Hitachi Nuvistor Advertisement
March 6, 1964 Electronics Magazine

March 6, 1964 Electronics [Table of Contents] Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Electronics, published 1930 - 1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

According to the somewhat limited unique information (much repeated, as I'm doing here) available about the "nuvistor" vacuum tube amplifier, it was superior to many glass-encapsulated vacuum tubes. Lower noise figure, smaller size, greater ruggedness, intrinsically shielded, and relatively higher operating frequency (near a gigahertz) were the main marketing standpoint. RCA introduced the nuvistor in 1959, and shortly thereafter General Electric (GE), started making them, and then by 1964 (maybe earlier) Hitachi was offering nuvistors. The manufacturing process, where the entire assembly was performed in a vacuum chamber, made nuvistors more expensive than competitor glass tubes. The nuvistor concept might have been big if semiconductors (transistors) had not been making such rapid progress in supplanting most vacuum tubes. In fact, nuvistors (a portmanteau of "new," "vacuum[tube], "and "transistor") were supposed to tamp down interest in transistors, but history shows the winner in that contest.

A nuvistor was used in the front end of the HP3400A True RMS Voltmeter (thanks to Michael M. for that). Also, thanks to Bob Davis for pointing out that the Lafayette HB-400 CB radio sported a Nuvistor in the receiver front end. Here is a Nuvistor info resource. See the "Nuvistors and Micro-Modules," "The Tube Family Tree," "Lafayette Radio Electronics," "Hitachi Nuvistor Ad," "Using the Nuvistor on V.H.F. Bands," and the "The NASA 136" articles, too.

Hitachi Nuvistors Ad

a complete range of quality Nuvistors by

Hitachi

Reliable

Low Power Requirements

Self-Shielding

Uniform

Stable

Hitachi now offers a complete range of nuvistors to the radio and television industry. Included are useful new Hitachi designed types. They are made with the precision, care and pride that go into every Hitachi product. Every nuvistor is carefully inspected before leaving the factory. Write Hitachi for detailed technical information and prices. Discover the advantages of specifying Hitachi nuvistors for your product.

Hitachi

Tokyo, Japan

Cable Address: "Hitachi" Tokyo

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