2 or 3 triodes in a single valve in the 1920s?

[RadioHist]

2 or 3 triodes in a single valve in the 1920s?

I'm working on an article about American made radios of the mid 1920s that used the Emerson Multivalve. Three triode assemblies in a single glass envelope. There is mention that there was a British incorporation. Does anyone know which way the technology flowed on this? i.e. An American design or British design I seem to recall that there were a few British sets with a double or triple triode valve but can't find a reference at the moment. I know that Brandt in Germany had little radios (D-3) using the Te-Ka-De VT-139 triple triode and they also made a double triode VT-126.
I consider the Loewe 3NF valve in all its iterations a horse of another colour with extensive documentation easily available so won't be spending more than a couple of lines on them.
Any comments welcome...
Robert

[emeritus]

Interesting to see a US publication that refers to valves as well as tubes: it's called a multivalve, not a multitube.

[broadgage]

ISTR a similar product sold in Europe.
At the time there existed some form of tax or levy on the purchase price of radio sets, this was based on the number of valves contained in the set.

Use a single valve even if rather complicated and costly, was then very attractive if compared to a common design with several simple single valves.

[Cobaltblue]

The European version was made by Loewe

http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/loewe.html

Virtually a complete radio except tuning and output.

Cheers

Mike T

[emeritus]

In the early 1970's a surplus stores in Dagenham had a box of those Lowe valves on sale for about 5/- each. I wasn't tempted to buy one at the time.

[AJSmith625]

I saw one of these a few years ago on a visit to the "radio room" at the Droitwich Heritage museum. Well worth a visit.

Alan.

[Vintage_RC]

I have examples of the Loewe 2HF and 3NF in my valve collection. The 3NF in particular is an amazing piece of glass work. It includes 3 valves plus 4 resistors and 2 capacitors interconnected to form a radio with just the addition of tuning coil and condenser. The resistors and capacitors are individually enclosed in glass envelopes to prevent them from contaminating the vacuum. I have attached a picture of my 3NF.

[Brian4radio]

Hi team, I have a 1927 BTH VR3 form CA radio which uses a Double triode made by Mazda a TS215 plus an output valveP227 . I sent some photos to the Valve museum showing this valve. It had a normal 4 pin base plus two extra connections in the skirt. regards (alas the heater is O.C.) Brian

I think the tax (Marconi patent royalty?) was per valve socket/holder and wasn't cheap. Therefore a fairly costly multi valve was cheaper in the end, that is until one filament goes pop by the time that happened "valve tax" was in decline. The 10's radio licence equates to about £30 these days on a par with a two valve set, today A TV licence is £157.50, about the same as a low end (although with modern tech. a good set) TV. Not much has changed.

[RadioHist]

Originally Posted by Brian4radio

Hi team, I have a 1927 BTH VR3 form CA radio which uses a Double triode made by Mazda a TS215 plus an output valveP227 . I sent some photos to the Valve museum showing this valve. It had a normal 4 pin base plus two extra connections in the skirt. regards (alas the heater is O.C.) Brian

Interesting if it dates from 1929 or earlier. I had no luck in finding an image or pin-out for a Mazda TS215. I'm in the US so certainly not that knowledgeable about British oddball contrivances.

Robert

[Brian4radio]

Hi Robert, well I have just checked the radio museum site and the valve information is covered there. You can gain access to the museum at this location
"vintage radio museum.co.uk"
Regards Brian

[Brian4radio]

Hi again Robert, I have tried to contact the said museum on the pre- mentioned web site but it appears not to be available on that location.
So can you try this one.
WWW.r-type.org
Regards Brian

[RadioHist]

Thanks Brian, I was getting nowhere on the first reference.... The Valve Museum reference worked. So at least one survives... I'm thinking these sets sold like lead balloons? But of course I'm no expert. If I'm correct, what kept these from being a success?

Robert

[Brian4radio]

Hi Robert, the valve was part of a BTH radio which I won at an auction in 2010. The BTH company were selling Crystal sets in1925 ( I have one of their crystal sets which was built in 1924) perhaps some of our enlightened colleagues may have more information on the manufactured date of my BTH VR3 form CA. Regards Brian

[RadioHist]

The plot thickens today.... I finally got the one neuron going that told me to look in Geddes & Bussy's book Setmakers Page 84 They have a colour supplement advert from WW Sept 19th, 1928. They mention that BTH merged with Metro-Vic in the autumn of '28 but soon were out of the set making business. It could be that your set was only on the market for a brief period. I found that advert on worldradiohistory.com but the scanned pages are cropped. Would like to see the whole image... I have some WW issues but don't recall colour supplements.

[HamishBoxer]

British Thomas Houston co, made nice stuff.

British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England and founded as a subsidiary of the General Electric Company (GE) of Schenectady, New York, USA. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines.

BTH was taken into British ownership and amalgamated with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928 to form Associated Electrical Industries (AEI), but the two brand identities were maintained until 1960. The holding company, AEI, later merged with GEC.

In the 1960s BTH apprenticeships were highly thought-of, with apprentices exposed to production of a wide range of industrial products. Each year in Rugby there was a big parade of floats run by its apprentices, many of whom lodged in the nearby Coton House apprentice hostel.

In 1980, G.E.C. Turbine Generators Ltd, on the Rugby site, was awarded a Queen's Awards for Enterprise.

Courtesy Of Wikipedia.