The Pentode
The use of a pentode would seem an unlikely choice for a frequency converter. However, during the Great Depression, many American radio manufacturers used pentode types 6C6, 6D6, 77 and 78 in their lowest priced AC/DC receivers because they were cheaper than pentagrid type 6A7. In these circuits, the suppressor (grid 3) acted as the oscillator grid.
One UK company, Mazda, produced a triode-pentode frequency changer, the AC/TP. Designed for low cost AC radios, the device was deliberately designed to allow strong signals to pull the oscillator without the risk of radiating the oscillator signal from the aerial. The cathode was common to both sections of the valve. The cathode was connected to a secondary coil on the oscillator coil and thus coupled the oscillator into the pentode mixer section, the signal being applied to grid 1 in the conventional manner. The AC/TP was one of the AC/ range of valves designed for low cost radios. They were considered durable for their time (even the AC/TP frequency changer, which was normally problematic). Any AC/ valves encountered today are likely to be brand new as service shops stocked up on spares which were seldom required.
Read more about this topic: Pentagrid Converter