VF14 tube will be produced again!!!

[rock soderstrom]

I think that will be interesting for some of you here. The Berlin based company Telefünkchen GmbH announced today during a press conference at the Reichspalast to produce again the legendary VF14 tube.

The sale to selected distributors will start exactly in one year. At the moment, the first test productions are running, the technical manager Dr. Hans Gibtesnicht is confident to meet the tight schedule: "We are sure that with the old, restored machines we will soon be able to produce this legendary tube again in high quantities!"

We are excited and looking forward to this surprise!

Edit: I misspelled the company name, I have corrected it now, sorry!

 

[TLRT]

Yes today is 1st of April

 

[Tim Campbell]

 

[Khron]

For half a second i was like "so fudgin' what?", but... I'm glad the news was what it was

 

[Ricardus]

I still think someone will start making those again.

Would it be possible to make them in a glass bottle instead of metal, and would that be cheaper?

 

[Purplenoise]

I still think someone will start making those again.

Would it be possible to make them in a glass bottle instead of metal, and would that be cheaper?

May 23rd…wishful thinking day

 

[mhelin]

I still think someone will start making those again.

Yeah, it will be obviously the CoolAudio (from Music Group), and the tube will be called V14 (what else).

https://www.coolaudio.com/prod-vacuum-tubes.php

 

[Tubetec]

All those metal tubes from the 40-50's have a glass envelope inside , probably a 'war time' thing to add extra durabillity . I would imagine the metal case would change interelectrode capacitances a bit , which might have an impact on the sound . Of course theres many U47's around that tubes cant be found for now , a direct 1:1 Vf14 replacement would no doubt be of interest to many , but I do wonder what % of a new production tube would be usable in a U47 .

 

[JPO]

All those metal tubes from the 40-50's have a glass envelope inside , probably a 'war time' thing to add extra durabillity . I would imagine the metal case would change interelectrode capacitances a bit , which might have an impact on the sound . Of course theres many U47's around that tubes cant be found for now , a direct 1:1 Vf14 replacement would no doubt be of interest to many , but I do wonder what % of a new production tube would be usable in a U47 .

The VF-14 and the other Telefunken steel tubes do not have a glass envelope! Take one apart!

 

[rock soderstrom]

Okay, it's now April 2nd, at least here in Berlin. As most have already thought, the new VF14 does not exist. Just as the Reichspalast, Telefünkchen GmbH and Dr. Gibtesnicht do not exist. Poor Hans!

I think, despite the astronomical prices, there will be no new edition of the VF14 - the niche is way too small.

If there will be any, no matter how good they will be, the experts on the Internet will clearly favor the old ones. No doubt about it.

 

[Flatpicker]

Good one!

 

[JPO]

Now now it is not April 1, there is a group in Chicago tooling up to remake VF14 steel tubes! I hope to have prototypes soon!

 

[kingkorg]

And off course no matter how good job anyone does the recreated ones will never have the "magic" of the vintage ones. (Yes i'm being sarcastic)

 

[rogs]

Okay, it's now April 2nd, at least here in Berlin. As most have already thought, the new VF14 does not exist. Just as the Reichspalast, Telefünkchen GmbH and Dr. Gibtesnicht do not exist. Poor Hans! ..........

I couldn't resist googling 'Gibtesnicht' -- and of course 'gibt es nicht' comes back as 'do not exist' or 'there is no' -- nice one!
I'm sorry to have to admit that my knowledge of German is almost nil...
My late father had the attached label on his fuse box many years ago -- but there's not much 'real' German in it, so I wasn't likely to pick up much knowledge of the German language from that!

 

[Khron]

My late father had the attached label on his fuse box many years ago -- but there's not much 'real' German in it, so I wasn't likely to pick up much knowledge of the German language from that!

Https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinkenlights

 

[Tubetec]

I havent taken a Vf-14 apart ,
Its fairly obvious to me the tube has a metal lid on a bakelite base ,
anyone have any pictures whats under the hood ?
You claim to be in the know JPO , for one if the tube was completely surrounded in metal how would the various electrodes have any insulation ?
My guess is theres a glass wired ended valve in there.

 

[moamps]

Interesting information about steel tubes can be found here.
https://www.tab-funkenwerk.org/articles-tech-documents-2/tfk-steel-tubes/

 

[Tubetec]

I stand semi corrected Moamps , thanks for the great link , and your correct JPO those tube do have a metal envelope with a special insulation material .

Hmmm a quad of EF14's was used in the guidance system of the V2 ,
"The most famous of the so called Wunderwaffen was the Aggregate 4 better known as the V2 rocket. It used four EF14 steel tubes in its guidance system and historically the steel tube became the first vacuum tube that proved itself space worthy."

Wiki explanation of the Hermes rocket ,

"Project Hermes was a missile research program ran by the Ordnance Corps of the United States Army from November 15, 1944 to December 31, 1954 in response to Germany's rocket attacks in Europe during the Second World War. The program was to determine the missile needs of army field forces"

A response to Germanys rocket attacks ?
The Hermes was a modified B2 straight out of Verner Von Brauns arsenal , USA obviously were close to having the Bomb ready , what they didnt have was an ICBM delivery system .

Whos next to grab this political hot potatoe?

 

[Tubetec]

https://www.russianspaceweb.com/a4.html
Well surprise surprise , the Russians got their hands on the V-2 also and used it as a basis for their own launch system .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-1_(missile)

 

[rock soderstrom]

I couldn't resist googling 'Gibtesnicht' -- and of course 'gibt es nicht' comes back as 'do not exist' or 'there is no' -- nice one!
I'm sorry to have to admit that my knowledge of German is almost nil...
My late father had the attached label on his fuse box many years ago -- but there's not much 'real' German in it, so I wasn't likely to pick up much knowledge of the German language from that!

In fact, readers like you were the target audience for this hoax. Thematically interested, but without knowledge of the german language.

Even for people with an intermediate knowledge of German, the story doesn't work for a second.

As you correctly recognized, Dr. Gibtesnicht already carries his existential problems in his family name.

Also the company name is absolutely not credible. The -chen ending is a diminutive in German and sounds like children's language. A company where the Tooth Fairy and Bugs Bunny are in charge. Not very convincing for German ears.

The sign from your father and the interesting "Blinkenlights" link from Khron point in the same direction. I sometimes make speeches in the shower in a fictional Slavic language and find myself quite convincing at it! Unfortunately, I'm the only one.

I need to practice more, sometimes I cycle over to Poland (35km to the border) to find myself each time again amazed that I don't understand a single word of this language. It is absolutely fascinating how a language with so few vowels can work.

One could sell me a random string of consonants as Polish high literature.

Europe with so many different languages in such a small area is a bit strange, but on the other hand also super interesting.