| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Originally released in 1939 and registered in 1941 as the 6SN7GT, during World War II a 6SN7A (also called 6SN7W) version was made with closely-controlled characteristics for military use. The 6SN7GT was essentially two 6J5 triodes in the same envelope. Like the 6J5, the plate dissipation was 2.5 watts maximum.
Upgraded versions GTA ( General Electric, 1950) and GTB (GE, 1954) versions were made later. The 6SN7GTA has anode dissipation uprated to 5.0 watts "design center rating". The 6SN7GTB is identical to the 6SN7GTA except for a controlled heater warmup time, for use in Television sets with 600ma series heater strings. At the time GE said that the GTB was a suitable replacement for all 6SN7GT and 6SN7GTA applications.
The 12 volt filament equivalent is the 12SN7GT or 12SN7GTA. (12.6V 300ma filament) There was also a comparativly rare 8SN7 (8.4V@450mA filament intended for 450ma series string TV sets)
Numerous other variations on the 6SN7 type have been offered over the years, including 7N7 (Sylvania 1940, loktal-base version), 5692 (RCA 1948, a super-premium version with guaranteed 10,000 hour lifetime), 12SX7 (RCA 1946, intended for use in 26-volt aircraft electronics), 1633 (RCA 1941, also for 26-v radios), 6042 ( 1951, another 1633 type), and 6180 ( 1952Summary of notable events in 1952 . Events January events January 8 West Germany has 8 million refugees inside its borders. January 24 Sudden heavy snowfall in Algeria. January 24 Vincent Massey sworn in as first Canada-born Governor-General of Canada.). American military designator for the 6SN7GA was VT-231, and the British called it CV1986 or CV1988. European designators include ECC32, 13D2 and B65. Each of the giant SAGESAGE is also the name of a system administrators' professional organization. SAGE the Semi Automated Ground Environment was an automated control system for collecting, tracking and intercepting enemy bomber aircraft used by NORAD from the late 1950s into computer systems used hundreds of 5692s as flip-flopThis article is about the electronic component. For other meanings, see flip-flop (disambiguation). In electronics and computing, the flip-flop or bistable multivibrator is a pulsed digital circuit capable of serving as a one- bit memory. A flip-flop typis.
While often used as an audio amplifier in the 1940-1955 period, usually in the driver stages of power amps, the 6SN7 was also very popular in television vertical sweep applications. The designer of the famous Williamson amplifierStarting in 1947, the british magazine Wireless World published a series of articles by D. Williamson, under the title "Design for a High-quality Amplifier. The design, later refered to as the ""Willamson Amplifier"" was perhaps one of the first examples, one of the first true high-fidelity designs, suggested use of the 6SN7 since it was similar to the British triodes that he used in his circuit. In most late-1950s applications it was replaced by the 12AU7 , then by transistorThe transistor is the key active component in practically all modern electronics. The transistor is a solid state semiconductor device used for amplification and switching. In essence, it has three terminals. A current or voltage applied through/across tws in the 1960s.
6SN7s are still manufactured in Russia and China under the old Soviet designator 6N8S, and continue to be used in some modern tube high-fidelity equipment.
The 6CG7 is a miniature tube (RCA, 1951) that has very similar ratings. It was also made as a 8.4V 450ma series string type as the 8CG7