6146b history good/bad/ugly
ml
i was looking to buy some 'good' 6146b (specifically) tubes.
wondering which brands/dates are 'ok' by ok i mean really known
great.
I've heard that GE brands after immediately after 93 were supposed
to be ok when the chinese took over , not certain
I don't know anything about the other brands such as
Taylor/RCA/Penta etc
Most any company selling new tubes today will of course tell me
they 'test' ok but what i am looking for is personal experience
to see perhaps which NOS or new tubes might be best
Just don't want to end up with a bunch of known poor or problematic
tubes and hoping that someone with experience might share a little
history w/me
thank you
KC4UAI
http://www.securesystemsnw.com/ft/ft-library/FT101ZD-901-902/6146%20info.zip
This zip file contains some useful information about the 6146b's that
you might be interested in.
JB
I've always been partial to the pre 1984 RCAs but generally, whenever anyone
has specified a retube for their working ham rig, it makes no difference.
RCA, GE and Sylvania all work well and should never need replacing for the
life of the radio unless abuse is involved. A great many used tubes are out
there that either were spares never needed, replaced whether needed or not,
or abused and replaced and held onto "just in case". The caveat about
"tested" is how were they tested. Tube testers do help in culling bad tubes
but can't test for output power or neutralization at 28 MHz, which is the
only valid test (in-circuit) in my book. The 6146(a/b/w) is a
communications tube, not a TV tube.
http://techinfo.awardspace.com/
I have a couple of 12BY7 if you need a driver tube. (for some 6146 radios)
Tested in TS-830s for like new drive.
ml
<6b72a1db-edb4-463c...@j32g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>,
KC4UAI <kc4...@gmail.com> wrote:
<<thanks to both of you i'll check out the links
at first i thought , correctly it might be hard to find some tubes,
now i see even if i find them i don't really have a way to 'see' if
they are from known good lineage and testing them is almost
impossible
but if i dig enough i may get luckey
thanks again its fun to learn about tubes
KC4UAI
>
> <<thanks to both of you i'll check out the links
>
> at first i thought , correctly it might be hard to find some tubes,
Well,
I don't know what rig you are trying to find tubes for... I think that
the 6146b's are not that hard to find. I understand that the 6146b
can be easily changed for the 12V fillimant tube variants in most rigs
that use a pair of 6883b tubes by wiring the heaters in parallel. Of
course this only works if the filimant voltage supply is 12V and the
6146b's are wired in series. The 12V tubes are usually a "dime a
dozen" as they where used in a lot of other gear. If one was trying to
save a few bucks, that might be an option for you.
I got a set of NOS matched 6146b's and two 12BY7's for about $70, but
I think you can get them for less. I've not priced 6883B's myself.
JB
New ones can be had from RF parts:
http://www.rfparts.com/6146w.html
Note the 6146W was developed as a 6146 hardened for mobile service. The
Sylvanias are the best deal and are 6146B with hardened filaments. I have
used them in place of 6146B with no difference in performance.
I don't know why anyone would make 6146 or A any more.
I bought a set of 811A from Richardson Electronics a few years ago. Decent
price and quality. No problems.
ml
<94c25b40-91a0-45f1...@f13g2000yqj.googlegroups.com>,
KC4UAI <kc4...@gmail.com> wrote:
<<hi
I don't right very well sorry, but my post was specific i was
looking for info on 6146b (not w) and not any of the other tubes
mentioned here not that i don't appreciate , it just confuses .
As an aside, someone mentioned the w was a mobile version? I've
always been told it was a military varient?
also many have said the w is same as the b version, but i was
also understanding that the w produces a bit less power so while
i am not tryting to push power it's enough of a difference where i
wouldn't say they are 'the same'. i'd say an electrical ok
substitute perhaps
as far as rig goes i got lost on the part about changing
voltages not sure what thats all about but it dosn't pertain to
me. but in general does it matter what rig the tube goes into?
it's a rig that needs 6146b tubes i don't mean that scarcastically
when i said they were hard to find, i didn't mean any ol' 6146
tube yea those are plenty
what i was specifically looking for was some really good ones, here
opinions differ but 'good ones' are to me so far hard to find
example
some say the ge tube are great, some say only right after 93 i
dn't think i'd want a pre 93 ge tube given all i heard about them
most wouldnt know about that a simple tube tester wouldn't show it
either
the pourpose of this post was to try to find some first hand
information on the tubes that might be available today ie the
different brands and which were the best and which were the ones to
to stay away from my own personal experience has certainly shown
that tubes are different from year to yr and brands
so it was that info /history on the tubes that i was reall looking
for
my goal was to find 3 hopfully matched 6146b tubes that were 'the
best' i can find i want to stay clear of poorly made, or average
made tubes
i do appreciate all the comments was hoping that maybe a few
more people might share some tube info
JB
> I don't right very well sorry, but my post was specific i was
> looking for info on 6146b (not w) and not any of the other tubes
> mentioned here not that i don't appreciate , it just confuses .
>
> As an aside, someone mentioned the w was a mobile version? I've
> always been told it was a military varient?
The W means quick heating filaments. This requires much stronger filaments.
This is required for some mobile installations that leave the filament off
until you key the transmitter to save power. Mobile service also requires
more sturdy elements because of physical shock.
JAN means Joint Army Navy and refers to the their stocking system. NEW
Sylvania JAN 6146W is a 6146B with all of the above but named 6146W to earn
the JAN 6146W nomenclature. Early 6146W were 6146. Same goes for the
JAN-GE 6146W/6146B
http://thetubestore.com/nos-6146a.html
6146B/8298A supercedes and directly replaces 6146, 6146A and 6146B and
8298A tubes.
This part is a little odd because they are usually available in pairs,
because a lot of radios were made for 2-6146A in class AB1 or 2 because they
were really clean and easily drive a full legal limit amp. Neutralization
is the biggest problem because there may be variations in the interelectrode
capacitance, and because different rigs have different ways to neutralize,
some radios have a problem and some don't. You may need to swap some around
to get it right. You didn't say what your problem was. Is this a Swann?
In a well designed rig, properly adjusted and operated rig, the 6146s seem
to last forever.