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Eimac Power Tube

Eimac Power Tube

Image creditDouglas W. Jones
CC0

Eimac Power Tube

Year
1934
Creator
William Eitel, Jack McCullough
Company
Eitel-McCullough, Inc. (Eimac)
Location
San Bruno, California

Description

Eitel-McCullough, or Eimac, made high-power vacuum tubes for radio transmitters in San Bruno. William Eitel and Jack McCullough started the company in 1934, and the tube in the photograph is an Eimac 750TL.

Importance

During World War II, Eimac grew to approximately 1,800 workers, and radar equipment used its tubes. By 1959 Eimac was the largest merchant maker of vacuum tubes in the world. In 1965 Eimac became a part of Varian Associates, the klystron company from Stanford.

Interesting fact

Eimac announced its first tube, the 150T, with a small advertisement in the November 1934 issue of the amateur radio magazine QST.

Acquisition

Varian Associates · 1965

Sources

  1. Perham Collection Creator Profile: Eitel-McCullough, Inc. (EIMAC)History San José
  2. EimacEngineering and Technology History Wiki (IEEE)
  3. H&K and Eimac: an Indigenous Vacuum Tube Industry EmergesFoundSF