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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.
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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
• 666, 5th Ave., New York 19, N.Y. U.S.A. Tel: Judson 6-4757
• 100 California St. San Francisco. Calif., U.S.A. Tel: Yukon 1-7871
• 333, N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago 1, ll., U.S.A. Tel: 726·4572/4
• Graf Adolf Strasse 37, Duesseldorf, West Germany Tel: 10846
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