Humans are truly amazing. The amount of knowledge that a single member of our species can hold for a single profession is astonishing. When you group all of these experts into a common civilization, great things are achieved. I'm more of a jack of many trades, master of none, but I can sure appreciate masters such as Mr. Carlson and his dedication to the craft and willingness to share that precious data he's saved on his own biological hard drive.
Human hybrid, perhaps? Not that I am a huge proponant of extra-terestrial influence; however, I do not discount the possibility. I have seen many unexplainable things in my past 66 years ! I am a scientist and as such a trained observer, I can make no biased reservations/judgements. I agree though, Mr Carlson is unique and generous to share his tallent, a rare quality these days; indeed.
That is why I get miffed when people say "My doctor cannot find what is wrong with me". There are so many things we know & do not know how can you expect one doctor to know it all. That is why they are now in groups.
Like you David I am a jack of all trades, master of only my own.Vehicle Mechanic.When I was an apprentice the mechanical aspect I absorbed like a sponge! But the electrics, not so much.But I managed it in the end.But I love electronics, and wish I could absorb the Knowledge easier.When you think of the knowledge that Paul has it is amazing.
I started at the age of 12 as a hobby repairing radios with a friend. Reading books etc and of course Allied Electronics, (Knight kits) , Heathkits, building short wave radios etc. Later on after serving in the US Air Force i went to trade school for electronics. Been in the electronics field for over 45 years and now retired and STILL into electronics. I am a Amateur Radio operator( 32 yrs ) and have built many pieces of equipment for the shack. I say all this NOT to blow my own whistle but to say even all the knowledge I've learned over the many years i enjoy watching videos like Mr. Carlsons Lab. Sometimes we forget our theories etc and it's refreshing to have someone with his expertise to explain the theory for everyone. Thank you Mr. Carlson for taking the time for young and old in this great hobby of electronics and keeping it simple but interesting.
Great memory jogger. It seemed so much easier to understand when I was 12 years old playing with TV s & old radios. Such a shame the young people of today won't ever experience the wonder of it all. ( Here son go play with this old TV it's only got 18,000 volts inside ) yet I survived childhood. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.
This was the best education on vacuum tubes, I have ever seen. Your analogy, using the Venetian blind and the light bulb and wall was totally brilliant. I was brought up in the 50's and my dad worked for Sparton and was a tube man all the way. We built crystal sets and single and dual tube radios together and I had a learning experience that way, but never got the simple explanation you gave me....Thank You So Much!!!
Mr Carlson, you are amazing! I am 65 years old and always wondered how a vacuum tube worked. I remember when I was a child, my dad going to the drug store and testing the tubes of our TV. Then picking out the new tube from the cabinet below the tester, driving home and replacing the faulty tube. I was intrigued at how a little glass thing could make a picture and sound. After watching other electronics lessons online and learning about cathodes, anodes, resistors and diodes work, I can understand the basics of a vacuum tube. Thank you so much for your time.
Thanks - I enjoyed this one. A series on basic amplifier design using vacuum tubes would be great - showing typical use cases, etc. When I was much younger, I remember being intimidated by the sheer number of connections shown on a vacuum tube. It wasn't until much later that I learned that many of the connections (screen, suppressor, etc.) were just DC bias connections that improved the basic "triode" device's performance. Showing some examples of classic radio schematics and breaking them down into bias and signal paths would be helpful for a lot of people I think. Nice job as always.
Tubes were still being taught in tech school back in the late 60s. Transistor theory was being taught alongside though. Yeah, I'm that old. Tubes are still relevant in certain applications.
@@joewoodchuck3824.....I remember back whenever our TV wasn't up to par, I'd take out the tubes, ride my bike to Savon and testing them on a good old fashioned dial machine. The cabinet below contained the new tubes
@@joewoodchuck3824 Yes, tubes certainly are relevant today in certain instances. I will still use them in any application that I can manage to squeeze them into.. 😁 My favorite use for them is in the front-end of a big, grunty, solid state, high-bias Class A/B Hi-Fi amplifier, and on the output of all the signal sources plugged into it.
Mr Carlson: I have a dumb question (maybe this is not a dumb question but I will ask it anyway), but is it possible to reduce or eliminate AC hum in an audio amplifier by using a well-filtered DC power supply to power the filament(s) of the tube(s) ? Maybe the 60Hz (50Hz in Europe and elsewhere) sine wave may modulate the electrons going from cathode to plate?
Hum in a vacuum tube audio amplifier may be due to filter capacitors in need of replacement. I had a 1958 10 watt tube amp with a half wave rectifier whose hum level was barely audible. An external cause of hum may be ground loops.
I am 72 and remember tubes and transistors. I miss the projects in the old electronic magazines and going to Radio Shack for parts. I was in electronics in the AF.
My wife told me I spend too much on my electronics hobby after I bought a 35 dollar bench lab power supply on Ebay. I showed her the beginning of this video and she instantly was quiet. First time ever. She has not complained since. THANK YOU!!!!!
I've been an electronics Engineer for 35 years and I'm STILL learning. I love watching these fixit videos. I try to second guess the problems before Paul does. I LOVE fixing things, so much I'll fix things for people for free (parts cost only).
Stereo enthusiast here 👋 Solid State is cool, but tubes rule! I’m wanting to learn as much about tubes as I can so I can design and build my own tube amp some day. It’s truly fascinating.
*Mr. Carlson, you are the Electronic's Doctor and vacuum tubes!* *We enjoy watching your work and explanation of what's going on with these individual parts, thanks for sharing a part of what's in your head, yikes!!* 😗
Bringing back memories, as my dad spent decades changing tubes in TVs and radios! And your explanations are great, too! Thanks. Glad the ElectroBoom video sent me here. 🙂
I was just looking at some vacuum tubes in an antique store today and was wondering how they worked. One was from 1930, nearly a hundred years old. Great to see how it all works!
