Scored a bunch of tubes at HamCon

[kenpeter]

I musta dropped about $150, which for me is big change...
Walked away with every socket I had been looking for,
including the compactrons. Three of four of every common
radial cap at 630V. Plus some 100uF electrolytics at 450V...

Tubes I nabbed: 2x 6BQ6 (plain glass, white box, no markings)
2x Chinese 6L6GC, 3x 12AX7 (1China, 1 Sylvania, 1RCA), 2x
12AT7 (Phillips JAN), 1X 6DJ8 (RCA, shortest plates ever seen)
2x 6C4 (1 Sylvania, 1 RCA), 12AU7 (Westinghouse, looks GE?)
12AZ7A (Raytheon), 5U4GB (CBS, might also be GE?) thats
going straight in a Hammond Organ here in about 5 minutes...

And on impulse bought a pair (yes a pair) for $5 of RCA 514's.
Huge beam power tubes, I'm sure I spent far more for the
sockets and caps.... Reading the RCA spec sheet, these aren't
good for much with less than 1250V and/or high grid current.
I will probably stay below 450V and see mow many mA the
grids can take in A2??? If I do anything with em at all, they
may just be eye candy...

Some 2.45Ghz barbeque grills, interdigital filters, N to SMA
pigtails. Shoulda got Heliax while I had the chance... I did
get some old Archer 3A 12.6V CT transformers will closed
bell covers, still in the blister packs. I figure that will drive
a few filaments or whatever...

As before, I am still without OPT's except for 10W 70V PA.
Suppose I network several in parallel/series... No iron that
will let me experiment with SE except in parafeed or SEPP.
I gotta find me a source for cheap audio transformers.

I guess nobody felt like dragging a few tons of big iron to
the show? It wouldn't have been relevant to HAM theme
anyways, but whatever... I'd have bought into some audio
transformers if any were to be found. Granted I came the
second day, who knows what had already come and gone?
I didn't find out till the last minute.

[tubelab.com]

Hamfests are good places to find tubes. I have been to almost every Miami Hamfest from the first one in the 1960's to the last one in 2006. I still go to the Hamfest in Orlando (brought back about 200 tubes and about 200 pounds of iron this year). I couldn't make it to Dayton this year and I still get emails telling me about the stuff I missed out on.

Hamfests and ham radio in general seems to be a dying hobby. Support it while you can or it will go away. I still keep a valid license (it doesn't cost anything) and visit as many Hamfests as possible even though I no longer own any working radio equipment.

[w5jag]

Originally posted by kenpeter


I guess nobody felt like dragging a few tons of big iron to
the show? It wouldn't have been relevant to HAM theme
anyways, but whatever... I'd have bought into some audio
transformers if any were to be found. Granted I came the
second day, who knows what had already come and gone?
I didn't find out till the last minute.

A guy had a pair of mil spec potted chokes in the flea market, 10 Hy at 500 mils, IIRC, for $5 each. I thought hard about getting them. I saw a bunch of modulation transformers, and a guy inside had 420 uf/500v and 900uf/450 volt 'lytics.

An interesting trinket I picked up were some 115V 1000 hour run time meters for $0.25 each. I don't know what happens after 1000 hours, maybe they recycle or you throw them away. I also got some mil spec fuse holders, banana plugs and sockets, and other small, but essential, building goodies.

I don't need any more tubes, but that didn't stop a used pair of RCA UX245 globes, a (maybe) NOS pair of Sylvania 45's, a half dozen NOS RCA 807's, a bunch of NOS 6V6's (G, Y, and GTA), 5842's, and a bunch of RF and rectifier tubes from coming home with me. I saw at least another half dozen 45's, and a few pairs of RCA 2A3's that I passed on, and lots of 6L6's and 6V6's of every style and brand, 7027, 5881, 6BQ5, pretty much everything a person might want was there.

Unfortunately, hamfesting does seem to be a dying lifestyle, but there are still a lot of parts available if you just take the time to look, and prices are a fraction of what Ebay commands.

George, I have never been to the Orlando Hamfest but hope I can make it next year.

Win W5JAG

[Conrad Hoffman]

I have enough parts that I could probably hold my own hamfest, but I still keep going and buying more things I probably don't need. This year I didn't get any parts, but couldn't resist a somewhat dinged up Mexican Stratocaster that needed a home. Can't play a tune yet, maybe too old to ever be any good, but what a nice sound. It's a good reality check to show that hi-fi is and always will be, second best.

[kenpeter]

I actually got quite a bit more, I forgot to write...

3x Heathkit breadboards with power supplies (+5+12-12)
also misc digital clocks, switches, and logic level LEDs...
1 was pristine, the other two in sad condition but can
be combined to make two perfect and one spare...

And I grabbed 5x inline fuse kits, as none of my old
tube stuff (with old dry caps) has any fuses, Scary!
I need to get on that (and re-capping) right away...
Just been lucky so far...

What else, What else... Ohyeah 12x Sanyo 2700maH
Ni-MH AA's. And 10x battery cases (storing 4 each)

Ken
KD5ZXG
Richardson Wireless / North Texas Microwave Society

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My job at the moment (and hopefully for a long while)
I find myself at the final test and QC of Class-D audio
engineering evaluation boards... I can't comment on
any parts till they are on the web, and even then I
may see only an early version, not the final spec...
Best not get into any specifics.

My employer is fixin to hook me up with some very fancy
test equipment. And here I was thinkin the Agilent power
supplies at my bench were overkill! Now I have to go to
a LabView class just to figure out how turn on all this
newfangled gadgetry.

I am sure to be dragging some of my tube projects in
(on the weekends) if they will tolerate the indulgence.
They been pretty cool with it so far.