Hack-A-Day had an excellent piece on tubes and Silicon Valley this week. Makes me want to get the book “Secret History of Silicon Valley.”
https://hackaday.com/2017/11/02/silicon-valley-was-built-on-tubes-of-glass/
Note above the Klystron prototype mounted on a wooden board. These guys clearly had THE KNACK.
A great book about the history of these big tubes is THE TUBE GUYS by Norman H. Pond. It traces the history of klystrons, magnetrons, twts and many of the companies that researched, designed and built these tubes. Having the knack will enhance the enjoyment of this book. Randy, K7AGE