I remember being absolutely fascinated with vacuum tubes when I was a kid. I think it was their use in guitar amplifiers that first got me interested. In sixth grade, must have been around 1989 or 1990, I wrote an essay on Lee DeForest for an assignment. I used to love riding my bike down to RadioShack when I got my allowance where they had shelves full of components and boards an boxes and switches and pick out components and stuff and try to make my own distortion peddles for my electric guitar. I had one of those 300 in 1 electric kit toys too. But vacuum tubes always fascinated me more than solid state components. I remember the first time I got my hands on one was in a storage room in the locker room at school where I saw there was an old PA amplifier opened up and I quickly snuck in and took two of the tubes. I would sit in my room and look at them. I think the thing that most impressed me then was the powerful sound they could generate. I never did get into electronics for a career but I still am interested in it.
You’re presentation is to the point and the deliberate pace at which you speak is perfect as far as I am concerned. I will be watching many more of your uploads and certainly appreciate your time spent .
Thank you Sir Carlson. May I please compliment your teaching style. Very good teacher, excellent tone of voice; I hear patients and at the same time, enthusiasm. Much admired, the Queen would approve.
what a great job explaining how tubes work. i have been playing around with tubes my entire life but still learned a lot from this video. 5 stars , KE2XC
Enjoyed your video on the operation of the vacuum tube. I worked for about 30 years in a high power vacuum tube rebuilding plant in Louisiana. We rebuilt transmitting tubes that were first built with glass envelopes, and also the later version of ceramic (in place of glass) tubes. We also rebuilt the klystron tubes that were used in UHF television transmitters. My uncle, W. T. Freeland also rebuilt the cathode ray tubes that were used in television sets of the 1950’s through 1960’s. Thank you very much for your presentation and I hope to see more presentations in the future.
Your ability to explain things is a Canadian national treasure. I love your explanation on directly heated cathodes in a microwave oven, as an example. Please keep it up.
Microwave Radios have Klystron Tubes . I served in the U.S. Army STRATCOM - USACC ( U.S. Army Signal Corps) as a '' Strategic Microwave TeleCommunications Operation & Repair Specialist Tech. MOS 26V. From April 1970 to July 1978. I was schooled at Fort Monmouth , NJ in Electronics. 2 Months in Basic Electronics, and 5 Months in Operations & Maintenance of Various kinds of Microwave Radio Systems used by the Military, both Tactical and Fixed Station or Strategic Systems. I like your videos because they refresh my memories and former knowledge in Electronics. I'm now almost 70 years old and I have sorta forgotten some of the basic things that I learned some 50 years ago. I also have and own various books and publications on Electronics and Tech Manuals, most of them are former Military Tech Manuals of the different MW Radio systems that I had experience working with and on during my 8 + years in the Service at various Military assignments. I am also a State Licensed Journeyman Electrician with over 52+ years in Residential & Commercial Electrical Wiring . I also have several components of various kinds and types Electronic Test Equipment, TMDE, that I have acquired over the years that I built and assembled from Kits from Heath Electronics. I use to do Radio & TV Repair .
As a young kid of 11 or so, I also scrounged garbage pails for radios and parts.Finding an old radio would make my day. I had several old speakers (the old types with the magnet coil) but could not get much volume out of them. I went to the library and got a book about tubes and found out that the "extra" coil needed a couple hundred volts to activate electromagnet. With the parts I collected, I built a full-wave rectifier circuit and connected the DC voltage to the magnet coil. When I put audio into the voice coil I was amazed at the volume the speaker produced. My first electronic project and it was a success. Many, many more came after that and I am still at it - but not with voltages of 300 volts! How about 5 and 12 volts dc! I have traveled from vacuum tubes to microprocessors. What a journey! Yeah, ELECTRONICS!
Great video Mr. C! I taught electronics , in the physics department , at Swarthmore from 2001 to 2012.alas vacuum tube theory was omitted from the curriculum. In my lab class I ran a three hour segment on tube basics. The student thought I was pulling their leg. Here they could grasp semi-conductor theory but considered vacuum tube theory like or was black magic. So a few of my students had an opportunity to work in the physics lab over the Summer. The lab consisted of a high power vacuum tube, called a Spheromak . The lab prof. was astounded at their understanding of electron valve theory.
I wish I had a teacher like you in my younger days. For one that knows it is all good but for the one that is learning it's all new. You are a great explainer.
I absolutely adore all the Canadians on TH-cam in the electronics sphere, and especially love how Mr. Carlson focuses on pre-transistor technology, even though I know he knows the new stuff. I was admittedly pre-transistor in my knowledge and work before the pandemic, and I like being reminded that there was still so much that could be done with that.
I just stumbled on to your channel. What a great blast from the past! I took my first electronics class in 1976 and all of our lab equipment was vacuum tube based, so that's how the class was taught. I'm so glad I learned electronic theory this way because it was so easy to visualize how a tube worked. Thank you so much for producing your videos. Your knowledge on the subject is impressive!
TH-cam recommended me this video “shango066 viewers also watched this” yes I’ve watched a lot of his videos and wondered how exactly tubes worked and what wires did what, why they needed heaters. This explains all that quite perfectly, thanks!
Excellent stuff, 56 years old Electrician and technician, I never really understood valve design, as I ignored it mainly at college as it was a dying technology in the 90's, it was never pushed on us. I like way you explained the way these work. Great video cheers from UK :-)
Such a sad loss of heritage. I had a longstanding fantasy of making a vacuum tube like DeForest did, and for all the shortcomings of vacuum tubes I feel solid state electronics lacks soul.
Understanding the flow methods, I have seen positive reference ground planes used for tubes... So watching this makes it clear as to why this may be... Thanks for sharing
This is what I love about TH-cam. It's full of videos that are like those interesting programmes on obscure topics that you wished were on TV but hardly ever were. If you see what I mean.
Videos like these and channels so rich like these must be made part of the mandatory study material for Electrical and electronics engineers. Very very valuable and comprehensive !
This was the second time I watched this video, and I got a lot more out of it than the first time. Paul does a very understandable description that even a novice such as me, can follow. Most of his videos contain comments that are beyond my understanding, but I'm finding that the more I watch, the more I'm able to pick up a few more details that begin to make some sense.
How did this excellent educational video get even one dislike, much less 191 dislikes? If someone doesn’t like or understand the subject then don’t watch it. Carlson is among the best teaching this, and a dislike based on him in any way is ludicrous.
Thanks Mr. Carlson. I have a BSEE and my school refused to teach tubes in the early 70's because they were already fading into the past. I was disappointed because I just wanted to fix my old radios and TVs. Consequently, I never could fix or design tube circuits. I am still disappointed to this day.
