ez80

This _is_ an international list... Is it just me, or are the common US valve numbers pretty much meaningless. The common UK/European ones, used by Philips/Mullard [1] can be easily decoded to give the heater rating, electrode structure and base type. US ones don't seem to give the electrode structure in any meaningful way, even though that it probably the most important thing [2]. [1] There were other codes used by manufacturers in Europe. One farily common one was the Mazda code. It looks like a US valve number (digits, letters, digits), but it's decoded in a totally different way. The first digits give the heater voltage _unless they're 10, 20, or 30, which means 100mA, 200mA, 300mA for sereis-string sets), the letter gives the electrode structure (things like 'C' = frequency changer, 'L' = triode, 'P' = pentode, 'D' = diode) but you dont' double up letters for repeated structures -- a double triode is 'L' not 'LL' And the last digits simply give unique numbers to valves which have the first part identical. A 6D1 is a single diode (==EA50 IIRC), a 6D2 is a double diode (EB91/6AL5), a 30P4 is a TV line output pentode, and so on [2] Reminds me of a the large electronic component distributor over here that let you select 3 terminal fixed regulators by just aobut every possible characteristic (case type, number of pins, max temperature , etc) _other than the output voltage. Odd, that' the thing I think of first when specifying such a component. Ah, the type 80 I have come across... -tony