Valve amplifier thermionic valves. The simplest valve was invented by John Ambrose Fleming while working for the Marconi Company in London in 1904 and named the diode, as it had two electrodes. The diode conducted electricity in one direction only and was used as a radio detector and a rectifier. In 1906 Lee De Forest added a third electrode and invented the first electronic amplifying device, the triode, which he named the "Audion". This additional "control grid" modulates the current that flows between cathode and anode. The relationship between current flow and plate and grid voltage is often represented as a series
Valve transmitters circuit. This circuit design has been used at 1296 MHz using disk seal triode valves such as the 2C39A. The grid is kept at ground, the drive is applied to the cathode through a capacitor. The heater supply must be isolated with great care from the cathode as unlike the other designs the cathode is not connected to RF ground. The cathode may be at the same DC potential as the grid if a valve such as the 811A (zero bias triode) is used, otherwise the cathode must be positive with respect to the grid to provide proper bias. This