battery sizes

[da...@murphy.uucp]

Ok, here's a stumper. In the realm of 1.5V batteries, there are AAA, AA,
C, and D sizes. What happened to the A and B sizes?

---
It's been said by many a wise philosopher that when you die and your soul
goes to its final resting place, it has to make a connection in Atlanta.

Dave Cornutt, Gould Computer Systems, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
UUCP: ...{sun,pur-ee,brl-bmd}!gould!dcornutt
or ...!ucf-cs!novavax!houligan!dcornutt
ARPA: wait a minute, I've almost got it...

"The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of my employer,
not necessarily mine, and probably not necessary."

[Lawrence F. Strickland]

In article <1...@houligan.UUCP>, da...@murphy.UUCP writes:
> Ok, here's a stumper. In the realm of 1.5V batteries, there are AAA, AA,
> C, and D sizes. What happened to the A and B sizes?

> Dave Cornutt, Gould Computer Systems, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The A and B size batteries were used in REAL old-time radios. They were
built to function with tubes in a 'portable' radio. The A batteries were,
if I remember correctly, used to supply the heater current and the B batteries
were used to actually run the set.

Often the A size was a large, but regular looking battery. The B size was
generally a wet cell and looked something like a car battery. Anyway, that
is the best of my knowledge. I had a pair in the dim past, but they are long
gone...

-----Lawrence F. Strickland (larry@jc3b21) ---------------------------
Dept. of Engineering Technology + Cthulhu +
St. Petersburg Jr. College + R`lyeh +
P.O. Box 13489 + wgah`nagl +
St. Petersburg, FL 33733 + fh`tagn +
Phone: +1 813 341 4705 ---------------------------

UUCP: ...akgua!usfvax2!jc3b21!larry

[William Swan]

In article <8...@jplgodo.UUCP> steve@same (Steve Schlaifer x43171 301/167):
>The names A, B, and C batteries come from old (very old) tube radios. The
>A battery supplied the filament current, the B battery the plate (anode)
>voltage also known as B+, the C battery supplied the grid bias. B batteries
>are still around. They are commonly known as lantern batteries [...]

Uhh.. one question.. it seems to me that the "A" battery would make a
better lantern battery, as the filaments require high currents at low
voltage (typically 6 or 12 volts), whereas the "B+" supply was (is?)
considerably higher (remember the vibrators in old car radios?) at lower
currents.