Wiktionary
n. An early electronic amplifying tube consisting of a partially evacuated glass tube with three electrodes, a heated filament, a grid, and a plate.
Wikipedia
An Audion is a wireless signal detector device invented by Lee De Forest in 1906.
Audion may also refer to:
- Audion (album), an electronic music album by Larry Fast
- Audion (software), a media player for Apple Macintosh created by Panic
- Matthew Dear or Audion, techno music artist
- Audion receiver, a type of radio receiver that was originally designed to use the Audion signal detector
The Audion was an electronic amplifying vacuum tube invented by American electrical engineer Lee De Forest in 1906. It was the first triode, consisting of a partially evacuated glass tube containing three electrodes; a heated filament, a grid, and a plate. It is important in the history of technology because it was the first widely used electrical device which could amplify; a small electrical signal applied to the grid could control a larger current flowing from the filament to plate.
Unlike later vacuum tubes, the primitive Audion had a small amount of gas in the tube, thought to be necessary by De Forest, which limited the dynamic range and gave it nonlinear characteristics and erratic performance. Originally developed as a radio receiver detector by adding a grid electrode to the Fleming valve, it found little use until its amplifying ability was recognized around 1912 by several researchers, who used it to build the first amplifying radio receivers and electronic oscillators. The many practical applications for amplification motivated its rapid development, and the original Audion was superseded within a few years by improved versions with higher vacuum, developed by Irving Langmuir at GE and others. These were the first modern "hard vacuum" triodes.
Usage examples of "audion".
Captain Audion, Harold Smith knew that whatever his carefully laid plans had been, Remo had thrown a monkey wrench into them by disabling KNNN.
President, but until Audion puts out a traceable audio there is nothing that can be done on this end.
The latest salvo in the struggle for the soul of broadcast television-if not human civilization-and the faceless monster calling himself Captain Audion has been fired.
BCN has just learned that the Secret Service has taken into custody one Dennis Nealon, technical director for the Multinational Broadcasting Corporation, in connection with the Captain Audion terror transmission.
Captain Audion, wherever he was, was certain to panic over the reports.
Smith turned into the gates of Folcroft Sanitarium, he promised himself that he would hunt down Captain Audion before the situation could escalate further.
Until Audion resumed jamming, there was no way to trace his transmitter.
And Smith had seen to it that Audion would not dare to carry through on this threat.
On the network feeds, Captain Audion was already deep into his recitation.
Don Cooder, if he were Captain Audion, telecast his own face to the world?
Feldmeyer was shivering in his blue Captain Audion bodysuit in the great control room under the mountain when he saw the red warning light go off and swore under his breath.
The culprit, Captain Audion, dead at his console with his accomplices scattered around him like so many checked pawns.
But I am pleased to report that we seem to have rooted out every Captain Audion agent who was planted in the various broadcast and cable stations to facilitate the entire scheme.
But Jordan and other engineers at Stanford believed that the device might have a few practical applications and before long it became clear how stunningly correct they were - the audion was the first electronic vacuum tube, and its descendants ultimately made possible radio, television, radar, medical monitors, navigation systems and computers themselves.
Gillette paused, judged distances behind him then tossed the audion tube at Phate, who cried out in horror and dropped the crowbar, trying to catch the antique.