North Korean Vacuum tubes

[Xeni455]

Hello everyone,

I am by no means an enthusiast or trader per se, but I have into possession of a large amount of aluminum North Korean tubes made ine 1980. Would they be of any value?

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[jan.didden]

I have a German car here, build in 2005. What do you think it is worth?

Jan

 

[Xeni455]

Thank you for your input Jan, nicely put. Some more info found in the attachments. As I said, I am not a connoisseur but I do have a fairly large quantity of tubes (about 30k) and a successful eBay store to flaunt them on, it is just with these tubes, I have no idea how to handle them.

 

[jan.didden]

😎
Is there a data sheet? Can we deduce some specs from that?

30k tubes - man, even at $ 1 each that's worthwhile!

Jan

 

[duncan2]

You sure they were made in 1980??


Top row look like 1940,s bakelite based IO-8 .


Row of steel cased ones look like military versions --if that's NK in the 1980,s how the heck have they reached to a industrial stage of nuclear bombs and missiles ?



Looks to me as if they bought old tube/valve making machinery from maybe the USSR -very old school !

 

[mcandmar]

Think you answered your own question there Duncan, knowledge and machinery bought from the USSR.

It would be interesting to compare the datasheets to Russian equivalents, who knows they might be 2P29L's and 6SN7s

 

[v4lve lover]

6V6GT's and 2P29L equivalents likely.



Yes they are worth something. Id happily take some 6V6GT off your hand just to have a few made in de DRK.

 

[duncan2]

I am very familiar with this shape and type of color in old UK/USA etc military communication gear of WW2 .


The dark coating conforms to v4lve post of being 6V6GT as well as 6SN7 of typical 40,s style .


In the UK it was standard practice to make radio audio tubes/valves of earlier and in the 40,s in IO-8 based with a dark coating on the glass ,they certainly look like 6V6GT --if so they are worth buying .

 

[TG]

The 4증5집 (with the datasheet) is obviously 4J1L (4ЖЛ) clone.
The 2증5집 might be 2J27L (2Ж27Л) or 2P29L (2П29Л) clone - most likely the first one.
Still working on the octal tube...

 

[dreamth]

They're most probably Russian made and stamped in Korean for export ...

 

[duncan2]

"Clones " ?--- they look the most original looking clones I have seen for a long time .


If you mean manufactured by equipment bought by NK from --possibly the USSR well yes .


Clones to me are mostly inferior to the original manufacturer but if you use a countries equipment that produced quality tubes/valves then that would not be inferior .

 

[lcsaszar]

Find out which missile they were intended in.

 

[TG]

If you mean manufactured by equipment bought by NK from --possibly the USSR well yes .

Clones to me are mostly inferior to the original manufacturer but if you use a countries equipment that produced quality tubes/valves then that would not be inferior .

Equipment isn't everything.
There are lots of Chinese tube types that are direct Soviet clones and are (still) made with the ex-Soviet equpment. Not all of them are good.

 

[levistubby]

Clones to me are mostly inferior to the original manufacturer

The word "clone" is now widely misused. By definition it means an exact copy.

 

[JMFahey]

if that's NK in the 1980,s how the heck have they reached to a industrial stage of nuclear bombs and missiles ?

Well, USA had Nukes and Missiles, controlled by tubes, until the 80´s.
I often mention the last US based Tube Factory making special ones for USAF anti missile pods during first Iraq War , 1990/91 .

This is part of the Guidance Computer from a Hawk Surface to Air Missile, built by Raytheon.

Notice the subminiature pencil tubes inside aluminum shields:

Turrets, eyelets, PTP wiring, carbon composition resistors, paper in oil caps, tightly wrapped wire bundles, mucho Mojo there.

A plane hit by that missile will be as dead as one driven by the latest microprocessors:

Minuteman missiles couldn´t rely on SS or Flash memory, so they carried target and guidance information on a **hard disk*

 

[duncan2]

"Exact " to the same standards as Mullard UK was in its heyday -Mitcham-Blackburn-Southport etc ?

 

[jan.didden]

@JMFahey: the antenna drive amplifiers in the HAWK missile system ground radars ran on EL34's. Many of those eventually found their way making music in living rooms ;-)

Jan

 

[duncan2]

Now that's very interesting JM !



There was also the air-force defector in a Russian jet fighter who handed it over to the USA and found it was full of tubes.

 

[dreamth]

Well, USA had Nukes and Missiles, controlled by tubes, until the 80´s.
I often mention the last US based Tube Factory making special ones for USAF anti missile pods during first Iraq War , 1990/91 .

This is part of the Guidance Computer from a Hawk Surface to Air Missile, built by Raytheon.

Notice the subminiature pencil tubes inside aluminum shields:




Turrets, eyelets, PTP wiring, carbon composition resistors, paper in oil caps, tightly wrapped wire bundles, mucho Mojo there.

A plane hit by that missile will be as dead as one driven by the latest microprocessors:



Minuteman missiles couldn´t rely on SS or Flash memory, so they carried target and guidance information on a **hard disk*

lots of german made capacitors though...

 

[astouffer]

I'd buy a few of these tubes just to have in my collection.