Portables with nuvistors?

[Thyratron]

Were there ever any, maybe in the tube-to-transistor transition era? It would seem to make sense given space considerations, but I can't recall ever seeing one.

[electronjohn]

Probably not..since by the time Nuvistors came on the market, transistors had been developed to the point of nearly 100% use in portables. However, you may have run across an example of a transitionary portable using both miniature and subminiature tubes. These are way cool...I have a Motorola "Pixie" my Mom got as an H.S. graduation gift. I don't know...there might even have been a model or two using subminis exclusively. Then...the subject of "hybrids" comes up...tube/transistor combos. A number of portables in the transitionary period of the late 50's were built this way. And, this was common technology for car radios before the advent of all-transistor units, along with car radios using 12V "space charge" tubes. No plate supply needed!

[Chad Hauris]

Nuvistors I think came out in the early 60's and were not used in any portable radios that I know of. Nuvistors used an indirectly heated cathode and I think that even if you were to try and use one the filament current draw would be too much for long battery life...all battery portables used directly heated cathodes for maximum "A" battery life.
There were some stereo receivers/tuners that used Nuvistor FM RF front end stages (for better RF performance) along with regular tubes or transistors for the rest of the unit.

The car radios of the mid-late 50's to early 60's used the 12 volt plate supply tubes as the transistors of the time could not measure up to the RF performance of tubes...a single transistor was usually used for audio output with the rest tubes. I guess the plate current demands would have been too much to try and make a 12-volt plate supply power output tube.