XPost: rec.radio.shortwave   
   From: bit_bucket@gmx.com   
      
   On 11/16/2011 11:34 PM, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:   
   > Michael Black wrote:   
   >   
   >>   
   >> Of course, towards the end of the life of tubes, one could get some that   
   >> ran off 12v, intended for use in car radios.  Not so useful now since they   
   >> were produced in a limited time span as transistors were taking over, so   
   >> quantity is relatively limited.   
   >   
   > Even rarer were tubes that drew almost no current. They used "cold cathodes"   
   > so they did not need expensive (in terms of current and heat dissipation)   
   > filaments and had low plate voltages.   
   >   
   > They came out when transistors where just starting out, but rise of   
   > transisitors was so rapid and transistors were so cheap in comparison, that   
   > it was simpler and cheaper to build a 7 or 12 transistor radio than a 5 tube   
   > cold cathode one.   
   >   
   > They showed some promise in the missle and space exploration systems of the   
   > time, because transistors could not stand the temperature extremes or   
   > cosmic radiation they would be exposed to. That also did not last long,   
   > as improved "space grade" transistors came out.   
   >   
   > What really killed them was NASA's adoption of the new integrated circuits   
   > (which actually pre-date the "space race").   
   >   
   > Geoff.   
   >   
   >   
      
   Yes, you hit on the real death of tubes right there, the IC or   
   integrated transistors and our ability to place umpteen millions on a   
   single chip ...   
      
   Regards,   
   JS   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)