July 1934 Radio News & Short-Wave |
[Table
of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early
electronics. See articles from
Radio & Television News, published 1919-1959. All copyrights hereby
acknowledged.
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Have you seen the new
national advertising campaign where Freescale (formerly Motorola) is using big name
celebrities to sell their cellular base station power transistors?
Scarlett Johansson and
Ashton Kutcher are up on a tower along with man-and-woman-on-the-tower
smartphone users discussing how much better their phones work now that the service
provider switched to base transceiver stations (BTSs) that use Freescale LDMOS RF
power transistors. Of course you haven't seen the ad because it would never be produced
and marketed. The very concept is ridiculous, you might say... unless you happened
to see advertisements like this one for RCA's Radiotron vacuum tubes from the 1930s.
In it, none other than Bing Crosby was joined by a trendily dressed woman who was
rejoicing in her decision to buy a new radio that contained those newfangled "Micro-Sensitive"
receiver tubes. Now, raise your hand if you would
like to see an advertisement with Scarlett Johansson and/or Ashton Kutcher on top
of a cell tower.
RCA Cunningham Radiotron Ad

Get Radio at its Best with Micro-Sensitive RCA Radio Tubes
Here's a new thrill in store for you when you replace old tubes with these new
Micro-Sensitive RCA Radio Tubes. For true-to-life reception a radio tube must be
sensitive enough to pick up a microscopic electrical impulse - the millionth part
of a volt. RCA Radio Tubes give you "Micro-Sensitive" accuracy. Have your dealer
test your tubes today. Replace worn tubes with the only tubes guaranteed by RCA
Radiotron Co., Inc., to give these 5 big improvements:
1 Quicker Start
2 Quieter Operation
3 Uniform Volume
4 Uniform Performance
5 Every Tube is Matched
Posted October 9, 2013
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