980

The General Radio 980 Series Decade Capacitance Units were introduced in Catalog O (1956) and remained available through Catalog S (1965).

The Type 980 Series decade capacitance units are comprised of four capacitors mounted on a 980-P1 switch. The capacitor values are selected in a "1-2-2-5" combination, e.g. the values for Type 980-A are 0.1, 0.2, 0.2, and 0.5 μF. The eleven-position switch maintains a combination of the four standard capacitors in parallel to produce the decade of capacitance values.

Capacitors using different dielectric materials are used in the series − polystyrene, silvered mica, paper, and moulded silvered mica. The Type 980 decade units are components of Types 1419-A, 1419-B, 1419-K, and 1419-M Decade Capacitors. The switch mechanism without capacitors was also available separately for service or experimental use, as Type 980-P1.

Specifications

• Two-Terminal Zero Capacitance: 11 pF
• Three-Terminal Zero Capacitance: 5 pF
• Terminals: flexible leads
• Maximum Voltage: 500 V

Links

• Experiment July 1956 describing Type 980
• Experimenter October 1957 describing Type 980

• Notes for table below:
• Dissipation Factor is at 1 kHz
• Frequency Limit is for the maximum voltage

Type 980 Series of Decade Capacitor Units

Type	Capacitance Total	Capacitance Per Step	Dissipation Factor	Accuracy 2 Terminal	Accuracy 3 Terminal	Dielectric	Frequency Limit	Code
980-A	1 μF	0.1 μF	<0.0002	±1%	±1%	Polystyrene	10 kHz	AVAST
980-B	0.1 μF	0.01 μF	<0.0002	±1%	±1%	Polystyrene	100 kHz	AVERT
980-C	0.01 μF	0.001 μF	<0.0002	±1%	±1.5%	Polystyrene	1 MHz	AVOID
980-D	0.001 μF	0.0001 μF	<0.0002	±(1% + 2 pF)	±1% -(2% + 4 pF)	Polystyrene	10 MHz	ALIEN
980-F	1 μF	0.1 μF	<0.0003	±0.5%	±0.5%	Silvered Mica	10 kHz	ACUTE
980-G	0.1 μF	0.01 μF	<0.0003	±0.5%	±0.5%	Silvered Mica	100 kHz	AVOWD
980-H	0.01 μF	0.001 μF	<0.0003	±0.5%	±1%	Silvered Mica	1 MHz	AWAIT
980-J	0.001 μF	0.0001 μF	<0.0006	±(0.5% + 2 μF)	+0,(±2% + 8 μF)	Silvered Mica	10 MHz	ADIEU
980-L	1 μF	0.1 μF	<0.005	±1.5%	±1.5%	Paper	2 kHz	ADAGE
980-M	0.1 μF	0.01 μF	<0.001	±1%	±1%	Silver Mica (Moulded)	100 kHz	ADDER
980-N	0.01 μF	0.001 μF	<0.001	±1%	±1%	Silver Mica (Moulded)	1 MHz	ADDLE

Photos

• 

  Type 980-H Decade Unit

• 

  Type 980-A Decade Unit