Any antique-radio heads?

Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:31 pm

Way off topic, I know, but I have to ask.

I'm looking for knowledge of vacuum tubes, as I have a rare item I can't seem to find anything similar to. I think it was a teaching tool, "back in the day".

It's a GE "Service-Designed" tube, UNASSEMBLED... (Meaning the globe is separate, and the guts can be directly examined.) In a presentation box.

If any of you have vacuum-tube knowledge, let me know, and I'll post up pics, or talk by PM, since this is the least welding related topic I've ever put here.

Thanks!

Steve S

Superiorwelding · Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:45 pm

Steve,
My dad owns Wooster Vintage Audio and deals in antique radios and turntables etc. I don't have much knowleg but he does and if he does not know how to help his service tech will. Post up some pics and I will show him next time we are together.
-Jonathan

Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:52 pm

Jonathan, here's three good pics:

: GEDC1357.JPG (194.69 KiB) Viewed 663 times

: GEDC1356.JPG (213.08 KiB) Viewed 663 times

: GEDC1355.JPG (213.37 KiB) Viewed 663 times

I'm curious as to the purpose behind this... The average hobbyist can't assemble and evacuate it, so I have to assume it's a teaching aid.

Thanks,

Steve S

Superiorwelding · Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:57 pm

Steve,
Didn't think you would get back that quick

I showed the pics to him and he thinks it is either for training or testing equipment. I will show this to Tim his tech and see what he says. That is pretty neat though, where did you get that at?
-Jonathan

Wed Jun 25, 2014 7:10 pm

I got that (and one like it in poorer condition) from an electronics professor 25 years ago. The prof was, at one time, an engineer for HeathKit. He didn't know anything about them, though.

Steve S

Braehill · Wed Jun 25, 2014 8:08 pm

Steve,
I don't know anything about radio tubes, sorry. But I did notice a can of Rolling Rock beer in the picture. It's made about 30 miles from my home (at least originally) in Latrobe, Pa., a little town that Arnold Palmer made famous.

Len

TxBigRed · Wed Jun 25, 2014 8:58 pm

I wonder if it might have been a sales tool to demonstrate to construction of the tube.

winston weldall · Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:21 pm

here's something interesting i found
http://n4trb.com/AmateurRadio/GE_HamNew ... No%206.pdf

seems it was a type of tube for HAM radio.

mike

Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:16 pm

winston weldall wrote:here's something interesting i found
http://n4trb.com/AmateurRadio/GE_HamNew ... No%206.pdf

seems it was a type of tube for HAM radio.

mike

Mike, that fits, in several ways, including the "reciever tube" designation. Thanks for the link... It puts it into "time" context.

Still does not explain an "unassembled" tube in two sections, in black velvet, in a fancy box. That's the issue that interests me most. This almost seems a "presentation" piece.

Steve S

newschoppafowah · Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:53 pm

My tube knowledge is strictly guitar amp stuff.

I do know that an old out of production tube may be in production under another name since a lot of this stuff has gone over to the earstern bloc, and is actually the same tube, made with the same tooling, but under another name with another designation because of copyright stuff held by companies like GE, RCA, and the big ones that were in the game back when these were available at your local drugstore.

I had a bunch of links to this kind of stuff, but that was two computers ago.

Off the top of my head, look up "sov-tek", "NOS vacuum tubes" (NOS is new old stock, you won't want to pay those prices, but you could find a cross reference)

I tracked down a few companies here when I was redoing my Fender amp, some of them had some real oddball stuff. If you're not getting where you're trying to go I could try to look that stuff up again. Let me know.

The U.S. military also commisioned a lot of triad tubes from RCA, but they didn't label them. They can be found NOS, tested and warrantied for more money than I could spend in two weeks on beer and ribs.