1968 HOW VACUUM TUBES are Made: English Electric Valve Co EEV Television Radio Radar CRT Cameras

If you enjoy our videos, PLEASE HELP US Preserve Technology History with a small contribution to our channel: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...
Your contribution greatly helps! Thank you! ~ CHAP. -- VACUUM TUBES: The following film focuses on the English Electric Valve Company, EEV, produced this 1968 documentary on how vacuum tubes ("valves" in the UK) are created and used. Shows manufacturing of Magnatrons, Klystrons, Image Orthicon (tv camera), cathode ray tubes, thyratrons, rectifiers and other equipment. A fascinating detailed look inside the labs of ENGLISH ELECTRIC VALVE Company's manufacturing processes provides a fascinating look into the challenges encountered and the techniques used in vacuum tube creation.
The English Electric Valve Company, or EEV, (now part of Teledyne) began in the early 1940s as a part of the Marconi group, manufacturing magnetron vacuum tubes for Radar systems.
EEV was originally registered in 1947 as the “Phoenix Dynamo Company,” but immediately changed its name to English Electric Valve Company.
By 1959, EEV was the largest hi-tech manufacturing company in the UK. Historically, it is known for the manufacture of electronic components and sub-systems for aerospace and defense, healthcare, and commercial and industrial sectors.
This documentary (1968) describes how various vacuum tube devices were created and used.
In March 2017, the EEV company (then known as “E2v Technologies”) was acquired by Teledyne and became part of Teledyne e2v.

[@zbaby82]

I love vacuum tubes/valves. I wish England would start making them again. Especially the EL34 and ECC83.

[@JohnMichaelson]

That is some amazing precision workmanship for the period, and so much of it by hand. You can imagine how much better we've gotten in the 55 years since this was made. The tiny copper honeycomb for the klystrons was particularly ingenious.

[@beamdriver5]

I work at a particle accelerator and we still use tubes for a lot of things. Klystron tubes provide power to the beam and accelerate electrons to almost the speed of light. They've been working on replacing these dinosaurs for years, but solid state amplifiers still have problems producing the high voltage/high power needed.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi Gary, fascinating! The still have high tech uses in many fields. Thank you for the feedback!

[@halonothing1]

Heck, klystrons are so ubiquitous in RF applications. I'm no RF engineer, but it seems they're especially prevelant anywhere radar is involved. Presumably they can generate high power microwaves in a manner somehow better suited for the application than magnetrons would be. Though I'm not sure why... yet. But I agree 100% about semiconductor based technologies for generating microwaves. Every method I've looked into using semiconductors, ie tunnel diodes, seemed to have output powers in the milliwatt range. But that didn't stop me from buying a 10 pack of surplus soviet tunnel diodes for $20 total, not each. =D Sorry if I'm a bit overenthusiastic. I don't have many opporutinities to talk shop with others about electronics/rf so it's hard not to rant on and on about it if given the chance hehe.

[@marekkowalski6767]

@@halonothing1 👍🇵🇱

[@tinytonymaloney7832]

I remember building Klystron power supplies from scratch when I worked at Marconi Radar in the early 80s. Dozen at a time, weighed a ton, full of transformers. Wonder how different they would be now, lighter perhaps with more electronics?

[@lilblackduc7312]

Great comments all around! Thank you...🇺🇸 😎👍☕

[@TiptreeJams]

I worked at EEV in Chelmsford in the early 1980's. A wonderful place to work with so many skilled staff and interesting tube manufacturing going on. The 'peace dividend' and advances in semiconductors meant that the market for military and broadcast tubes was getting smaller. When I left in the latter 1980's they were embracing semiconductor technologies and tube manufacturing was reducing.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi John, sounds like it was quite a fascinating experience! ~ VK

[@Jose-ox7ey]

Those days when there was pride in high quality products made in the USA.

[@VictorianMaid99]

this is so important, children today must see this

[@Shinkajo]

These old films are just marvelous. In many ways better than modern ones, especially American ones. The artistry, the subtle humor, it's just great.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi @Shinkajo, I have to agree on that! Thank you for your feedback on this one. ~ Victor, at CHAP

[@KeritechElectronics]

"It's EEV, not EEVBlog!" Love this film, a nice glimpse on the professional use tubes you don't come across that often. Most of them went out of use a long time ago, some are still indispensable today.

[@johncrichton4341]

I love the subtle yet perceptible negative inflection on "...colour television..."

[@kevinkun]

Enjoying your contents on this channel. Thanks for preserving and sharing these videos, so fascinating to see the past technologies

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi Kevinkun, thank you for the great feedback. Glad you found our channel too! ~ VK

[@NipkowDisk]

Great to see the image orthicon tube being awarded an Emmy! IIRC "Emmy" is in fact a corruption of the slang term "Immy" for the image orthicon tube.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi NipkowDisk, thanks for the etymology of "Emmy". Did not know that! A fascinating bit of television history! ~ Victor

[@stuartirwin3779]

I think you are wrong. Emmy is from Emitron, a version of the Iconoscope developed by the EMI company.