My knowledge of electronics is growing daily through watching your video tutorials, repairs and renovations, that said, i'm never going to be an expert no matter how much i watch as at 72yo my learning capabiity is more limited than in days gone by but, by trying, i'm utilising what i have left of my brain and helping it resist the decay brought about by the passing years. Thankyou very much for your easy to follow and well presented videos.
I have just become a fan of Mr Carlson's Lab after watching many of his videos. Fascinating and knowledge stretching. I think I might have to join his patreon site to get the details on how to build his capacitor checker as I would realy like to start a project that I have been holding off for 10 years. I have a 1952 HMV radiogram that requires a re-build. Thanks Mr Carlson for your education and inspiration :-))
This guy is orders of magnitude better than instructors I had in high school or college. Clear and concise. I am finding this to be the case in many other TH-cam channels as well. Technology is giving us the freedom to find and learn from the really good instructors. As well as preserving knowledge of the past, as others have commented here that college EE programs don't even bother to teach vacuum tubes any more. A shame. Vacuum tubes are works of art as well as science.
I hope you see this! I was 12 and was given a Tube amplifier. I knew electronics and got it to work. I used to turn the lights out and watch the blue plasma jump around in the 6L6GC output tubes. Listening to Holst's "The Planets"...
Very Nostalgic and very well done explanation . makes me wish I was still 5yold with my head stuck in the back of the old Valve Radios TVs and Amps learning the art of high voltage repairs with my Dad.👍👍👍
30 years of mystery - ruined. I finally got around to learning the basics of vacuum tubes, and your video was very effective. I hope they still give that magic feeling next time I see some glowing inside of something.
From my Air Force days ('76 to '80) working on an analog flight simulator, we used a lot of 6AU6 tubes along with 12AT7 tubes. We had hundreds of them in the 80 foot long computer. In the dead of winter in northern Maine, those tube filaments provided enough heat that we didn't need an actual heater.
No matter how much I understand about this stuff and electricity in general. but especially with these tubes. it just amazes me that somebody was able to come up with this idea. To this day it just blows my mind I guess.
+Mr Carlson's Lab I've been into tubed audio since the 1960's. BTW, most of my audio amplifiers even today have tubes, and I have several including DynaKit's that I've built back around 1969, and modern day stuff like PrimaLuna and Woo Audio. That being said, I've learned something new today thanks to you.
I really enjoy your videos! You make it easy to understand! Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge in such an interesting way! Looking forward to the next one!
you know, i really didn't want to watch a full half hour video because i just wanted a simple answer to a simple question. shame on me for thinking that any question is simple. I'm so glad that you made this detailed video.
Mr. Carlson: Thank you for your excellent seminar about vacuum tubes. My retirement hobby is the repair of vintage vacuum tube radio. I have much to learn and your seminars have taught me much. Please keep up all of you good work. Malcolm KB1QCJ
I love DH tubes. My 2 favorite small DH tubes are the 3A4 and 3A5. A directly heated pentode and dual triode. Very cool low current, low voltage tubes for a small audio amp. I use a pair of 3A4 in push pull or in parallel for a very small two lithium cell powered 1.4 watt guitar amp. I use a simple switcher to generate 150 vdc for the plate/Anode of the 3A4’s from a 3.7 volt lithium battery supply. Then i run -2.8 volts (series filaments) using a simple resistor on the filament and i also use the -3.7vdc supply for the grid bias. Also the 3A4 can be used at 1.2 watts output in class C RF service up to 10 mhz. My first home brew 80M and 40M CW ham radio transmitter used a 3A4. A fun small tube. I used them in many many projects. I’ve been a bottle head since the 60’s. I’m an EE and design modern digital circuitry as well, but i love the sound of vacuum tubes. They also look and smell so good.
Really great video, thank you Paul! I've never really discounted tubes since I realize that there are still many applications where they're the most suitable components. Microphones come to mind, photomultiplier tubes, vacuum fluorescent displays, microwaves as well, just as you said. CRT monitors also. I'm lucky enough to still be using a Sony GDM-FW900 as one of my monitors which can run at up to 160Hz refresh with 0 input lag. It goes up to 2304x1440 as well. 100% analog. No modern monitor of any cost approaches it in terms of max refresh rate and "pixel" on/off times. You'd think that CRT technology is obsolete, and while that's true for monitors, it's untrue in general. The merit of learning about CRT technology today is that you can start to understand particle accelerator tech. Klystrons and IOTs are both still in common use of course. Klystrons being less efficient but so far unbeatable for certain applications requiring high power and high gain for radioastronomy and particle accelerators. Some of the specs are so far out, that the numbers seem nonsensical. 535kV beam voltage at 700A beam current for 150MW RF output in a single tube. 55dB gain. Good luck doing that with solid state. And that was in 1996 haha. :P As the frequencies scale, such as a W-band range (75-110GHz), manufacturing precision has to be extreme, requiring dimensional accuracies of 1-2 microns and surface finishes better than 200nm. Lots of things to look forward to in the future. And so - it's not at all a waste of time to learn the basics of vacuum tubes which an amateur can in fact buy and play with today for very little cost. The basic principle of manipulating electron flow in a vacuum isn't going away any time soon. Thank you again for making these!!
We have two electron beam welding machines at work. The guns that produces the electron beam are basically a triode with a separately heated cathode. The filament, cathode, grid and anode are all replaceable. The electrons are emitted from a point protruding from the cathode and strike the anode which has a small hole in it's center. The electrons continue through the anode, through a focusing coil and strike the part to be welded. It all runs under high vacuum produced by vacuum pumps and at around 40kv.
I'm a sound engineer playing around with various triodes and pentodes (such as black box hg-2). Now I finally understand how they work at normal voltages. Thanks. On to saturation and distortion...
Excellent explanation of vacuum tubes! I have been in electronics a long time and still learned something. Thank you Mr. Carlson for being a great teacher!
