THE GREAT MULLARD MAGIC BLOG — mullard

Well, we're going to talk about the ECC81 twin triode today, originally designed for TV applications, yes, that's right - TV!!!!     All the other valves we have discussed in this World Series of blog entries had been designed for use at the then used British TV frequency bands of 45 - 70 MHz.  However, other countries used carrier frequencies at a much higher range within the 100 - 300MHz region at which a low noise level high grade triode would be needed so enter stage left.... the ECC81.  The ECC81 was great because it was inherently a 'low...

We've seen so far in my blog series on valve types and manufacturing techniques that fine wire is an important material used in the valve making process. To recap, tungsten wire is used as filament wire with molybdenum being used as grid and filament supports. Just to give you an idea of HOW essential this material was, in the Mullard Blackburn plant heyday of the early 1950s over 2500 MILES, yes, MILES of wire was used every WEEK in valve manufacture. So, where does the tungsten come from?, how is it formed into wire?, well paisan, read on and all...

Hah! what a way to finish this series on the components that make up a valve, yes, we've saved the best till last with episode 14 dealing with..... the GETTER.   Having assembled the electrode cage and mounted it into the glass envelope, the last stage in valve manufacture is to remove the air within to form a high Torr vacuum immediately before the sealing-off process.   In order to achieve this vacuum, the valve is connected to a vacuum pump and whilst being evacuated is passd through a chamber where radiant heat and an RF eddy current is applied. This double...

The national radio show was a big thing for Mullard and indeed any other post war radio manufacturer as they all pulled out the stops to present their wares to a burgeoning post war consumer boom. The Mullard stand was large and extensive as this photo shows where chassis work from many manufacturers that utilised Mullard components were suspended on show - very outre!   The media in the form of Auntie Beeb was in attendance and here we see a BBC TV cameraman using real film ( and later presumably tele-cine) to record the new range of Mullard valves...

This is the fifth in a series of guest blog posts that I will be sharing with my readers.  A small group of us, all with different backgrounds and geographical locations, have come together in an effort to share our combined vintage knowledge with all who love the vintage/antique world as we do. Visit all of us at the Vintage & Antiques Community on G+ . This week's guest post, written by Karen of Mullard Antiques (who also happens to be Mrs Mullard Magic), takes a look at the BBC Sci-Fi programme Doctor Who, and the rise in value of collectible merchandising. In common...