You probably would not think of building a radio detector from a light bulb, but that is what Ambrose Fleming did in 1904. The result was what he called the 'oscillation valve', now better known as the thermionic diode. It was only two years later when Lee De Forest added a third electrode to make the first primitive Triode. These two classic inventions led to a fight between the two inventors, but they also led to the now-vast, worldwide industry of electronics.
This museum sets out to document a key 20th Century technology that made possible:-.
Wireless communication
Broadcast Radio
Public address
Hi-Fi sound reproduction
Television
Radar
Computers
Industrial process control
Radio Astronomy
and much more....
Donate and receive our SDHC card with hi-res pictures of all valves and films of valvemaking, or donate valves.
This museum is unfunded and depends on your donations to stay on-line and to grow