Paul, Another good video. The venetian blind analogy was great. Nice to have the old memory jogged with what was in use half century ago. With everything now digital, we need to remember our roots. :-)
Great explanation of basic tube element construction Paul. Nice video to come home from after a day of work and relax while watching. Will enjoy what ever you decide to upload. Have a great day :)
@@TheRadioShop maybe i can ask you the same thing i asked Mr Carlson since you work on cb's mainly i neeed a pll 02a chip any idea's thanks your cb friend steven aka (BILLY THE KID) UNIT 200
Hi steven, sorry but I do not mainly work on cb radio. My main repairs are ham radio and test gear. Vintage stuff. But check ebay and also yard sales for that chip. Old 5 dollars radios had lots of parts.
@@TheRadioShop man sorry if i insulted you for sure i just ment your very good when it comes to them and thats probly the videos in witch i chose to watch or something you uncle doug mr carlson .wow i just relized i confused you with another guy witch is also really good but you do do exactly what you said sorry about that anyway you guys are the very best ive ever seen you and mr carlson are un believable yal are so good its hard for me to hold yals coat tells while trying to learne yals advanced class and ive got to give uncle doug credit for his teaching to us first and second graders so to speak he made it where i finally understood tubes and how simple they are the thing that opened it up for me was that ac and dc can travel down the same wire and not see each other and they have different doors they can go through from one another now if i can get going on trasistors as well anyway i see another couple of years before can comprehend you and mr carlson keep up the good work and i will keep studing yal daily i appreciate all that yal do so thank you again oh and sorry for the confusion you guys are amazing if i one day know a quarter what yal do about this stuff i will be pleased and i'm very proud for those two young fellows
+Mr Carlson's Lab Yes, somehow you explain things in a very easy to understand way while showing it. Cuts right to the point and very clearly. Keep that style!
Hi Paul, great channel. Every time I see you sitting below all that older, heavy test equipment stacked to the ceiling, I think, man, I hope those shelves are REALLY RUGGED. Bet I'm not the only one.
@@95rav I have a Collins R-390 (Not an A) and it has the original radium meters on it, the line level meter still glows for about a minute after a bright light has been flashed on it, pretty cool, 33 tubes in all. The signal strength meter is dead though as are most of the R-390 and 390A meters that I've seen.
Disassembly and evaluation would be a great series of videos. A systematic " do no harm" approach to repair, is something many could be fit from. Thank you
Videos like this are deffinitly great for younger folks like me to learn about more obscure tech that most forget about. And this is deffinitly stoaking my interest in a nice tube amp / preamp to enjoy music / vinyl threw, both for the novelty of this classic tech in modern form, and for the somewhat legendary sound they are said to have!
Been watching your videos for awhile now and I think i'm ready to jump in. Just got my first radio an Echophone EC-1 and I've got the soldering iron hot and ready. I'm retired now but I still got the Weller soldering iron from when I was 10 years old and it brought back memory's of when I was a kid when I burned my finger the other day. This is going to be so much fun! Mr Carlson you are a fantastic instructor and I thank you very much. I'll be watching.
I realize this fellow is an electronics engineer/physicist but yikes- he could probably make some out of this world guitar amplifiers ! and REALLY know what he's after too. I'm so glad I found this channel, on a matter of curiosity I'm going to inherit as much knowledge as I can from this person.
Take your Electronic Knowledge to the next level, check out my Patreon site: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab
would you call an incandescent lamp a unode?
This was the next question.
Great explanation, clear, concise, informative!
What a great Teacher you explained the Theory so well made it very enjoyable rather than a chor.
I understand how YourTube works, now and I gotta figure out how TH-cam works. ;D
Humans are truly amazing. The amount of knowledge that a single member of our species can hold for a single profession is astonishing. When you group all of these experts into a common civilization, great things are achieved. I'm more of a jack of many trades, master of none, but I can sure appreciate masters such as Mr. Carlson and his dedication to the craft and willingness to share that precious data he's saved on his own biological hard drive.
Human hybrid, perhaps? Not that I am a huge proponant of extra-terestrial influence; however, I do not discount the possibility. I have seen many unexplainable things in my past 66 years ! I am a scientist and as such a trained observer, I can make no biased reservations/judgements. I agree though, Mr Carlson is unique and generous to share his tallent, a rare quality these days; indeed.
That is why I get miffed when people say "My doctor cannot find what is wrong with me". There are so many things we know & do not know how can you expect one doctor to know it all. That is why they are now in groups.
Like you David I am a jack of all trades, master of only my own.Vehicle Mechanic.When I was an apprentice the mechanical aspect I absorbed like a sponge! But the electrics, not so much.But I managed it in the end.But I love electronics, and wish I could absorb the Knowledge easier.When you think of the knowledge that Paul has it is amazing.
I started at the age of 12 as a hobby repairing radios with a friend. Reading books etc and of course Allied Electronics, (Knight kits) , Heathkits, building short wave radios etc. Later on after serving in the US Air Force i went to trade school for electronics. Been in the electronics field for over 45 years and now retired and STILL into electronics. I am a Amateur Radio operator( 32 yrs ) and have built many pieces of equipment for the shack. I say all this NOT to blow my own whistle but to say even all the knowledge I've learned over the many years i enjoy watching videos like Mr. Carlsons Lab. Sometimes we forget our theories etc and it's refreshing to have someone with his expertise to explain the theory for everyone. Thank you Mr. Carlson for taking the time for young and old in this great hobby of electronics and keeping it simple but interesting.
He knows cars too .check out his ride black box vid
Great memory jogger. It seemed so much easier to understand when I was 12 years old playing with TV s & old radios. Such a shame the young people of today won't ever experience the wonder of it all. ( Here son go play with this old TV it's only got 18,000 volts inside ) yet I survived childhood.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video.
Compared to modern electronics, these old tube sets are absolutely beautiful. And a work of art!
This was the best education on vacuum tubes, I have ever seen. Your analogy, using the Venetian blind and the light bulb and wall was totally brilliant. I was brought up in the 50's and my dad worked for Sparton and was a tube man all the way. We built crystal sets and single and dual tube radios together and I had a learning experience that way, but never got the simple explanation you gave me....Thank You So Much!!!
Mr Carlson, you are amazing! I am 65 years old and always wondered how a vacuum tube worked. I remember when I was a child, my dad going to the drug store and testing the tubes of our TV. Then picking out the new tube from the cabinet below the tester, driving home and replacing the faulty tube. I was intrigued at how a little glass thing could make a picture and sound. After watching other electronics lessons online and learning about cathodes, anodes, resistors and diodes work, I can understand the basics of a vacuum tube. Thank you so much for your time.
