The 6AK5

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. The type kn ...

is a miniature 7-pin sharp-cutoff

pentode A pentode is an electronic device having five electrodes. The term most commonly applies to a three-grid amplifying vacuum tube or thermionic valve that was invented by Gilles Holst and Bernhard D.H. Tellegen in 1926. The pentode (called a ''tripl ...

used as RF or IF

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost the v ...

especially in high-frequency wide-band applications at frequencies up to 400

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

. It was developed by Bell Labs / Western Electric and used extensively as an I.F. amplifier in World War II radar systems. The tube is notable for its extremely fine grid, and extremely close control grid to cathode spacing, yielding excellent high-frequency performance. It is also known as EF95 under its Mullard–Phillips designation and was produced in the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

as type 6Zh1P (Russian: 6Ж1П) under the Russian designation system. A version of this tube with extended ratings was designated 6AK5W and 6Zh1P-EV (Russian: 6Ж1П-ЕВ) respectively. Even though primarily intended for VHF amplification, the tube has found some use in

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

applications as a

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

preamplifier, for instance in the

LOMO LOMO (russian: Ленинградское Oптико-Mеханическое Oбъединение, Leningradskoye Optiko-Mekhanicheskoye Obyedinenie, Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association) is a manufacturer of medical and motion-picture lens ...

19A9 microphone and in

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

effects

stompboxes An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in ele ...

, such as

Metasonix Metasonix is an audio equipment manufacturer based in Lakeport, California. Founded by Eric Barbour in 1998, it specializes in vacuum tube equipment.Grosse, Darwin (2004Interview: Eric Barbour of Metasonix''Creative Synth'' (via archive.org) Eli ...

TM-7 Scrotum Smasher. The 6AK5 was used in some types of

radiosonde A radiosonde is a battery-powered telemetry instrument carried into the atmosphere usually by a weather balloon that measures various atmospheric parameters and transmits them by radio to a ground receiver. Modern radiosondes measure or calcula ...

(weather balloon payloads), in the 1960s and 70s. Because of the non-recoverable nature of the equipment, the single 6AK5 was soldered directly to the printed circuit board and served as the only active device in the circuit, performing the function of a low frequency modulation oscillator and the high frequency carrier oscillator and output stage.

See also

References

External links