The Cyclophon: A Multipurpose Electronic Commutator Tube

Abstract

Electronic switching or commutation provides an inertialess mechanism for precise high-speed operation, and permits a multiplicity of circuits to be controlled by relatively small voltages such as are encountered in radio reception. The Cyclophon tube is one particular form of electronic switch which provides for the control of twenty-five separate circuits. This control is so precise that it can be used as a modulator and demodulator for pulse-time-modulation transmission and reception. Some further applications are in the fields of telemetering, pulse generation, phasing, frequency multiplication, counting of electric impulses, monitoring, and synchronizing-wave-form generation in television.