A 34 years old man is learning science from youtube. Thank you very much for your superb explanation Mr Carlson.
Thanks - I enjoyed this one. A series on basic amplifier design using vacuum tubes would be great - showing typical use cases, etc. When I was much younger, I remember being intimidated by the sheer number of connections shown on a vacuum tube. It wasn't until much later that I learned that many of the connections (screen, suppressor, etc.) were just DC bias connections that improved the basic "triode" device's performance. Showing some examples of classic radio schematics and breaking them down into bias and signal paths would be helpful for a lot of people I think. Nice job as always.
+w2aew
Thanks for your input Alan, and kind words as well! I will do just that, in a future video. Take care!
Tubes were still being taught in tech school back in the late 60s. Transistor theory was being taught alongside though. Yeah, I'm that old. Tubes are still relevant in certain applications.
@@joewoodchuck3824.....I remember back whenever our TV wasn't up to par, I'd take out the tubes, ride my bike to Savon and testing them on a good old fashioned dial machine. The cabinet below contained the new tubes
@@bhaggen Yep. Some drug stores had tube testers along with Radio Shack.
@@joewoodchuck3824 Yes, tubes certainly are relevant today in certain instances.
I will still use them in any application that I can manage to squeeze them into.. 😁
My favorite use for them is in the front-end of a big, grunty, solid state, high-bias Class A/B Hi-Fi amplifier, and on the output of all the signal sources plugged into it.
One of the best explanations on vacuum tube principles of operation I've ever seen. Outstanding job!
Thanks!
I am an electrician and this was the best explanation on tubes :)
Mr Carlson: I have a dumb question (maybe this is not a dumb question but I will ask it anyway), but is it possible to reduce or eliminate AC hum in an audio amplifier by using a well-filtered DC power supply to power the filament(s) of the tube(s) ? Maybe the 60Hz (50Hz in Europe and elsewhere) sine wave may modulate the electrons going from cathode to plate?
Hum in a vacuum tube audio amplifier may be due to filter capacitors in need of replacement. I had a 1958 10 watt tube amp with a half wave rectifier whose hum level was barely audible. An external cause of hum may be ground loops.
DC heater supplies are not only possible, but fairly common.
I am 72 and remember tubes and transistors. I miss the projects in the old electronic magazines and going to Radio Shack for parts. I was in electronics in the AF.
you would have a lot to offer our youth.
It was always fun working on those old NARCO radios..
I am a touch younger, but i remember I spent my youth in Radio Shack and could not wait for dads subscription Popular Electronics to arrive!!
My wife told me I spend too much on my electronics hobby after I bought a 35 dollar bench lab power supply on Ebay. I showed her the beginning of this video and she instantly was quiet. First time ever. She has not complained since. THANK YOU!!!!!
Probably because she knows that if she complains, she'll have to watch another video. My wife will escape the room before I show her too much. LOL
Pull out the reciept for her make up and shampoo and she'll shut up.
I've been an electronics Engineer for 35 years and I'm STILL learning. I love watching these fixit videos. I try to second guess the problems before Paul does. I LOVE fixing things, so much I'll fix things for people for free (parts cost only).
Stereo enthusiast here 👋
Solid State is cool, but tubes rule!
I’m wanting to learn as much about tubes as I can so I can design and build my own tube amp some day. It’s truly fascinating.
*Mr. Carlson, you are the Electronic's Doctor and vacuum tubes!* *We enjoy watching your work and explanation of what's going on with these individual parts, thanks for sharing a part of what's in your head, yikes!!* 😗
Bringing back memories, as my dad spent decades changing tubes in TVs and radios! And your explanations are great, too! Thanks. Glad the ElectroBoom video sent me here. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it. Mehdi is a great fella!
I was just looking at some vacuum tubes in an antique store today and was wondering how they worked. One was from 1930, nearly a hundred years old. Great to see how it all works!
Good explanation on tube structure and how it works not many people today know or care to thinking it's obsolete
I remember being absolutely fascinated with vacuum tubes when I was a kid. I think it was their use in guitar amplifiers that first got me interested. In sixth grade, must have been around 1989 or 1990, I wrote an essay on Lee DeForest for an assignment. I used to love riding my bike down to RadioShack when I got my allowance where they had shelves full of components and boards an boxes and switches and pick out components and stuff and try to make my own distortion peddles for my electric guitar. I had one of those 300 in 1 electric kit toys too. But vacuum tubes always fascinated me more than solid state components. I remember the first time I got my hands on one was in a storage room in the locker room at school where I saw there was an old PA amplifier opened up and I quickly snuck in and took two of the tubes. I would sit in my room and look at them. I think the thing that most impressed me then was the powerful sound they could generate. I never did get into electronics for a career but I still am interested in it.
Same here all my life I've been absolutely fascinated by tubes!!! Magical!
You’re presentation is to the point and the deliberate pace at which you speak is perfect as far as I am concerned. I will be watching many more of your uploads and certainly appreciate your time spent .
Thank you Sir Carlson. May I please compliment your teaching style. Very good teacher, excellent tone of voice; I hear patients and at the same time, enthusiasm. Much admired, the Queen would approve.
what a great job explaining how tubes work. i have been playing around with tubes my entire life but still learned a lot from this video. 5 stars , KE2XC
Enjoyed your video on the operation of the vacuum tube. I worked for about 30 years in a high power vacuum tube rebuilding plant in Louisiana. We rebuilt transmitting tubes that were first built with glass envelopes, and also the later version of ceramic (in place of glass) tubes. We also rebuilt the klystron tubes that were used in UHF television transmitters. My uncle, W. T. Freeland also rebuilt the cathode ray tubes that were used in television sets of the 1950’s through 1960’s. Thank you very much for your presentation and I hope to see more presentations in the future.
Cool
Your ability to explain things is a Canadian national treasure. I love your explanation on directly heated cathodes in a microwave oven, as an example.
Please keep it up.
