Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

Vacuum tubes
Your grandpas electronics S ebastien Bourdeauducq
S ebastien Bourdeauducq Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

Why vacuum tubes ?

Phased out since the invention of the transistor, but... Fun factor

glowing laments magic eye tubes big mess of wires... easy analog electronics make your own tubes

DIY potential (and I dont mean Arduino)

Demonstrate laws of physics Cheap and simple for special applications

high power, high frequencies fast, high sensitivity light detectors electrical ruggedness
S ebastien Bourdeauducq Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

What do they look like ?

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

What do they look like ?

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

What do they look like ?

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

What do they look like ?

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

What do they look like ?

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

What do they look like ?

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

What do they look like ?

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

The diode Heating Amplier tubes

The diode

Early light bulb (vacuum) with internal plate Current in the plate could only ow in one direction Thomas Edison: signicant reports on the eect (1880)

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

The diode Heating Amplier tubes

The diode

John Ambrose Fleming: patent on the vacuum rectier (1904) Joseph John Thomson: electron theory (1906 Nobel Prize in Physics) Owen Willans Richardson: details on the thermionic eect (1928 Nobel Prize in Physics) Lets try it ! Type 80 rectier tube (1927)

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

The diode Heating Amplier tubes

Indirect heating tubes

Direct heating: the lament is also an emitting electrode (cathode) Problem: this electrically connects the heating circuit with the useful circuit

AC noise in the lament supply ends up in the output powering the laments with AC straight from the transformer would be convenient we may want to connect cathodes of dierent tubes to dierent parts of the circuit

Indirect heating: the lament heats an electrically isolated cathode

most common radio and TV tubes are of this type direct heating is still used for high power tubes
S ebastien Bourdeauducq Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

The diode Heating Amplier tubes

The triode

Triode = diode + grid electrode between cathode and plate A negative potential on the grid repels electrons from the cathode ...and modulates the current between cathode and plate ! Acts as an amplier ! Like paper shavings attracted by a charged CD.

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

The diode Heating Amplier tubes

Triode amplier

Cathode-plate current creates a voltage drop in the resistor (Ohms law) Voltage amplier Lets measure plate current vs. grid voltage...

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

The diode Heating Amplier tubes

Other amplier tubes

Tetrode and pentode are improvements on the triode Heptode tube (pentagrid converter) combines the functions of amplier, oscillator and mixer

used in super-heterodyne radio receivers serves the same purpose as the downconverter circuit in your Wi-Fi card

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

X-Ray tubes Photomultipliers Magic eye tubes Cyclotrons

X-Ray tubes

Just a diode at high voltage Electron impacts on the plate emit X-Rays Can be done with radio tubes (at your own risk) Real X-Ray tubes have rugged plates and cooling systems

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

X-Ray tubes Photomultipliers Magic eye tubes Cyclotrons

Photomultipliers

High speed, high sensitivity light detector Example applications:

Scintillation detector Optical TEMPEST

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

X-Ray tubes Photomultipliers Magic eye tubes Cyclotrons

Super-Kamiokande

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

X-Ray tubes Photomultipliers Magic eye tubes Cyclotrons

Magic eye tubes

Visible plate, coated with a uorescent material Lights when struck by electrons (like in CRTs) Commonly used as reception strenght indicator in radios Can demonstrate electron deection by magnetic elds

Dont try this experiment on a color CRT !

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

X-Ray tubes Photomultipliers Magic eye tubes Cyclotrons

Cyclotrons

Low cost, simple, compact particle accelerator A magnetic eld is used to give a circular motion to the beam Beam travels many times between cathode and anode which give acceleration

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

A simple audio amp Make your own tubes

A simple audio amp

My very rst tube amp : Flash from disposable camera as HV source

later replaced by an inverter made with NE555 + power supply transformer mounted backwards never meant to be used with audio, but worked anyway

Single 6BE6 pentagrid tube

Output transformer from a broken old radio Approx. 1W output

enough to drive a small speaker

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

A simple audio amp Make your own tubes

A simple audio amp

Very simple amplier schematics, but works pretty good.

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

A simple audio amp Make your own tubes

Make your own tubes

http://paillard.claude.free.fr/

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

A simple audio amp Make your own tubes

Make your own tubes

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

A simple audio amp Make your own tubes

Make your own tubes

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

A simple audio amp Make your own tubes

Make your own tubes

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes

Introduction How they work Special tubes DIYAIDMA Conclusion

Thank you for your attention

Make your own tubes (French): http://paillard.claude.free.fr/ Tube Datasheet Locator: http://tdsl.duncanamps.com/ Electronics lessons (French): http://pagesperso-orange.fr/f6crp/elec/ Basics of vacuum tubes: http://www.radau5.ch/basics_1.html These slides: http://lekernel.net/blog Questions ...?

S ebastien Bourdeauducq

Vacuum tubes