Valve Tax

[bobhowe]

Hi there was a tax on the amount of valves in radios in the UK was it 4 or 5 maximum & did it include the rectifier ? & what year was it introduced & abolished kind regards Bob

[Mike Watterson]

There was a royalty originally and maybe till late 1950s to make a radio at all.
There was maybe a stage when there was a per valve tax but I don't remember where I read that and it was one reason that UK sets had less valves typically than USA ones, but cost was another reason. It may have not been a Government tax, but a cartel royalty payment.

However more serious was the BVA (a cartel that today would be illegal) and they blocked cheaper imports and for a while prohibited multifunction valves.
See BVA Influence
and Pentagrid vs Triode-Hexode

Philips "secretly"* owned Mullard from 1928 and probably often circumvented the BVA cartel (Mullard was a member)

Stupidly the BVA insisted radio makers paid a "royalty" per valve holder. See Magic Eye article

The Patent system has been abused by big companies since Victorian era, especially in the USA.


[* The supposed British owner of the Mullard shares held in Switzerland was a nominee]

[Richard_FM]

I've heard some Japanese radios were restricted by the number of transistors.

[Mike Watterson]

I've heard some Japanese radios were restricted by the number of transistors.

I never heard that, also I've Japanese sets going back to maybe 1964 with loads of transistors.
You really needed two for the IF as more IFTs needed due to lower Q, and 3, 4 or 5 for audio (preamp, driver, o/p bias temperature compensation (instead of diode & thermistor), push pull). Some used a transistor instead of diode detector. In contrast a four valve battery valve set works better than a 6 transistor pocket AM radio due to larger aerial and very large IFTs with good Q. The "personal" and pocket valve sets were poor due to too small aerial, 45 or 67V HT and smaller lower Q IFTs. The pocket ones (Japan & USA, never Europe) used hearing aid or military valves and earphones, or a single B7G type if a built in speaker. Very few "personal" AKA "lunch box" sets in UK (1946-1948) compared to USA (1941 to 1956).

The very first transistor sets used only 4 or 5 transistors due to cost. See the Regency TR-1 1954 and the Sony TR-55 1955 which were far more expensive than a valve portable and much worse performance, but could be used with an earphone at sports events.


Any SW set might have an additional RF preamp and even a separate mixer and oscillator. So cheapest Hong Kong sets maybe 6 transistors and a diode. A Japanese set with SW maybe 11 transistors. The early Japanese AM/FM models not only had a two transistor FM tuner but usually (like many early UK FM/MW/LW sets) a separate IF for FM at 6, 6.5 or 10.7 MHz, with maybe 3 transistors for IF amps (as a limiting needed).
The cheap Hong Kong models may have had no duty and be stamped "Empire Made".

Sony was first to USA in 1950s. Sony was established in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. Legend has it they wanted a more American sounding brand for their first transistor radio to USA.
"Something so New York?"
"Ah, so NY. Sony!"

JVC was founded by RCA-Victor, hence the Japan Victor Company and a stylised HMV Nipper logo in the Japanese market.

[bobhowe]

Hi Mike interesting reading especially the Magic eye article Hi Richard we would be in trouble today if they restricted items with Chinese components we would be in trouble kind regards Bob

[PerdioPal]

There was a royalty paid for each valve holder (to Marconi) in the '20's, this did lead to multifunction valves, and as said they were jumped on my the BVA.