• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

Tubes availability

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#7
peterrr said:
Hello

Is it possible to get these tubes 6LQ6 / 6JE6C. others for a Kenwood TS 515S Tranceiver.

Best regards Peterrr
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Yes, it's possible. However, there is another possibility. These are TV HD power finals. Since it was quite common to run TV sets directly from the AC mains, with all the heaters "daisy chained" across the same AC mains, these types can be had with different, odd, heater voltages. These types are not only more available, but they're also cheaper. (See the RC-30 manual for listings of different heater voltage versions.)

6LW6s are as rare as seal feathers these days since the type was commonly used in illegal, high powered CB linears. Types like the 26LW6 and 36LW6 are available, and not that pricey, certainly nothing like the audiophool "tax" one pays for even new production 300Bs and 45s.

You could get that Kenwood TS 515S Tranceiver. up and running again with 24LQ6s instead. That's also a very convenient voltage as it's also the same voltage that home HVAC equipment uses as a control voltage. There's also a 31LQ6 as well, but that might require a custom heater PTX, or roll your own.
 
#9
12gn7a, 6gk6, 6bz6, 6aw8a, 6ba6,6cb6, 6ba6
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All of those are common radio and TV tubes used in US and Japanese TV's and radios. Any tube seller that stocks old tubes should have them. ESRC ships internationally and has them all.

Is it possible to get these tubes 6LQ6 / 6JE6C.
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These are available, but scarce since the illegal CB amplifier market fried most of them in the late 70's. They are not cheap any more.

You could get that Kenwood TS 515S Tranceiver. up and running again with 24LQ6s instead.
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The 24LQ6 has also become rather scarce. They were used in the later models of the Phantom 500 amplifier, and others, after all the 6LQ6's were gone. It used 10 of them wired as two series strings of 5 directly across the AC line. That amp was clearly "designed" by someone who didn't understand RF impedance matching. It ate the 6 output tubes on a monthly basis, single handedly wiping out the entire US stock of 24LQ6's.

It is possible to convert the Kenwood to a different more common TV line output tube, but this requires someone who understands what's involved.

The ta7045m is an IF amplifier IC chip made by Toshiba in the mid 70's. Harris, RCA, and others made a similar chip in a round metal can that can be wired in place of the ta7045m, but I don't remember the number. They do not usually go bad unless someone was poking around in the radio with the power on and blew it out.
 
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