JAY EMRIE wrote in a message to TOM WALKER:

TW>RJT>RJT> TW>  I must have mistated my Question. I am Fimilat
with "AA"
 JE> matterie
TW>RJT>RJT> TW> and  "AAA" battereis but don't recal
the "A" designation for
 JE> MANY
TW>RJT>RJT> TW> years and  was unaware they were even still being
TW>RJT>RJT> manfactured.

TW>RJT>RJT>I don't remember ever actually seeing an "A"
battery designated as
TW>RJT>RJT>such in terms of a specific size,  mostly they were
TW>RJT>RJT>designated that
TW>RJT>RJT>way because of their use (filament/heater current)
along with "B"
TW>RJT>RJT>(plate voltage) and "C" (bias) back when.

TW>RJT>TW> That was my Point, Perhaps being a little picky but
hrtew "A"
TW>RJT>TW> battery only existed as it applied to the Old Vucuum
Tube Filiment
TW>RJT>TW> Batteries.  NIOT as an individual Cell like the
"AA" and "AAA"

TW>RJT>There must've been an "A" cell at some point,  or
the system wouldn't
 JE> make
TW>RJT>sense...

TW> One would think so. And it would have been a size inbetween the "AA"
TW> and the "C" for the system to be consistant. BUT I so far have found
TW> NO trace of it.
TW> WHICH brings up another question. WHAT ever happened to the "B"
TW> Battery? :-) :-)

 JE> I'm getting old and my memory isn't what it used to be, but seems
 JE> that the A battery was round, about 2-3" in dia and about4-6" tall.

Never saw one,  so I can't comment on the size.

 JE> Used for grid bias or filaments I think. 1.5V IIRC.
 JE> The B battery was for the plate voltage - 45V - again IIRC.

The size designations were one thing,  but I thought that the functional
designations were a whole different thing -- maybe not?  "A" was
filaments, "B" was plate supply,  and "C" was grid
bias.  I remember some old battery tube radios but I don't remember ever
seeing one that used a C battery.

 JE> They ceased to exist sometime in the 50s - 70s with the advent of
 JE> AC/DC sets and transistorized radio. That is when the AAs came out

Is it?  I don't remember.  I do remember "dry cells" which were
around 3" in diameter and somewhat over 6" tall,  I don't
remember ever seeing any specific size designation for those.  And of
course C and D size "flashlight" batteries. I guess AA were
"penlight cells".

I also remember 15V, 22.5V, 30V, 45V, 67.5V, and 90V batteries.  And back
when I was doing the retail battery thing I ran across a portable
flourescent light one time that a customer had brought in that used
something that was somewhat higher in voltage,  though I'm a little fuzzy
about the exact number any more. And I've also seen reference somewhere
recently to some military stuff that also used higher voltages.

Oh,  and there was one weird one I ran across one time -- I wanted a 6V
battery and this place sold me a unit (I can remember that it had the
"Burgess" coloring) that had five screw terminals across the top
and a wire coming out of one top corner -- giving you a choice of 1.5, 3,
4.5, 6, and 7.5V!

 JE> and a bit later the AAAs. The C cells were long standing flashlight
 JE> batteries from way back. D cell flashlight batteries came later.

I thought AAA was more recent,  and AAAA even more so.

 JE> I got into electronics and the very end of the B cell usage. I used
 JE> to take apart the A cells and use the center carbon rod for
 JE> makeshift welding.

I remember doing that for all sorts of reasons.  The rods out of D cells
were handy for electrolysis,  for example.  And there were some other
projects you could do that I'm not remembering at the moment.

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