General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

4

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Glass tube/ Metal magnet and prongs/ Synthetic cover/ Ceramic? part/ Paper label

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

N/A

Width

N/A

Height

7.1 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

4.4 cm

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Physics

Category

Electronics

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Ericsson

Country

England

State/Province

Unknown

City

London

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

1950s +

Canada

Used by John Bower Lewis who graduated from electrical engineering at McGill University in 1954. He did some work for Suburban Roads prior to working at the NRC. At NRC he worked in the Hertzberg Institute of Astrophysics. He used to build circuitry for some of the rockets that would study the Aurora Borealis and other upper atmosphere effects. Mr. Lewis worked at the Montreal Road campus of NRC prior to being transferred to the Sussex Road campus (opposite External Affairs). Some of his research entailed trips to Churchill (perhaps related to studies with Black Brant rockets). He also went to a field station at Springhill (just behind the Springhill cemetery on Bank/Hwy 31).

Function

A beam-switching glass tube which functioned as a digital counter.

Technical

A developmental model of a magnetic beam switching tube used as a digital counting device. The collection of the Museum Victoria in Australia contains a very similar (red) production model ETL VS10G trochotron described as "Electronic counting valve. Manufactured by Ericsson Telephones Ltd. Used in Geiger counters and scintillation counters. Could count up to a rate of 1MHz, 50 times faster than the fastest neon types. 6.3 V indirectly heated cathode. April 1960 list price: £12 (Stg.). Manufacturer Ericsson Telephones Limited, Tube Division, Beeston, Nottingham, England, circa 1960." [Ref. 3] Ericsson was a Swedish manufacturer of telephone equipment which established a factory in Beeston, England in 1903 as the British L. M. Ericsson Mfr. Co. The company became Ericsson Telephones Ltd. in 1926. In 1948 Ericsson sold its share of the company. [Ref. 4]

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Black lettering on label reads 'TYPE VS10G/ No.', 'DEV LAB SAMPLE/ TROCHOTRON/ MADE IN ENGLAND' and 'WARNING/ THIS TUBE SHOULD NOT/ BE PLACED LESS THAN/ 4 INS. (10 CMS.) AWAY/ FROM A SIMILAR TUBE,/ OR LESS THAN 2 INS./ (5 CMS.) FROM ANY/ MAGNETIC MATERIAL.'

Missing

Appears complete

Finish

Colourless transparent glass tube/ Black magnet housing/ White label/ White ceramic?

Decoration

Logo reading 'T E L/ ENGLAND' on label.