October 1963 Electronics World
Table of Contents
People old and young
enjoy waxing nostalgic about and learning some of the history of early electronics. Electronics World
was published from May 1959 through December 1971. See all
Electronics World articles.
Thyratrons, klystrons, and magnetrons I've heard of, but trochotrons,
charactrons, tonotrons I ain't heard of. That made this quiz
more of a learning exercise for me than a test of any sort of
knowledge possessed. Heck, I thought an 'ignitron'
was a pejorative term for a really dumb techie wannabe. In all
there are 17 types of '-tron' devices given for which to match
from a list of descriptions. You'll probably do better than
"-Tron" Teasers - An Electronic Quiz
By Robert K. Re
How many electronic devices do you know that end with the
suffix "-tron"? Check your knowledge of the field with this
Quite a few devices used in electronics today were named
using the suffix "-tron" (electron, cyclotron, etc.).
Out of the many words with this ending, can you match each
1. This special tube is used to generate
TV test signals when stations are off the air.
2. A gas-filled device, this counting
tube is widely used in digital circuits.
3. High currents are rectified in
the electroplating industry with this mercury-cathode diode.
4. Much older than a tunnel diode,
this four-electrode tube exhibits negative resistance in oscillator
5. Widely used in r.f. circuits,
this u.h.f. transit-time triode is called a "lighthouse" tube
because of its shape.
6. Once fired, the grid in this gas-filled
tube ceases to have control over plate current until plate voltage
7. This is the general name for beam-switching
tubes. It describes the path of the electron in the tube.
8. Operating near absolute zero temperature,
this super-conducting switching element shows great promise
9. This linear sweep generator, once
triggered, will keep itself turned on until the sweep is completed.
10. Crossed magnetic and electric fields
are the key to the operation of this high-power, high-frequency
11. A new device, this special CRT is a
direct-viewing storage tube. Information can be stored for long
12. This new class of computer circuits
uses multiple phase "clock" signals to perform majority logic
13. Having one or more tunable cavities,
this high-frequency tube "bunches" the electrons to produce
14. This neon lamp is capable of generating
short bursts of high-intensity light.
15. A special color CRT, this tube has only
one gun and uses phosphor strips in place of phosphor dots.
16. Using a special mask and beam-shaping
plate, this CRT can generate symbols on its face.
17. This new 12-pin subminiature, multi-function
vacuum tube is finding wide use in electronic equipment.
Answers to "-tron" Teasers
Posted April 14, 2015