barretter Electr.
(bəˈrɛtə(r))
[Said to be alt. of OF. barateor barrator, exchanger.]
a. An early device for detecting radio waves by means of the change in resistance in a metal filament. b. A modern adaptation used to stabilize an electrical current.
| 1903 R. A. Fessenden U.S. Pat. 727,331, The hot-wire receiver described..which has been termed a ‘barretter’. 1905 Trans. Internat. Electr. Congress III. 417 The device selected [as a detector for wireless reception]..was the ‘solid barretter’... This consists of a minute loop of very fine platinum wire or filament. 1923 [see hot wire s.v. hot a.]. 1935 Wireless World 15 Nov. 522/1 A barretter is a device in which the resistance varies according to the current. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 77/2 Barretter, an iron wire resistance mounted in a glass bulb containing hydrogen, and having a temperature coefficient so arranged that the variation of resistance produced ensures that the current in the circuit to which it is connected remains constant over a wide range of voltage. 1942 Electronic Engin. XV. 36 The filament heating of the master oscillator is stabilised by a barretter which also contributes to frequency stability. 1943 Ibid. 384 The barretter tube, which although fundamentally a current stabiliser does not actually regulate the voltage. |