Microwave Radios have Klystron Tubes . I served in the U.S. Army STRATCOM - USACC ( U.S. Army Signal Corps) as a '' Strategic Microwave TeleCommunications Operation & Repair Specialist Tech. MOS 26V. From April 1970 to July 1978. I was schooled at Fort Monmouth , NJ in Electronics. 2 Months in Basic Electronics, and 5 Months in Operations & Maintenance of Various kinds of Microwave Radio Systems used by the Military, both Tactical and Fixed Station or Strategic Systems. I like your videos because they refresh my memories and former knowledge in Electronics. I'm now almost 70 years old and I have sorta forgotten some of the basic things that I learned some 50 years ago. I also have and own various books and
publications on Electronics and Tech Manuals, most of them are former Military Tech Manuals of the different MW Radio systems that I had experience working with and on during my 8 + years in the Service at various Military assignments. I am also a State Licensed Journeyman Electrician with over 52+ years in Residential & Commercial Electrical Wiring . I also have several components of various kinds and types Electronic Test Equipment, TMDE, that I have acquired over the years that I built and assembled from Kits from Heath Electronics. I use to do Radio & TV Repair .
As a young kid of 11 or so, I also scrounged garbage pails for radios and parts.Finding an old radio would make my day. I had several old speakers (the old types with the magnet coil) but could not get much volume out of them. I went to the library and got a book about tubes and found out that the "extra" coil needed a couple hundred volts to activate electromagnet. With the parts I collected, I built a full-wave rectifier circuit and connected the DC voltage to the magnet coil. When I put audio into the voice coil I was amazed at the volume the speaker produced. My first electronic project and it was a success. Many, many more came after that and I am still at it - but not with voltages of 300 volts! How about 5 and 12 volts dc! I have traveled from vacuum tubes to microprocessors. What a journey!
Yeah, ELECTRONICS!
Great video Mr. C! I taught electronics , in the physics department , at Swarthmore from 2001 to 2012.alas vacuum tube theory was omitted from the curriculum. In my lab class I ran a three hour segment on tube basics. The student thought I was pulling their leg. Here they could grasp semi-conductor theory but considered vacuum tube theory like or was black magic. So a few of my students had an opportunity to work in the physics lab over the Summer. The lab consisted of a high power vacuum tube, called a Spheromak . The lab prof. was astounded at their understanding of electron valve theory.
I wish I had a teacher like you in my younger days. For one that knows it is all good but for the one that is learning it's all new. You are a great explainer.
I absolutely adore all the Canadians on TH-cam in the electronics sphere, and especially love how Mr. Carlson focuses on pre-transistor technology, even though I know he knows the new stuff.
I was admittedly pre-transistor in my knowledge and work before the pandemic, and I like being reminded that there was still so much that could be done with that.
Outstanding explanations and demos. This is what the internet is all about.
Thank you. US Navy ET appreciates the refresher. You know your stuff!
I just stumbled on to your channel. What a great blast from the past! I took my first electronics class in 1976 and all of our lab equipment was vacuum tube based, so that's how the class was taught. I'm so glad I learned electronic theory this way because it was so easy to visualize how a tube worked. Thank you so much for producing your videos. Your knowledge on the subject is impressive!
Welcome aboard!
TH-cam recommended me this video “shango066 viewers also watched this” yes I’ve watched a lot of his videos and wondered how exactly tubes worked and what wires did what, why they needed heaters.
This explains all that quite perfectly, thanks!
This is the best explanation of vacuum tube principles so far.
Thanks so much! I've always wondered what each individual section of a tube did and you made it clear to me.
Excellent stuff, 56 years old Electrician and technician, I never really understood valve design, as I ignored it mainly at college as it was a dying technology in the 90's, it was never pushed on us. I like way you explained the way these work. Great video cheers from UK :-)
Such a sad loss of heritage. I had a longstanding fantasy of making a vacuum tube like DeForest did, and for all the shortcomings of vacuum tubes I feel solid state electronics lacks soul.
Understanding the flow methods, I have seen positive reference ground planes used for tubes... So watching this makes it clear as to why this may be... Thanks for sharing
This is what I love about TH-cam. It's full of videos that are like those interesting programmes on obscure topics that you wished were on TV but hardly ever were. If you see what I mean.
+jaxxstraw
I do, thanks for your comment!
You're a diamond mate!
As I work with tube preamps, this was a real eye opener and very instructive!
Thank you!
Videos like these and channels so rich like these must be made part of the mandatory study material for Electrical and electronics engineers. Very very valuable and comprehensive !
Well. This just clarified tubes for me 100%. What a valuable tutorial! Brilliant 🎉
Greatly appreciated. I've been struggling to find information on how vacuum tubes work until I found your video. Thank you!
This was the second time I watched this video, and I got a lot more out of it than the first time. Paul does a very understandable description that even a novice such as me, can follow. Most of his videos contain comments that are beyond my understanding, but I'm finding that the more I watch, the more I'm able to pick up a few more details that begin to make some sense.
love this series. helping me fill gaps in my knowledge. thank you.
+Dave Petterson
Your welcome Dave!
How did this excellent educational video get even one dislike, much less 191 dislikes? If someone doesn’t like or understand the subject then don’t watch it. Carlson is among the best teaching this, and a dislike based on him in any way is ludicrous.
Man I'm old enough to remember vacuum tube tester machines in Radio Shack but have never understood how they worked. Thanks for the great video!
This is the greatest explanation of tubes I have ever seen, Thanks so much!!!
You're welcome!
Thanks Mr. Carlson. I have a BSEE and my school refused to teach tubes in the early 70's because they were already fading into the past. I was disappointed because I just wanted to fix my old radios and TVs. Consequently, I never could fix or design tube circuits. I am still disappointed to this day.
Tech Tips Tuesday is one of my favorite segments! I need to learn all the things!
My knowledge of electronics is growing daily through watching your video tutorials, repairs and renovations, that said, i'm never going to be an expert no matter how much i watch as at 72yo my learning capabiity is more limited than in days gone by but, by trying, i'm utilising what i have left of my brain and helping it resist the decay brought about by the passing years. Thankyou very much for your easy to follow and well presented videos.
I have just become a fan of Mr Carlson's Lab after watching many of his videos. Fascinating and knowledge stretching. I think I might have to join his patreon site to get the details on how to build his capacitor checker as I would realy like to start a project that I have been holding off for 10 years. I have a 1952 HMV radiogram that requires a re-build. Thanks Mr Carlson for your education and inspiration :-))
Waw Paul, you're really a good teacher ! A very good, well explained video. Entertaining and in a relaxed way made.
