What was the last valve ?

[beam me up schottky]

Was wondering, as you do, is it known what valve was the last to be designed and introduced to the market and when ?
As far as I can remember, the last valve radios were the end of the '60s ?
TV's early to mid seventies ? I know that TV's tended to have transistor signal stages and valve line stages just before they became all transistor.
So the last valve then ?

[OldTickTock]

Vacuum tubes are still being manufactured in the following countries:

China,Russia,United states, united Kingdom,Germany,France,Czech republic & Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_tube...ufacturers

maybe not in the sense your question intended but they are still being made, so the thermionic is still with us.

Back to your question I'm going to say the PL519 line output valve used in colour TV's, it must have been amongst them if not the last, before transistors took over in total.

Chris

[tiv48]

how about nuvistas?

[Jamie-Skinner]

Exactly what I was going to say Chris.. There still being used in TV transmitters and equipment!

[tiv48]

pl 519 also used in expensive hifi amps
rob t

[beam me up schottky]

Just to clarify, I meant the last valve to be actually designed and introduced to the market, excluding old valve types being currently manufactured.
Suppose I should say excluding specialist types that may have been designed since.
At some point, Mullard, Mazda etc must have decided to end valve design and production as an obsolete technology, thats really what I'm saying.
Have to say I'm also inclined to think it must have been a TV type.

[Jamie-Skinner]

I think new ones are still being designed? Don't quote me though.. As I said transmitter equipment use them and they might design new ones?

[OldTickTock]

I don't think it will be an easy question to answer, new valve/design production must have finished around 1972.

I would imagine designers at Mullard and Mazda would have been aware of the impending move to transistors and geared their existing production runs to be scaled back accordingly, and existing stocks would be enough to satisfy the TV manufacturers of the time who were using hybrids.

So i'm guessing the last Hybrids TV's that used Valves/Transistors, their line-up would contain the last designed and produced valves. So books out lads a bit of research coming up. Unfortunately or Fortunately, I was 9 in 72 so the best placed people to know will be the TV engineers on here who were in the trade at the time

Chris

[tiv48]

this is why i think nu-vista they were transistor sized triodes to compeat with transistors still used now by musical fidelity
pl519 was shurly an upgrade pl509
cheating ,pl802t anyone

[Paula A]

errmmm.. how about looking at the last generation of colour crt's and camera tubes?