[@toresbe]

​@@stuartirwin3779 I'm pretty sure that's not the case. The Emitron was primarily a UK trademark. They would have been known as Iconoscopes in the US, where RCA manufactured them. Besides, the first Emmy was awarded in 1949, by which time iconocopes were entirely obsolete and the immy ruled supreme :)

[@stuartirwin3779]

@@toresbe You are quite right. I stand corrected. ☺

[@toresbe]

@@stuartirwin3779 Well it was a fun bit of research figuring out why that felt wrong to me :)

[@devi9202]

Iam still using murphy minx valve radio!

[@1975RStefan]

Thank you for uploading this nice historical documentation.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

You are very welcome!

[@joelima201]

Use to maintain thermal imaging cameras or TIC's made by EEV. The pickup tube was called the "Pevicon" Was quite sensitive to slight temperature changes. Used for an aid for firefighters.

[@christopherleubner6633]

Yup I remember those pyroelectric vidicon cameras. For their time they were extremely useful. 🤓

[@enoz.j3506]

Love these films,Thank you.

[@user-bo8eq7ki5w]

Интересно, жгуче интересно о американской электронике 60х. Спасибо ! Жалко, что я родился слишком поздно в 1976м ! (! Привет Эдвину Армстронгу !

[@videolabguy]

That was edutaining! Has anyone got the full datasheets for an EEV PX2696 / P8041 two inch diameter Image Isocon tube? I have one in my collection and it would be fun to build another video camera around this tube. It probably came from a decommissioned medical X-Ray machine. I'll bet it has plenty of life left in it. These two inch imagers are significantly smaller than their Image Orthicon cousins which came in 3 inch and 4.5 inch models. The difference in the two types, orthicon vs isocon, is in which electrons are resampled in the return beam. Isocons work great in low light but would be blinded completely if someone lit a candle in the same room. Orthicons work over a greater range of lighter, all be it with a lower signal to noise ration.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

PLEASE JOIN US in Preserving Vintage Computer and Technology History with a small contribution to our channel. www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LCNS584PPN28E Your contribution greatly helps us continue to bring you educational, historical, vintage computing topics. Thank you! ~ Computer History Archives Project

[@frankowalker4662]

That was brilliant. Thank you.

[@jagadishmekap1973]

Best video vacum tube electronics🙏🙏♥️♥️

[@tinytonymaloney7832]

And there it was all gone, the good old days of good quality British precision engineering. No more. Its all cheaply made in China or Taiwan. Good trip down memory lane though, 👍

[@lilblackduc7312]

Thank you for this one! 🇺🇸 😎👍☕

[@christopherleubner6633]

EEV made some truly nice transmitter tetrodes and photomultipliers 🤓❤

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Yes, indeed!

[@SubTroppo]

I wonder whether Oliver Postgate, one of the creators of "The Clangers", saw this film at 17.37 and said, "Ha!"

[@museonfilm8919]

Funny that - I half expected a Soup Dragon to pop up!!

[@phonotical]

Driver looked like Michael Palin

[@MirlitronOne]

Back in the day when Great Britain was still great. Fortunately, we've now squandered our technological advantage and our economy with it.

[@jeanleveille5319]

Tubes are still used in guitar amplifiers because of the rich sound and overdrive. After playing quality tubes in my amp for 3 years (now they are $150 each), I have Tried again the original tubes ($15 tube) With low market tubes, I lose something like 50% of my sound quality.

[@dingalarm]

If tubes continue to be as ridiculously expensive as they are now, I doubt tube guitar amplifiers will be around for much longer 🙁

[@Gorilla.Guitar]

@@dingalarm not as long as there are idiots like myself willing to pay outlandish prices for tone..

[@nobodynoone2500]

Although the tubes add harmonic distortion, It's mostly the transformer stages that give it the "tube sound".

[@PaulHigginbothamSr]

Mien Gott a large portion on the way to an atomic bomb was produced at EEV in 68.

[@Rajibuzzaman_STEM_Rajibuzzaman]

" Vaccume Tube to Color Retriving Tube "

[@mikegLXIVMM]

Fleming Valves

[@soloperformer5598]

Sorry, if they were made in England they would be VALVES not vacuum tubers.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

If the British call vacuum tubes "valves" did you ever wonder what they call Valves? I do.

[@soloperformer5598]

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject They call them VALVES.

[@goodun2974]

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject , Adrian Legg, fantastic one-of-a-kind guitar player from Great Britain,, calls them tubes, not valves; apparently, the term "valves" isn't quite universal.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Yes, "Valves" is what the British called tubes, but most people use the term "tubes." The British love to have different words for many things. They call the underground subway a "tube", trucks are "lorries", a toilet is called a "loo", and many more. Fascinating, but you have to be an etymologist to figure out why. LOL

[@soloperformer5598]

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject The British had the word for many thigs before they were ruined by Americans. Surprising really that America should deviate so far from English as the country is less than 250 years old.

[@emreozdemir2847]

semiconductor technology.brought the end of vacuum tubes

[@nobodynoone2500]

They are still used (and superior to solid-state) in hundreds of applications. It was just the end of mass-production devices. MOSFETs and Diodes are just more efficient and cheaper for simple low-bandwidth applications like audio amplifiers.