[HBR] Tube history/usage summary?

[Kenneth Lopez]

My suggestions include some of Tim's:

The  Radiotron Designers Handbook 4th Edition (Big Red Book) is really  
the only edition worth considering.  Available used on Amazon from $30  
and up.  I would consider it a must.  FYI this is the book that Leo  
Fender used when starting guitar amplifier designs.  Then he tweaked  
circuits until he found what he envisioned.

Late editions of the Radio Engineer's Handbook by Henney

Electronic and Radio Engineering by Terman

Radio Engineering by Terman

50's & 60's editions of The Radio Handbook by Orr

50's & early 60's editions of ARRL Handbook

Multiple editions of the RCA Transmitting Tube manual, and RCA  
Receiving Tube manuals

Radio Physics Course by Ghirardi

Radio Transmitters by Gray and Graham

Much of the development work pertinent to what you might wish to learn  
was well documented in the '50s and early '60s.  I probably would  
stick to those editions of most of the available books.

A really good resource, besides Amazon and Antique Electronics Supply,  
would be a good local or online bookstore that has some specialty in  
technical books.  There are many dozens of books that were in print in  
that era, which was the peak of tube research and development.
One that I have frequented is Bargain Books in Van Nuys, CA  http://www.bargainbooks-online.com/


Many good books on tube audio were published including 1st and 2nd  
editions of The Audio Encyclopedia, and others by Harry Olson, etc.

I have been a technical book junkie for many years (OK, perhaps just a  
book junkie).

Cheers,

Ken N6TZV

On Oct 28, 2009, at 9:49 AM, Shoppa, Tim wrote:

>> So here¹s my question ... Is there a recommended book, article  
>> series, or
>> whatever, that might categorize, classify, group or explain tubes and
>> characteristic used in different applications?
>
> Good starts for smaller tubes are:
>
> RCA Receiving Tube Handbook. Different editions span different  
> years. They include cross-refs by application, selection charts, and  
> many tube parameters. For HBR era stuff a postwar book with  
> miniatures is the obvious choice, and reprints of RC-30 (1973) are  
> readily available from Antique Electronic Supply etc. The later you  
> go, the more compactrons and TV-type tubes you see, if this is  
> important to you (depending on your bent it may not be desirable!).  
> Many example schematics.
>
> Radiotron Designers Handbook. Not so much a databook but a  
> encyclopedic book about radio and tube design.
>
> Ternan's books on Radio Engineering are good too.
>
> Some university level textbooks common in the 1950's:
> Spangenberg, "Vacuum Tubes"
> Seely, "Electron Tube Circuits"
> Millman & Seely.
> Millman and Taubes.
>
> If you have a good technical library near you, the MIT Radiation Lab  
> series.
>
> A lot of figures and tables you find in the 40's-50's-60's-70's ARRL  
> Handbooks are actually taken from the above books.
>
> Tim.
>
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