|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
R.C.A.
Centered
in Harrison New Jersey on the sight of Thomas Edison's original lamp works
and not too far from Menlo Park where his "invention factory" started
it all, R.C.A was the backbone of the receiving tube industry in the U.S.
R.C.A. was a very well run corporation from the beginning, and was in
many ways the cornerstone for tube manufacturing worldwide. I say this because
they developed and (if by no other means than sheer volume), standardized
most of the basing system worldwide. Consistency is an R.C.A. herald
and this consistency showed in their tubes all the way from the 1920s to the
1970s! R.C.A. tubes have an accuracy that is never hard, just accurate! Tonally
the mini's, 12AX7, etc. seem to be just a hair on the softer side of a Telefunken
if you could give them any kind of label at all. The power tubes from the
6L6 to the 845 also have this broad balance from top to bottom with all the
natural detail and sweetness of the real thing. R.C.A. never tooled up for
the 6DJ8 so any such tube labeled as such was made by someone else. Unfortunately
the entire R.C.A. receiving tube division was liquidated in a 12 day auction
during the fall of 1976, this basically broke the back of the tube manufacturing
industry (and the supporting industries) in the U.S.A.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quality
Tour of RCA's Receiving-Tube Manufacturing Facilities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
following is a series of Frames taken from a promotional film called "A
Quality Tour" produced by RCA in the mid 1950's. This series emphasized
the many elements that go into making a truly high quality tube and was
shot at the Harrison, New Jersey tube plant using full-time employees at
their stations in the plant. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
1.
Built in quality for top performance at a reasonable price is RCA's primary
product design objective. To accomplish this from the very beginning, RCA engineers,
quality-control specialists, chemists, and physicists combine their knowledge
and skills to create top-quality receiving tubes. |
|
|
|
|
2.
Right from the start, RCA builds reliability and quality into a tube by using
only the very best raw materials. Everything is minutely checked and tested
all the way down the line to the finished product. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
3.
Every material used in a tube is thoroughly tested. Only if it passes very strict
inspection will it be used. The polarized light of a polarscope (shown here)
permits analysis of glass used in tube envelopes. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.
Modern spectrographs are used to analyze and check the composition of materials.
Exact measurements are aimed at determining the kind and quantity of each element
contained in the material under study. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
5.
Spectroscopic plates are made, then studied; and results are used for precise
control |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6.
The latest X-ray developments let specialists view the inside of any electron
tube. Experience and new techniques combine forces at the RCA Electron Tube
Division in a continuing search for improved materials to do an even better
job. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|