Valves

[kevinski]

Hi, I'm trying to get my head around valves and what the pins are and where they go to. Using the information from the Valve Museum website I can sort of understand some of the names etc but what I'm stumbling over is the letters and numbers that are inside brackets i.e.

PCL83 pin 1 = a(t).

I presume that a = anode but can't for the life of me work out what the (t) means. Any help or a pointer in the direction of a website would be much appreciated.

Kevin

[paulsherwin]

The PCL83 contains two valves in one envelope, a triode and a pentode. a(t) is the triode anode, and a(p) is the pentode anode.

[kevinski]

What about pin 6 which just has a and nothing in brackets. Is that the pentode anode or something different. I am working on a Black Box which also has an ECC82 valve which has nubers in brackets i.e. pin 1 = a(2). What would that mean?

Kevin

[Restoration73]

This site merits extensive examination, methinks
http://www.r-type.org/exhib/aai0081.htm

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by kevinski

What about pin 6 which just has a and nothing in brackets. Is that the pentode anode or something different. I am working on a Black Box which also has an ECC82 valve which has nubers in brackets i.e. pin 1 = a(2). What would that mean?

Kevin

Yes, in that example a(t) is the triode anode and a is the pentode anode. When a valve is a double triode the first triode will be marked a/g/k and the second a(2)/g(2)/k(2). There's some variation but it all makes sense if you think about it, especially if you refer to a diagram of the valve.

[Bazz4CQJ]

Before getting involved with the electrode connections, have you grasped the basics of the modern valve numbering system? By which I mean that for the ECC81, E tells you it has 6.3V heaters, C tells you it's a triode and CC a double triode, and the 81 tells you it's a B9A base. When you can use that info to figure out what the valve is, understanding the designation of the connections follows fairly easily.

[kevinski]

Thanks Bazz, I had no idea they meant anything. Is there a website or a list somewhere where these are listed?

Thanks Paul, you're quite right, once some kind soul like yourself points you in the right direction it does have a logic that makes sense.

Restoration73, checked out that site as mentioned in my first post but I couldn't find a suitable starting point that coincided with my lack of knowledge lol.

Cheers

Kevin

[paulsherwin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullard...be_designation

[kevinski]

Brilliant Paul, many thanks

Kevin