The Design of Electronic Equipment Using Subminiature Components

This article discusses briefly the advantages and disadvantages of subminiature design, and indicates the amount of space that can be saved by such design. It discusses in greater detail the major problems of design, and presents some practical suggestions concerning the methods and materials found most useful. For several years there has been an ever-increasing interest in the construction of electronic equipment using subminiature tubes and exceptionally small components. Various laboratories and development groups have collectively constructed nearly every type of applicable circuit using such components. Since the method of design using small components is somewhat different than the regular design procedure, it is felt that a review of some of the more pertinent facts is in order. The information presented here, although probably applicable in part to all subminiature tubes, is based upon experience with high-performance tubes of the heater-cathode type used in circuits where ten or more such tubes are in a single piece of equipment. Many of the data are, of course, applicable to design of compact equipment using any tube type.