READOUT TUBE BRAND NAMES and ABBREVIATIONS

NOTES:
Part Number Prefix appears in [brackets] following the brand name(s) it is believed to be associated with, in BOLD where confirmed.
Company address/contact information from vintage sources in many cases. Use at your own risk.


Adzam   = "Mazda" spelled backwards. ‑ France

AEG   = AEG‑Telefunken (see Telefunken)

Alco Electronic Products, Incorporated:   A subsidiary of Okaya. ‑ Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Amperex Electronic Corporation:   ‑ 230 Duffy Avenue, Hicksville, Long Island, New York, U.S.A.

Apollo [DA]:   (Brand of Industrial Electronic Engineers, Inc. -- see IEE)

Archer   = Tandy/Radio Shack

Babcock Incorporated [HB], [SP]:   Parts marked "SP‑" originally made by Sperry. Parts marked "HB‑" indicates "High Brightness" versions of Sperry original designs. ‑ 14930 East Alondra Boulevard, La Mirada, California 90638‑5752, U.S.A., tel: (714) 994‑6500, fax: (714) 994‑3013

Baird‑Atomic Incorporated:   ‑ 33 University Road, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A. (Baird‑Atomic Dekatrons made by ETL, Hivac & possibly others)

Beckman Instruments, Incorporated [SP]:   Parts marked "SP‑" originally made by Sperry. ‑ Scientific Instruments Division: 2500 Harbor Boulevard, Fullerton, California 92634, U.S.A. Information Displays Operations: 350 North Hayden Road, P.O. Box 3579, Scottsdale, Arizona 85257, U.S.A. tel. +1 (602) 947‑8371

BIPCO   = Block Island Power Company, Incorporated ?

Burroughs Corporation [B], [BD], [HB]:   Bought Haydu Brothers Laboratories for tube manufacturing facilities. ‑ Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.A. (also: 6071 2nd Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.)

Cerberus   = Cerberus, Seyffer & Company ‑ Kanzleistrasse 126, Zürich, Switzerland

Chatham Electronics Corporation:   ‑ U.S.A.

Cintel   = Cinema-Television Limited. ‑ Worsley Bridge Road, London, SE26

CSF:   Same as Thomson CSF? (see also) ‑ France

CV   = Common Valve (Not a brand identifier but a designation for British military part numbers)

Dale    

Dario:   ‑ France

DGL   = Deutsche Glimmlampengesellschaft Pressler ‑ Leipzig (see also Pressler)

Dolam   = Unitra-Dolam ‑ Poland

Drake    

EEI   = Electronic Enterprises, Incorporated ‑ U.S.A.

Elesta Ab Bad Rabaz:   ‑ Switzerland

Elfin    

Ericsson:   (see ETL)

Etelco:   (see ETL)

ETL   = Ericsson Telephones, Limited. Former subsidiary of L. M. Ericsson (see also), divested in 1948. ‑ England. Head Office: 22 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2. Works: Beeston (Nottingham).

Futaba:   ‑ Japan

General Electric:   ‑ Electronic Components Division: Schenectady 5, New York, U.S.A.

General Radio Company:   ‑ Concord, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

General Radiotelephone Company [GR]:   ‑ Burbank, California, U.S.A.

Gerberus [GR]    

G.T.C.    

Harwin PLC    

Haydu Brothers Laboratories [HB]:   Owners György (George) K. & Zoltán Haydu. Bought by Burroughs Corporation for tube manufacturing facilities. ‑ Mt. Bethel Road, Warren Township, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Heath Company (Heathkit)   ‑ Benton Harbor, Michigan, 49022, U.S.A. NOTE: Although I am not aware of the existence of any Heath-branded nixie or other readout types, for convenience Heathkit part numbers are included in the main table along with compatible types in the "Substitutes" column.

Hewlett‑Packard:   ‑ U.S.A.  Almost all nixie tubes with H‑P part numbers (i.e. "1970‑00xx") printed on them were made by National Electronics.

Hitachi, Limited:   ‑ Tokyo, Japan

Hivac Limited:   ‑ Stonefield Way, Victoria Road, South Ruislip, Middlesex, England. Or: Greenhill Crescent, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex, England

IEE   = Industrial Electronic Engineers, Incorporated ‑ 7740 Lemona Avenue, Van Nuys, CA 91409-9234, U.S.A., (818) 787‑0311

ISE Electronics Corporation:   ‑ Japan. A subsidiary of Noritake Company, Limited.

Iseden:   ‑ Japan

Itron:   ‑ Japan. Trademark of Noritake Company, Limited for a series of vacuum-fluorescent displays made under license by multiple manufacturers.

ITT   = International Telephone & Telegraph

JAN   = Joint Army Navy (Not a brand identifier but a designation for U.S. mil-spec equipment)

Janus    

JRC   = Japan Radio Company Limited

KGM   = KGM Electronics Limited ‑ England

L. M. Ericsson   = Lars Magnus Ericsson & Company. Former parent company of Ericsson Telephones, Limited (ETL), divested in 1948. ‑ Stockholm, Sweden.

