcotron."

-David

And the Tungar bulb made by Westinghouse was a "Rectigon".

If a person is interested in early tubes, it is well worth their effort to study some of the older types and arm themselves with some books. Books such as Tube Lore, Saga of the Vacuum Tube, 70 Years of Radio Tubes and Valves, and so on.

I well remember the time I was at a larger hamfest about fifteen years ago and there was an older ham selling vintage tubes, such as UV201A's and such. In the cardboard box I spotted a neat looking tube that made me breathe quite heavily and I started to sweat and my heart beat increased considerably. Not to let on to the fact that I knew instantly what it was, I held it up and asked him if he knew what it was. He said he thought it was some strange tube for VHF operation in a radar set from WW2 vintage!

I told him it looked neat and asked him how much. He said five bucks, so I gladly paid him the five bucks for it and took it out to put in my van where it would not get broken. I have seen similiar tubes sell for a hundred times that price. What was it? It was a 1916 DeForest tubular audion! Complete with wire leads and an intact filament and no shorts. Looks just like the early Audiotron tubes pictured in Morgan McMahon's book Vintage Radio.

That was one of my better days at a hamfest.
Curt

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Thanks for sharing the story Curt.

Sounds similar to an adventure I had close to twenty years ago at the Springdale (Arkansas) hamfest.

An elderly gentleman had a table full of goodies to sell, including a couple of beer flats filled with earlier tubes - - - all priced at two bucks each. I nabbed a couple of dozen early types - - 01As, 99s, a few double digit numbers, and then spotted a curious and somewhat unusual shaped tube in the back corner of the last flat.

I asked the old fellow about the tube and he told me he had owned it since he was in his teens - - - it was a leftover from his youth. Now all of his treasures were being offered for sale (insisted on by his wife) so the kids wouldn't need to dispose of the stuff when his alloted time expired. He told me of the tube's history, his affection for it due to the length of time he'd owned it, as well as some of his early radio adventures involving the tube. He also said he'd like to get a bit more for it than the other tubes he had on display. My query about price brought a reply that he'd like at least five bucks for it. I said yes, and assured the gentleman the tube was going to a new and loving home where it would be kept, admired and cherished -- -- -- very much as it had been for the many years it remained in his possession..

The deal was made.

I still have the tube, and I will keep it until its time for me to similarly dispose of my treasures prior to my own (rapidly approaching) assumption of room temperature.

Oh, the tube?

A very nice example of a DeForest double-wing audion (with good fil.).

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Dale- well that trumps my tubular audion!
Curt

(stomping up and down) EVERYBODY has a DeForest Audion but ME!! (lower lip protrudes)

What does a DeForest Audion look like and how much would it cost me for a good one and a dud?
FE

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FreeElectron:



A good example of an early Audion can run well above a kilo-buck - - - auctions and other circumstances of course can affect this quite a lot.

Here's a nice photo and some information:


http://www.cedmagic.com/history/deforest-audion.html

And a nice drawing of the tubular version:

http://earlyradiohistory.us/1916aud.htm


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