I always KNEW Santa was a bit shady!

[W5BRM]

Looks like Santa likes to pirate call signs, likes to create potential for ground loops and likes to exceeds maximum legal power emissions!!


lol J/K.

Merry Christmas!

[N8GAV]

Now that's neat.

[W9JEF]

.



I'll always remember Christmas of 1954 (age 15). Through a generous gift of $50
(big money in those days) from my dear Aunt Ethelyn (author of Today I am a Ham)
I was able to purchase a 700 volt @ 300 mA power supply kit from Burstein-Applebee ($19.95),
and an ARC 5 WWII surplus aircraft transmitter, and Navy MD-7 high level modulator,
enabling me to home brew a "DX-100" using 1625's in the final (19 cents a piece from BA).

[kb2vxa]

"I always KNEW Santa was a bit shady!"

You've heard of a shaded pole induction motor, the north pole is shaded in Santa's invention so how did you ever guess?

"...using 1625's in the final (19 cents a piece from BA)."

Well of course, BA stood for Big Ass tubes, the 12V heater version of the cold 807 was big ass in its day. So what ever happened to the cold 1625 anyway? They kind of disappeared when a couple of cold 807s in series replaced the cold 1625s when we wired the ARC-5 to run off 12V instead of the original 24. I wonder why nobody thought of changing to octal sockets and using the common 6BG6 dirt cheap at your friendly neighborhood TV store.

FYI early RCA B&W TVs used 807s for horizontal sweep outputs, then for conformity slapped octal bases on them and called them 6BG6s. Betcha didn't know that, huh. Here they are side by side, if not for the bases I'll bet you can't tell them apart ('cause they're the same tube, duh). (;->)

[W9JEF]

"...using 1625's in the final (19 cents a piece from BA)."



Well of course, BA stood for Big Ass tubes, the 12V heater version of the cold 807 was big ass in its day. So what ever happened to the cold 1625 anyway? They kind of disappeared when a couple of cold 807s in series replaced the cold 1625s when we wired the ARC-5 to run off 12V instead of the original 24. I wonder why nobody thought of changing to octal sockets and using the common 6BG6 dirt cheap at your friendly neighborhood TV store.

FYI early RCA B&W TVs used 807s for horizontal sweep outputs, then for conformity slapped octal bases on them and called them 6BG6s. Betcha didn't know that, huh. Here they are side by side, if not for the bases I'll bet you can't tell them apart ('cause they're the same tube, duh). (;->)

Well, the '85 Handbook lists the 807/1625 plate dissipation as 30 W,
while my GE Tube manual shows only 20 W for the 6BG6
(which was not yet manufactured in the mid- 50's).


My first SSB rig was a Swan 175, which used the 6DQ5,
whose plate could handle 24 watts. Of course the 30 W
was supposed to be for intermittent service,
which may explain the difference.

As for subbing the 807 for the 1625,
it was easier to just rewire the filaments for 12 volts
than change the 7-pin socket to a 5-pin (or octal),
especially since they were practically giving the 1625's away. :)

[kb2vxa]

I could check the plate dissipation for CCS and ICAS if I wanted to be pedantic but I won't. Being the 6DQ5 is a sweep tube the dissipation is rated for that service, it may correspond with CCS but certainly not ICAS. Sweep tubes were common final amps because they were available at the TV shop dirt cheap, now the few remaining are ridiculously expensive and the rest are made of unobtanium.

Not so bad are the once common 6146s, once had for less than $5 they now run $10 used and probably beat all to hell to $50 for a 6146B NOS. I have no idea what the Sylvania 6146W military "ruggedized" version costs if there are any left around. While on the subject of the venerable 6146, I was one of many who used the 6146B because it's a little heftier than the straight and A versions, then I went with the W because while it cost a few pennies more it could stand more abuse and generally lasted longer. Then there was the classic Yeasu FT-101 and upgraded versions that used sweep tubes, some tried to change them out for 6146s but that didn't work out too well. Then came the last in the series, the 101-EE or something like that which used 6146s and performed quite well. Trouble is they didn't like the 6146B and the W was worse, for some cockeyed reason they were difficult to impossible to neutralize. Maybe something to do with interelectrode capacitance, I never checked into it.

Oh I know why they were practically giving 1625s away, there were so many JAN surplus ones around they could afford to and still make a huge profit. Ah, how I miss the fabled Radio Row in New York! I had to be careful walking down the street, with piles of surplus gear littering the sidewalk one misplaced footstep could send me ass over teakettle.

[KG4CGC]

That final note sure did linger.