12 Volt Car Radio Tubes

By the end of the 1950s the hand writing was on the wall and most engineers and managers knew that tubes were destine to be replaced by transistors.
As often happens when an established technology is threatened by a more advanced one, tube engineers began to innovate to meet the threat.
The two most visible of these innovations were the compactron and the family of tubes that would operate from a plate supply voltage of 12 volts.
Many car radios were made using these tubes for everything except the audio output where a transistor was used. Given time the tube engineers
would have found a way to get 2 or 3 watts from a tube with a plate supply of 12 volts. Unfortunately time ran out on them.
Listed below is the legacy of a dying industry. But don't play taps just yet. There is still a lot of interest in tubes.

A space charge tetrode is biased by applying + 12 volts to grid 1 and the signal to grid 2. An LV tetrode is biased in the conventional way.
Signal grid bias is provided by contact potential. A large resistor is connected from the grid to cathode.

Heater (H), Filament (F)

Other Max
Function or Plate
Type H/F V A heater Plate Gm µ Rp Base Notes
Configuration Dissipation
voltages Voltage
Medium mu Triode
12AD6 H 12.6 0.15 - N. A. 30 1000 15 15 k 7 Pin Mini Two diodes share cathode with Triode.
Duo Diode
12AJ6 Duo Diode Triode H 12.6 0.15 - N. A. 30 1200 55 45 k 7 Pin Mini Two diodes share cathode with Triode.
One cathode for the Triode, another for the
12DV7 Duo Diode Triode H 12.6 CT 0.15 - N. A. 16 750 14 19 k 9 Pin Mini
two Diodes.
12EL6 Duo Diode Triode H 12.6 0.15 - N. A. 30 1200 55 45 k 7 Pin Mini Two diodes share cathode with Triode.
12FK6 Duo Diode Triode H 12.6 0.15 - N. A. 16 1200 7.4 6200 7 Pin Mini Two diodes share cathode with Triode.
12FM6 Duo Diode Triode H 12.6 0.15 - N. A. 30 1300 10 7700 7 Pin Mini Two diodes share cathode with Triode.
12U7 LV Duo Triode H 12.6 CT 0.15 - N. A. 30 1600 20 12.5 k 9 Pin Mini

Heater (H), Filament (F)

Max Max
Function or Section Max Plate Base
Type H/F V A Plate Screen Gm Rp Notes
configuration Data Watts Type
Volts Volts
Space Charge Pentode N. A. 30 16 G1 15000 480
12AL8 H 12.6 0.55 9 pin mini Triode u = 13, has separate cathode.
Tetrode plus Triode Triode N. A. 30 - 1000 13 k
LV Tetrode plus 2
12DK7 H 12.6 0.5 N/A 0.5 30 30 5000 4000 9 pin mini
Diodes
Space Charge
12DL8 Tetrode plus 2 H 12.6 0.55 N/A N. A. 30 16 G1 15000 480 9 pin mini
Diodes
Space Charge
12DS7 Tetrode plus 2 H 12.6 0.4 N/A N. A. 16 16 G1 16000 500 9 pin mini Diodes and Tetrode have common cathode.
Diodes
LV Tetrode plus 2
12DU7 H 12.6 0.25 N/A N. A. 16 16 6200 6000 9 pin mini Diodes and Tetrode have common cathode.
Diodes
Space Charge
Two diodes have common cathode. Tetrode
12DV8 Tetrode plus 2 H 12.6 0.375 N/A N. A. 16 16 G1 8500 900 9 pin mini
has separate cathode
Diodes
LV Tetrode plus Tetrode N. A. 16 16 6000 5k
12DY8 H 12.6 0.35 9 pin mini Separate cathodes.
Triode Triode N. A. 16 - 2000 10 k
LV Tetrode plus
12EM6 H 12.6 0.5 N/A 0.5 30 30 5000 4000 9 pin mini Common cathode.
Diode
LV Tetrode plus 2 Two diodes have common cathode. Tetrode
12J8 H 12.6 0.325 N/A N. A. 30 30 5500 6000 9 pin mini
Diodes has separate cathode
Space Charge
12K5 H 12.6 0.4 N/A N. A. 30 16 15000 480 7 pin mini
Tetrode
Sharp Cutoff
12CN5 H 12.6 0.45 N/A N. A. 16 16 3800 40 k 7 pin Mini
Pentode
Sharp Cutoff
12CX6 H 12.6 0.15 N/A N. A. 33 33 3100 40 k 7 pin Mini
Pentode
Sharp Cutoff
12EK6 H 12.6 0.19 N/A N. A. 16 16 4200 50 k 7 pin Mini
Pentode
Remote Cutoff
12AC6 H 12.6 0.15 A N/A N. A. 30 30 750 500 k 7 pin Mini
Pentode
Remote Cutoff
12AF6 H 12.6 0.15 A N/A N. A. 16 16 1250 300 k 7 pin Mini
Pentode
Semi-Remote
12BL6 H 12.6 0.15 A N/A N. A. 30 30 1350 500 k 7 pin Mini
Cutoff Pentode
Remote Cutoff
12DZ6 H 12.6 0.19 A N/A N. A. 16 16 3800 25 k 7 pin Mini
Pentode
Remote Cutoff
12F8 H 12.6 0.15 N/A N. A. 30 30 1000 330 k 9 pin Mini Common cathode.
Pentode Duo Diode

Heater (H), Filament (F)

Max
Max Plate
Function or Section Screen Base
Type H/F V A Voltage Gm µ Rp Notes.
configuration Data Voltage Type
(volts)
(volts)
Medium mu Triode Triode 16 - 4700 25 6k
12EC8 Sharp cutoff H 12.6 0.225 9 pin mini Suppressor tied to pentode cathode.
Pentode Pentode 16 16 2000 - 750 k

Diode, Low mu Triode 16 - 1200 10 8.3 k Diode plate current = 5 mA. Diode and Triode
12FR8 Triode, and Sharp H 12.6 0.32 9 pin mini share a common cathode. Suppressor grid
Cutoff Pentode Pentode 16 16 2700 - 400 k tied to Pentode cathode.

Heater (H), Filament (F)

Function or Base
Type H/F V A Notes and Comments
Configuration Type

This is a 5 grid tube with grids 2 and 4 tied together and brought
12AD6 Heptode Converter H 12.6 0.15 out to a single pin. Grid 5 is tied to the cathode. Low voltage tube 7 pin mini
designed for vibrator less car radios.

This is a 5 grid tube with grids 2 and 4 tied together and brought
out to a single pin. Grid 5 is tied to the cathode. Low voltage tube
Dual Control designed for vibrator less car radios.
12EG6 H 12.6 0.19 7 pin mini
Heptode
The application note indicates that both grids 1 and 3 have remote
cutoff characteristics for application of AGC to both grids
Heptode section is a 5 grid tube with grids 2 and 4 tied together
and brought out to a single pin. Grid 5 is tied to the cathode. Triode
12FX8 Triode Heptode H 12.6 0.3 9 pin mini
section has mu of 10 and separate cathode. Low voltage tube
designed for vibrator less car radios.

This is a 5 grid tube with grids 2 and 4 tied together and brought
12GA6 Heptode Converter H 12.6 0.15 out to a single pin. Grid 5 is tied to the cathode. Low voltage tube 7 pin mini
designed for vibrator less car radios.

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