Thanks Philip!
This guy is orders of magnitude better than instructors I had in high school or college. Clear and concise. I am finding this to be the case in many other TH-cam channels as well. Technology is giving us the freedom to find and learn from the really good instructors. As well as preserving knowledge of the past, as others have commented here that college EE programs don't even bother to teach vacuum tubes any more. A shame. Vacuum tubes are works of art as well as science.
Thank you for the tube refresher; it's been 30 years since i worked with them.
I hope you see this! I was 12 and was given a Tube amplifier. I knew electronics and got it to work. I used to turn the lights out and watch the blue plasma jump around in the 6L6GC output tubes. Listening to Holst's "The Planets"...
Perfect choice of music!
Very Nostalgic and very well done explanation . makes me wish I was still 5yold with my head stuck in the back of the old Valve Radios TVs and Amps learning the art of high voltage repairs with my Dad.👍👍👍
30 years of mystery - ruined. I finally got around to learning the basics of vacuum tubes, and your video was very effective. I hope they still give that magic feeling next time I see some glowing inside of something.
Thank you very much for your great lessons, easy to follow.
From my Air Force days ('76 to '80) working on an analog flight simulator, we used a lot of 6AU6 tubes along with 12AT7 tubes. We had hundreds of them in the 80 foot long computer. In the dead of winter in northern Maine, those tube filaments provided enough heat that we didn't need an actual heater.
Omg how did you cool it in the summer time?
Awesome. I love these journeys into my past. Amazing sire.
+Raymond Earle
Thanks Raymond!
In high end audio, directly heated is the gold standard!!
No matter how much I understand about this stuff and electricity in general. but especially with these tubes. it just amazes me that somebody was able to come up with this idea. To this day it just blows my mind I guess.
Another great video by Mr. Carlson. Keep them coming Paul!
+Glenn Martin
Thanks Glenn!
+Mr Carlson's Lab I've been into tubed audio since the 1960's. BTW, most of my audio amplifiers even today have tubes, and I have several including DynaKit's that I've built back around 1969, and modern day stuff like PrimaLuna and Woo Audio. That being said, I've learned something new today thanks to you.
I really enjoy your videos! You make it easy to understand! Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge in such an interesting way! Looking forward to the next one!
+Steve Ball
Thanks Steve!
you know, i really didn't want to watch a full half hour video because i just wanted a simple answer to a simple question. shame on me for thinking that any question is simple. I'm so glad that you made this detailed video.
Such a great teacher. Thank you for making this topic easier to understand.
You're very welcome!
Mr. Carlson:
Thank you for your excellent seminar about vacuum tubes. My retirement hobby is the repair of vintage vacuum tube radio. I have much to learn and your seminars have taught me much. Please keep up all of you good work. Malcolm KB1QCJ
Thanks Malcolm!
I love DH tubes. My 2 favorite small DH tubes are the 3A4 and 3A5. A directly heated pentode and dual triode. Very cool low current, low voltage tubes for a small audio amp. I use a pair of 3A4 in push pull or in parallel for a very small two lithium cell powered 1.4 watt guitar amp. I use a simple switcher to generate 150 vdc for the plate/Anode of the 3A4’s from a 3.7 volt lithium battery supply. Then i run -2.8 volts (series filaments) using a simple resistor on the filament and i also use the -3.7vdc supply for the grid bias. Also the 3A4 can be used at 1.2 watts output in class C RF service up to 10 mhz. My first home brew 80M and 40M CW ham radio transmitter used a 3A4. A fun small tube. I used them in many many projects. I’ve been a bottle head since the 60’s. I’m an EE and design modern digital circuitry as well, but i love the sound of vacuum tubes. They also look and smell so good.
I prefer indirectly heated cathodes so the emitting surface is of the same potential over its entire surface.
Great presentation! Thorough, clear, and well-paced. Thanks for the knowledge!
THAT was greatly informative to a guy servicing his guitar tube amp! Well done!
Really great video, thank you Paul! I've never really discounted tubes since I realize that there are still many applications where they're the most suitable components. Microphones come to mind, photomultiplier tubes, vacuum fluorescent displays, microwaves as well, just as you said. CRT monitors also. I'm lucky enough to still be using a Sony GDM-FW900 as one of my monitors which can run at up to 160Hz refresh with 0 input lag. It goes up to 2304x1440 as well. 100% analog. No modern monitor of any cost approaches it in terms of max refresh rate and "pixel" on/off times. You'd think that CRT technology is obsolete, and while that's true for monitors, it's untrue in general. The merit of learning about CRT technology today is that you can start to understand particle accelerator tech. Klystrons and IOTs are both still in common use of course. Klystrons being less efficient but so far unbeatable for certain applications requiring high power and high gain for radioastronomy and particle accelerators. Some of the specs are so far out, that the numbers seem nonsensical. 535kV beam voltage at 700A beam current for 150MW RF output in a single tube. 55dB gain. Good luck doing that with solid state. And that was in 1996 haha. :P As the frequencies scale, such as a W-band range (75-110GHz), manufacturing precision has to be extreme, requiring dimensional accuracies of 1-2 microns and surface finishes better than 200nm. Lots of things to look forward to in the future. And so - it's not at all a waste of time to learn the basics of vacuum tubes which an amateur can in fact buy and play with today for very little cost. The basic principle of manipulating electron flow in a vacuum isn't going away any time soon. Thank you again for making these!!
+whatlions
Thanks for taking the time to write... Thanks for you comment as well!
Impressive
We have two electron beam welding machines at work. The guns that produces the electron beam are basically a triode with a separately heated cathode. The filament, cathode, grid and anode are all replaceable. The electrons are emitted from a point protruding from the cathode and strike the anode which has a small hole in it's center. The electrons continue through the anode, through a focusing coil and strike the part to be welded. It all runs under high vacuum produced by vacuum pumps and at around 40kv.
I'm a sound engineer playing around with various triodes and pentodes (such as black box hg-2). Now I finally understand how they work at normal voltages. Thanks. On to saturation and distortion...
Excellent explanation of vacuum tubes! I have been in electronics a long time and still learned something. Thank you Mr. Carlson for being a great teacher!
You are a great teacher, just the right level of detail. Thank you
+mike barton
Your welcome Mike!
