"-Tron" Teasers - An Electronic Quiz
October 1963 Electronics World

October 1963 Electronics World   Table of Contents  Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Electronics World, published May 1959 - December 1971. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

Thyratrons, klystrons, and magnetrons I've heard of, but trochotrons, charactrons, tonotrons I ain't heard of. That made this quiz more of a learning exercise for me than a test of any sort of knowledge possessed. Heck, I thought an 'ignitron' was a pejorative term for a really dumb techie wannabe. In all there are 17 types of '-tron' devices given for which to match from a list of descriptions. You'll probably do better than I did on this quiz that appeared in the October 1963 issue of Electronics World magazine.

"-Tron" Teasers - An Electronic Quiz

By Robert K. Re

How many electronic devices do you know that end with the suffix "-tron"? Check your knowledge of the field with this quiz.

Quite a few devices used in electronics today were named using the suffix "-tron" (electron, cyclotron, etc.).

Out of the many words with this ending, can you match each

  1. This special tube is used to generate TV test signals when stations are off the air.

  2. A gas-filled device, this counting tube is widely used in digital circuits.

  3. High currents are rectified in the electroplating industry with this mercury-cathode diode.

  4. Much older than a tunnel diode, this four-electrode tube exhibits negative resistance in oscillator circuits.

  5. Widely used in r.f. circuits, this u.h.f. transit-time triode is called a "lighthouse" tube because of its shape.

  6. Once fired, the grid in this gas-filled tube ceases to have control over plate current until plate voltage is removed.

  7. This is the general name for beam-switching tubes. It describes the path of the electron in the tube.

  8. Operating near absolute zero temperature, this super-conducting switching element shows great promise for
      new computers.

  9. This linear sweep generator, once triggered, will keep itself turned on until the sweep is completed. 

10. Crossed magnetic and electric fields are the key to the operation of this high-power, high-frequency oscillator.

11. A new device, this special CRT is a direct-viewing storage tube. Information can be stored for long periods, yet
     quickly erased.

12. This new class of computer circuits uses multiple phase "clock" signals to perform majority logic operations.

13. Having one or more tunable cavities, this high-frequency tube "bunches" the electrons to produce oscillations.

14. This neon lamp is capable of generating short bursts of high-intensity light.

15. A special color CRT, this tube has only one gun and uses phosphor strips in place of phosphor dots.

16. Using a special mask and beam-shaping plate, this CRT can generate symbols on its face.

17. This new 12-pin subminiature, multi-function vacuum tube is finding wide use in electronic equipment.

Popular Electronics published many quizzes over the years (as did a few other magazines to a lesser extent) - some really simple and others not so simple. Robert P. Balin created many of the quizzes. This is a listing of all I have posted thus far.

Answers to "-tron" Teasers

  1.  O

  2.  F

  3.  I

  4.  L

  5.  E

  6.  A 

  7.  N

  8.  C

  9.  H

10.  J

11.  D

12.  P

13.  B

14  M

15  K

16.  G

17.  Q