Russian tube designations


Vacuum tubes produced in the former Soviet Union and in present-day Russia carry their own unique designations. Some confusion has been created in "translating" these designations, as they use Cyrillic rather than Latin characters.

1929 system

The first system was introduced in 1929. It consisted of one or two letters and a number with up to 3 digits denoting the production number
First letter: System type:
  • B – Power oscillator tube or barretter
  • V – Rectifier
  • G – Transmitting tube
  • J – Low-power oscillator tube
  • M – Modulator
  • N – AF amplifier
  • P – Receiver tube
  • S – Special tube, such as a tetrode, a pentode or a CRT
  • T – Carrier frequency tube
  • U – Amplifier tube
Second letter : Type of cathode:
Examples:
  • VO-116, VO-188, VO-202 Full-wave rectifiers with an oxide-coated cathode
  • SO-118, SO-122, SO-124 4-volts indirectly heated tube set for premium radios
  • SO-148 Variable-mu tetrode with an oxide-coated cathode
  • SO-242 Heptode with an oxide-coated cathode
  • UB-110 Triode with a barium-coated cathode
In 1937, the Soviet Union purchased a tube assembly line from RCA, including production licenses and initial staff training, and installed it on the Svetlana/Светлана plant in St. Petersburg, Russia. US-licensed tubes were produced since then under an adapted RETMA scheme; for example, the 6F6 thus became the 6Ф6.

Receiver tubes

In the 1950s a 5-element system was adopted in the Soviet Union for designating receiver vacuum tubes.
The 1st element is a number specifying filament voltage in volts.
The 2nd element is a Cyrillic character specifying the type of device:
The 3rd element is a number – a series designator that differentiates between different devices of the same type.
The 4th element denotes vacuum tube construction :
  • P – Small 9-pin or 7-pin glass envelope.
  • R – Subminiature glass envelope with a diameter up to 5 mm
  • A – Subminiature glass envelope with flexible leads.
  • B – Subminiature glass envelope with flexible leads.
  • G – Glass envelope
  • S – Glass envelope, typically with an octal base.
  • N – Nuvistor.
  • K – Metal-ceramic envelope.
  • D – Glass-metal envelope with disc connections.
  • J – Acorn tube
For all-metal tubes the 4th element is omitted.
The 5th element is optional. It consists of a dash followed by a single character or a combination of characters and denotes special characteristics of the tube:
  • V – Increased reliability and mechanical ruggedness.
  • R – Even better than V.
  • Ye – Extended service life.
  • D – Exceptionally long service life.
  • I – Optimised for "pulsed" mode of operation.
  • K – Vibration-resistant
For instance, -YeV added after 6N2P signifies that this variant of the 6N2P has extended service life and low noise and microphonics. More often than not this means actual differences in internal construction of the tube compared to the "basic" type, but sometimes designators like -V and -I simply mean that the tube was specially selected for those characteristics from the regular-quality production at the factory.
The new designation convention was applied retrospectively to many of the previously produced types, as well as to those produced afterwards. For example, a Soviet-produced copy of the 6L6 was originally manufactured in the 1940s under its American designation, or sometimes a Cyrillic transcription of it, 6Л6. Under the above convention the tube was redesignated 6P3S. The 6V6 tube became 6P6S. However, many specialised Russian tubes, such as special military or transmitter tubes, do not follow the above convention.
Some of the better-known Russian equivalents of West European and American tubes are the 6P14P, an EL84; 6N8S, a 6SN7; and 6P3S-E, a version of the 6L6.

Professional tubes

There is another designation system for professional tubes such as transmitter ones. A number before a cathode-ray tube designation gives the screen diagonal or diameter in centimeters
The 1st element: Function
The next elements are:
  • Ignitrons, Rectifier tubes, Thyratrons:
  • Transmitting tubes:
  • Phototubes and Photomultipliers:
Popular transmitter tubes include the ГУ-29, ГУ-50, ГМ-70 and Г-807.