What is the RS242 vacuum tube?

The RS242 is a triode vacuum tube designed for power (se) applications. DHT triode. Smaller RS241 sister..

What is a RS242 substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the RS242 include E130, RS242X. These share the same pinout and operating envelope, so they can usually be swapped without circuit changes — though batch-to-batch variations between manufacturers (NOS vs current production) may shift the sonic character noticeably.

What are the key specifications of the RS242?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 16.8, transconductance gm ≈ 3 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 5.6 kΩ, max plate voltage 350 V, max plate dissipation 12 W, heater 3.8 V / 0.76 A.

Is the RS242 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the RS242 as Collector availability. NOS (new-old-stock) examples from RCA, Mullard, Tung-Sol, GE, Sylvania and Telefunken trade among collectors; modern production where it exists comes mostly from JJ Electronic, Electro-Harmonix, Tung-Sol (New Sensor), Genalex, and a handful of small-batch makers.

What does the RS242 sound like?

DHT triode. Smaller RS241 sister.. Sonic character also depends heavily on the circuit operating point, the surrounding tubes in the stage, and the output transformer when present — use the interactive loadline calculator on this page to explore the trade-offs.

By Jean-Michel Falligan Devergne

←RS242

← RS241 RV12P2000 →Compare…

RS242 Triode Vacuum Tube

Triode3.8V / 0.76A4-pin European

SourceTelefunkenReviewed—StatusDataModelCalcModelunder reviewPDF

Power triode delivering 12W for push-pull and SET designs

Datasheet ↗

RS242 — Telefunken — triode vacuum tube — (1940)

16.8

5.6kΩ

3.0mA/V

8.0pF

5.0pF

6.00pF

GAIN17%

POWER30%

DRIVE94%

LINEARITY92%

SPECIFICATIONS

Heater3.8 V · 0.76 A

Max Plate Voltage350 V

Pa max12 W

Gain Factor16.8

gm3 mA/V

rp5.6 kΩ

Inter-electrode capacitances

Cgk8 pF

Cgp5 pF

Cpk6 pF

Pinout4-pin European

Era1940

RarityCollector

HEATER3.8V / 0.76A

MAX PLATE350V / 12W

BASEb4-eu

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The RS242 is a directly-heated triode from Telefunken, introduced around 1940. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 16.8 with 5600Ω plate resistance. Commonly used in power (se) applications. DHT triode. Smaller RS241 sister.

APPLICATIONS

SET outputPush-pull output

Generic triode power (se) stage

• Hi-Fi stereo

HISTORY

Introduced1940ManufacturerTelefunken

Pre-War

RS242 Datasheet

Local mirror · PDF

↗

METRIX TESTER

Test this tube on a Metrix

SPICE model not yet available. Loadline calculator requires calibrated Koren parameters.

SIMILAR TRIODES

View all →

01APreamp 100THTransmitting (SET)101DPower (SET)10YPower (SET)12AT7Driver 12AU7Line / Headphone 12AX7Preamp 12AY7Preamp