Audion

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Triode Audion vacuum tube from 1908. The filament (which was also the cathode) was at the lower left inside the tube but has burned out and is no longer present. The filament's connecting and supporting wires are visible. The plate is at the middle top, and the grid is the serpentine electrode below it. The plate and grid connections leave the tube at the right.

The Audion was one the first electronic devices able to increase sounds. It was invented by American inventor Lee de Forest in 1906.[1][2][3] It was a glass tube with no air inside. It contained three parts: a filament, a plate, and a grid.

It was the first functional electronic amplifier. It replaced older technologies, such as the coherer used in early radios. It enabled live radio broadcasting for the first time.[4]

References[change | change source]

  1. De Forest patented a number of variations of his detector tubes starting in 1906. The patent that most clearly covers the Audion is U.S. Patent 879,532 , Space Telegraphy, filed January 29, 1907, issued February 18, 1908
  2. de Forest, Lee (January 1906). "The Audion; A New Receiver for Wireless Telegraphy". Trans. AIEE. 25. American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: 735–763. doi:10.1109/t-aiee.1906.4764762. Retrieved March 30, 2021. The link is to a reprint of the paper in the Scientific American Supplement, Nos. 1665 and 1666, November 30, 1907 and December 7, 1907, p.348-350 and 354-356.
  3. Godfrey, Donald G. (1998). "Audion". Historical Dictionary of American Radio. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 28. ISBN 9780313296369. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  4. de Forest, Lee (30 Nov 1907). "The Audion - A new receiver for wireless telegraphy". Scientific American. 64 (1665): 348–352. Retrieved 21 October 2023. Non-paywalled reprint of the DeForest presentation at the October 26, 1906 New York meeting of the AIEE. Text version available at the Early Radio History site.

Other websites[change | change source]