Paul,
Another good video. The venetian blind analogy was great. Nice to have the old memory jogged with what was in use half century ago. With everything now digital, we need to remember our roots. :-)
+Donald D'Egidio
Thanks Donald!
Donald D'Egidio I
Digitalisation as such has nothing to do with it. Don't forget that the very early computers were powered by tubes, not transistors.
@Marten Dekker Yup, people love the sound of tubes. Guitar amps too.
This guy is clearly a worldwide expert in this field if there's anybody more knowledgeable than him alive I would be amazed
Very clear description of tube structure. Mr C's workshop is amazing!
Great video, simple yet packed full of easy to understand information. Probably the best video on vacuum tubes yet.
Great explanation of basic tube element construction Paul. Nice video to come home from after a day of work and relax while watching. Will enjoy what ever you decide to upload. Have a great day :)
+The Radio Shop
Thanks Buddy, I feel the same way about your video's as well!
+Mr Carlson's Lab Thanks Paul.
@@TheRadioShop maybe i can ask you the same thing i asked Mr Carlson since you work on cb's mainly i neeed a pll 02a chip any idea's thanks your cb friend steven aka (BILLY THE KID) UNIT 200
Hi steven, sorry but I do not mainly work on cb radio. My main repairs are ham radio and test gear. Vintage stuff. But check ebay and also yard sales for that chip. Old 5 dollars radios had lots of parts.
@@TheRadioShop man sorry if i insulted you for sure i just ment your very good when it comes to them and thats probly the videos in witch i chose to watch or something you uncle doug mr carlson .wow i just relized i confused you with another guy witch is also really good but you do do exactly what you said sorry about that anyway you guys are the very best ive ever seen you and mr carlson are un believable yal are so good its hard for me to hold yals coat tells while trying to learne yals advanced class and ive got to give uncle doug credit for his teaching to us first and second graders so to speak he made it where i finally understood tubes and how simple they are the thing that opened it up for me was that ac and dc can travel down the same wire and not see each other and they have different doors they can go through from one another now if i can get going on trasistors as well anyway i see another couple of years before can comprehend you and mr carlson keep up the good work and i will keep studing yal daily i appreciate all that yal do so thank you again oh and sorry for the confusion you guys are amazing if i one day know a quarter what yal do about this stuff i will be pleased and i'm very proud for those two young fellows
Appreciated the explanation of pentodes and tetrodes. Always wondered why people bothered putting those extra grids in.
Thanks. It's nice to have the theoretical instruction connected to the practical use.
Great explanation, very good video.
+RadioHamGuy
Thanks!
+Mr Carlson's Lab Yes, somehow you explain things in a very easy to understand way while showing it. Cuts right to the point and very clearly. Keep that style!
+RadioHamGuy Agreed, I really needed to understand better how vacuum tubes worked and now I do. Thanks so much....again.
No Problem, glad you enjoyed!
I was in electronics school in the late 60's and early 70's, later, when on the job, we began to refer to vacuum tubes as Fire Bottles.
A great breakdown on the structure and operation of vacuum tubes or valves as we call them in the UK. Very informative.
Thank you so much for your videos, I've really learned a lot from you and your simple yet thorough explanations. Keep up the good work!
Hi Paul, great channel.
Every time I see you sitting below all that older, heavy test equipment stacked to the ceiling, I think, man, I hope those shelves are REALLY RUGGED. Bet I'm not the only one.
Extremely strong setup. Things would have to get very shaky to be an issue.
Real Radios Glow In The Dark!
And the sweetest sounds come vacuum packed!
especially if the dials are painted with radium.
Real Radio's keep you warm at night.
@@95rav I have a Collins R-390 (Not an A) and it has the original radium meters on it, the line level meter still glows for about a minute after a bright light has been flashed on it, pretty cool, 33 tubes in all. The signal strength meter is dead though as are most of the R-390 and 390A meters that I've seen.
my guitar amps sure do.
Disassembly and evaluation would be a great series of videos. A systematic " do no harm" approach to repair, is something many could be fit from. Thank you
+Starcarrier
Thanks for your input! I was thinking along the same lines.
yes, more please. that was so informative! a "positively charged grid" moment for me ...thanks
Wow... I spent all that money on "The Tube Amp Book" back in the day, I should've just waited for TH-cam. Thank you for posting!!
Ha, ha. I have that as well. Back in the day, we had to do what we had to do! : )
I started tech school in 1967. I wish my instructor had shown this video at the beginning.
Videos like this are deffinitly great for younger folks like me to learn about more obscure tech that most forget about.
And this is deffinitly stoaking my interest in a nice tube amp / preamp to enjoy music / vinyl threw, both for the novelty of this classic tech in modern form, and for the somewhat legendary sound they are said to have!
An excellent video covering the basics of thermionic emission and application in a straight forward presentation...enjoyed it immensely!
You're a great teacher - looking forward to joining. It's never too old to learn . coming up on 64 - Thank you for taking the time to do this.
another great video Paul! very beneficial for all who wants to learn electronics. Thumps up! Take care
+TRXBench
Thanks Peter! It's Saturday.... and I'm waiting for a video... tapping finger...... i^)...LOL Take care!
Mr. C rocks!
Feeding my recent fascination with old valve amplifiers and radios. Thank you, again for a very informative video.
Glad you enjoyed it
Been watching your videos for awhile now and I think i'm ready to jump in. Just got my first radio an Echophone EC-1 and I've got the soldering iron hot and ready. I'm retired now but I still got the Weller soldering iron from when I was 10 years old and it brought back memory's of when I was a kid when I burned my finger the other day. This is going to be so much fun! Mr Carlson you are a fantastic instructor and I thank you very much. I'll be watching.
Another great trip with Mr. Carlson into the ever-ever land of vacuum tubes and other arcane electron miscellany.
I realize this fellow is an electronics engineer/physicist but yikes- he could probably make some out of this world guitar amplifiers ! and REALLY know what he's after too. I'm so glad I found this channel, on a matter of curiosity I'm going to inherit as much knowledge as I can from this person.
And... I will be happy to share that knowledge with you. Welcome!
This is a great channel! I've learned so much from Paul already!
Excellent! This removes a great deal of mystery about vaccuum tube electronics.
Thank you.
You're welcome!