OT: Electronics store with classic parts [telecom]

[HAncock4]

[Posted due to the interest in radio of many on this newsgroup.]

from the NYT:

A Williamsburg, Brooklyn electronics shop, one of the oldest in the
country, carries hundreds of thousands of analog electronic parts, all
manufactured before 1968.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/11/20/nyregion/20111120_Joint_Leeds.html?ref=nyregion

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/nyregion/leeds-radio-is-a-haven-for-lovers-of-all-things-analog.html

***** Moderator's Note *****

Actually, there are still vacuum tubes in some telephone equipment today.

Now, let's have some fun: name the "All American Five", and explain
why they got that name.

Bill Horne
Moderator

[Fred Goldstein]

At 11/19/2011 03:20 AM, Bill Horne wrote:
>...

>Actually, there are still vacuum tubes in some telephone equipment today.
>
>Now, let's have some fun: name the "All American Five", and explain
>why they got that name.

What, doesn't everyone remember the AA5? It was the most common
design of vacuum tube AM radio, especially common for clock radios.
It had five vacuum tubes. The main feature was its cheapness, its
ability to avoid having a power transformer. The tubes had filament
voltages that added up to 117 volts, and were wired in series with
each other.

While I remembered this in vague terms, the wackpedia has an article
about it, listing several generations of AA5 tube sets. I only
remembered the miniature-tube version, which was my bedside clock
radio for some years.

--
Fred Goldstein k1io fgoldstein "at" ionary.com
ionary Consulting http://www.ionary.com/
+1 617 795 2701

[tlvp]

On Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:36:56 -0800 (PST), HAncock4 wrote:

> [Posted due to the interest in radio of many on this newsgroup.]
>
> from the NYT:
>
> A Williamsburg, Brooklyn electronics shop, one of the oldest in the
> country, carries hundreds of thousands of analog electronic parts, all
> manufactured before 1968.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/11/20/nyregion/20111120_Joint_Leeds.html?ref=nyregion
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/nyregion/leeds-radio-is-a-haven-for-lovers-of-all-things-analog.html

It does my heart good to know that at least *one* shop like the many
I used to frequent along Canal Street still survives, even if it's in
Brooklyn now instead :-) ! Thanks, HA 4- .

> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> Actually, there are still vacuum tubes in some telephone equipment today.
>
> Now, let's have some fun: name the "All American Five",

Can't clearly remember 'em any more (Alzheimer's ?), but ...

> and explain
> why they got that name.

.. they were the tube complement in all the classic, el cheapo, AC/DC
superheterodyne table top sets of the early-to-mid '50s. Wait: maybe my
old RCA Receiving Tube Manual has a schematic? ... (comes back) ... YES:
12BE6, 12BA6, 12AV6, 50C5, 35W4 :-) ! Cf. p. 323 of RC-18, printed 9-57.

'Zat what you were after, Bill? Or were you looking for the post-octal
follow-up to these (their miniature 9-pin counterparts)? Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.

[HAncock4]

On Nov 18, 3:36 pm, HAncock4 <withh...@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
wrote:

> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> Actually, there are still vacuum tubes in some telephone equipment today.

Could you elaborate on what those tubes are and what they're used
for? I thought by now even high power applications were converted to
solid state.

Thanks.


(Today I passed a former AT&T Long Lines microwave antenna site. I
read that it's no longer used for that, but merely a platform for cell
phone antennas.)

***** Moderator's Note *****

Well, let's see: Magnetrons are vacuum tubes, right?

Bill Horne
Moderator

[Neal McLain]

On Nov 20, 7:47 pm, withh...@invalid.telecom-digest.org (HAncock4)
wrote:

> On Nov 18, 3:36 pm, HAncock4 <withh...@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
> wrote:
>
> Today I passed a former AT&T Long Lines microwave antenna site. I
> read that it's no longer used for that, but merely a platform for
> cell phone antennas.

I've seen several old intercity relay towers (not necessarily AT&T,
but certainly similar) used to support cell antennas.
http://antennastructures.blogspot.com/

Neal McLain

[Scott Dorsey]

tlvp <mPiOsUcB...@att.net> wrote:
>.. they were the tube complement in all the classic, el cheapo, AC/DC
>superheterodyne table top sets of the early-to-mid '50s. Wait: maybe my
>old RCA Receiving Tube Manual has a schematic? ... (comes back) ... YES:
>12BE6, 12BA6, 12AV6, 50C5, 35W4 :-) ! Cf. p. 323 of RC-18, printed 9-57.

Add an extra 12BA6 and an IF can, and a 6C5 for a BFO. Replace the 50C5
with a 35C5 to make up for the extra filament load. Take some winds
off the loopstick to move it up to the shortwave bands. Voila, ham receiver
for $10 or so.

>'Zat what you were after, Bill? Or were you looking for the post-octal
>follow-up to these (their miniature 9-pin counterparts)? Cheers, -- tlvp

Those are the 7-and 9-pin minis. I don't remember the early octal ones,
but they weren't quite as standardized.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[tlvp]

On 22 Nov 2011 10:29:10 -0500, Scott Dorsey wrote:

> tlvp <mPiOsUcB...@att.net> wrote:
>> ... 12BE6, 12BA6, 12AV6, 50C5, 35W4 :-) ! ...
>> ...

>>'Zat what you were after, Bill? Or were you looking for the post-octal
>>follow-up to these (their miniature 9-pin counterparts)? Cheers, -- tlvp
>
> Those are the 7-and 9-pin minis. I don't remember the early octal ones,
> but they weren't quite as standardized.
> --scott

(Ulp!) You're right, scott. So much of that RC-18 *is* octal stuff I never
bothered checking whether those 5 were or weren't, just assumed they were.

Sorry to have misled so badly! And thanks for steering us all right again.

[grumpy44134]

On Nov 22, 10:29 am, klu...@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> Those are the 7-and 9-pin minis. I don't remember the early octal ones,
> but they weren't quite as standardized.
> --scott
>

12SA7, 12SK7 . . . . . . . ?