Editing RCA (section)

==Vacuum tubes==
[[File:RCA OA2.JPG|thumb|RCA voltage regulator vacuum tube]]
RCA inherited American Marconi's status as a major producer of vacuum tubes, which were branded '''Radiotron''' in the United States. Especially after the rise of broadcasting, they were a major profit source for the company. RCA's strong patent position meant that the company effectively set the selling prices for vacuum tubes in the U.S., which were significantly higher than in Europe, where [[Lee de Forest]] had allowed a key patent to lapse.

The company began work on a secret project for the U.S. Navy called Madame X in September 1942. The Bloomington, Indiana, plant was one of the first of five RCA plants to produce Madame X vacuum tubes, which included a [[proximity fuse]] used to electronically detonate its payload when it was in range of its target, as opposed to relying on a direct hit. James V. Forrestal, former secretary of the Navy said, "The proximity fuse had helped blaze the trail to Japan. Without the protection this ingenious device has given the surface ships of the fleet, our westward push could not have been so swift and the cost in men and ships would have been immeasurably greater."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hoosiertimes.com/herald_times_online/news/local/rca-is-my-home/article_0ef1c7d5-2350-5b23-8762-80ffbbfa9799.html|title=RCA is my home|last=Rollins|first=Ernest|website=The Hoosier Times|language=en|access-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref>

RCA was responsible for creating a series of innovative products, ranging from [[Octal tube|octal base]] metal tubes co-developed with [[General Electric]] before World War II, to greatly miniaturized [[Nuvistor]] tubes, used in the tuners of the New Vista series of television receivers. The Nuvistors were a last major vacuum tube innovation, along with General Electric's [[Compactron]], and were meant to compete with the newly introduced transistor. By 1975, RCA had completely switched from tubes to solid-state devices in their television sets, except for the [[Cathode-ray tube]] (CRT) picture tube itself.