Lorenz   = SEL, Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG ‑ Geschäftsbereich Bauelemente: 7 Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Hellmuth-Hirth-Strasse 42, Bundesrepublik Deutschland (West Germany)

Matsushita:   ‑ Japan

Modulus Corporation    

MUD0 & MUD0X:   (Made by Philips/Valvo/Mullard? *The "MUD0" or "MUD0X" text appearing on these tubes is not a brand name, but a production code. Various numbers found on the tubes are not part numbers. [Additional production/date codes?])

Mullard Electronic Products Limited:   ‑ Century House, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W.C.2, England

National Electronics [NL]:   A Varian subsidiary. ‑ Geneva, Illinois, U.S.A. (As of 2003: a division of Richardson Electronics, Limited. LaFox, Illinois 60147, U.S.A., (630) 208‑2300). The "NL" part number prefix stands for "National Labs".

National Union Radio Company [NU], [NUP]:   ‑ Newark, New Jersey, U.S.A.

NEC [CD]   = Nippon Electric Corporation ‑ Japan

Okaya Electric Industries Company, Limited [CD]:   a.k.a. Okaya Musen Company, Limited ‑ Tokyo, Japan (Rodan Brand)

Oshino:   ‑ Japan?

Packard Instrument Company:   (Use of blue ink suggests these tubes were probably made by National Electronics.)

Panasonic    

Philips   = N.V. Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken ‑ Eindhoven, Netherlands (Holland)

Pressler:   ‑ Leipzig (see also DGL)

Raytheon Company [CK]:   ‑ 465 Centre Street, Quincy 69, Massachusetts, U.S.A. (also: 55 Chapel St., Newton 58, Massachusetts, U.S.A.)

RCA [DR]   = Radio Corporation of America ‑ Tube Division: Harrison, New Jersey, U.S.A.

RFT   = RFT-VEB (Rundfunk-Fernsehen-Telekommunikation ‑ Volks Eigener Betrieb), DDR (East Germany ‑ Former Soviet Union) [various sources report different origins of the RFT abbreviation]

Rodan:   (Brand of Okaya Elec. Ind. Co., Ltd. -- see Okaya)

RS Components   = formerly RadioSpares

RTC   ‑ France

Seden:   See Iseden. The large "i" in the logo is often overlooked.

Siemens:   (same as Siemens & Halske?)

Siemens & Halske Aktiengesellschaft:   ‑ Wernerwerk für Bauelemente: Berlin, Deutschland (Germany)

Sperry Rand Corporation [SP], [EX], [HB]    

STC   = Standard Telephones and Cables Limited ‑ Valve Division: Footscray, Kent, England

Sylvania Electric Products, Incorporated:   ‑ 730 Third Ave., New York 17, New York, U.S.A. Electronics Division: Woburn, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Receiving Tube Operations: Emporium, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Tektronix    

TEL:   See ETL. Due to unusual circular logo design, Ericsson tubes are frequently misidentified as TEL.

Telefunken   = Allgemeine Electricitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG)-Telefunken. Fachbereiche Röhren/Halbleiter Vertrieb: 7900 Ulm (Donau), Söflinger Strasse 100, Bundesrepublik Deutschland (West Germany)

Tesla    

Thomson‑CSF:   = Thomson Electron Tubes and Devices Corporation. France.

Toshiba:   ‑ Japan

Tung‑Sol Electric Incorporated:   ‑ One Summer Avenue, Newark 4, New Jersey, U.S.A. Electron Tube Division: Bloomfield, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Tungsram    

Ultron    

Ultronic Systems Corporation    

Unitra‑Dolam:   (same as Dolam) ‑ Poland

Valve Electronics    

Valvo GmbH:   (bought by/merged with Mullard ?) ‑ 2 Hamburg 1, Burchardstrasse 19, VALVO-Haus, Bundesrepublik Deutschland (West Germany)

Vishay Intertechnology, Incorporated    

Wang Laboratories:   ‑ Tewksbury, Massachusetts, U.S.A. (Wang branded nixie tubes were made by National Electronics)

Western Electric Company:   ‑ U.S.A.

Westinghouse [WL]:   ‑ U.S.A.

WF   = "Werk für Fernsehelektronik" or "Werk für Fernmeldewesen", one of the RFT-VEB factories. ‑ 116 Berlin-Oberschöneweide, Ostendstrasse 1‑5, DDR (East Germany)

Y.S.:   ‑ Japan

Z; ZM:   Not brand identification but European or East German type identifier. Z = gas‑filled tube. M = readout. ZM#### = standard (European) configuration. Z###M = (East German) configuration indicating long‑life industrial type with contrast filter coating. Z###0M = (East German) configuration indicating long‑life industrial type without contrast filter coating.

Zaerix    

Zhishiguan:   ‑ China


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