Western Electric type 297A thyratron
date: label: date made
content: 1938
name: label: maker
content: Western Electric
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Plastic 4-pin base with T-shaped envelope. Stamped: "Western Electric / Made in U.S.A. / 297A". Donor’s card reads: “Thyratron made by Western Electric for use in modern telephone circuits. Dates from 1938. A three element, argon filled, filamentary thyratron. This tube is a rectifier of low internal impedance in which the starting of the conduction cycle may be controlled by the grid. It is intended for use in special circuits as a relay or trigger-action device. A few of its other possible uses are: as a controlled-frequency oscillator giving a square wave-form, as a voltmeter or volume level-indicator, or as a source of sweep-voltage for a linear time axis. Filament voltage 1.75 volts at .35 ampere. Approximate voltage drop 20, average anode current 10 milliamperes. Deionization time is 100 microseconds."
label: Description (Brief)
content: For any given anode potential there is a critical grid potential. Once the discharge has started, the grid loses control. Action is essentially that of a rectifier. Reference: https://www.westernelectric.com/s/297A.pdf.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Paul G. Watson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.324998
label: catalog number
content: 324998
label: accession number
content: 252994
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Electron Tube
label: Object Name
content: thyratron
label: Other Terms
content: Electron Tube; Electron Tubes
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 5/8 in x 1 1/4 in; 9.2075 cm x 3.175 cm