Tube (valve) bases?

[John Perry]

Hi,

I have an antique radio that I'd like to keep running, but it uses
tubes. Besides the other obvious deficiencies of tubes, they are
getting extremely expensive.

I've put together transistor circuits to simulate some of the tubes in
my radio, but I don't like having to break dead tubes to get to the
insides of their bases, and I'd rather not change the chassis. What I
want is tube bases that I can put my circuits into, and plug modules
into as if they were tubes themselves. Google, etc. give me only
sockets and 4-pin bases when I search.

Anyone know where I can get 7-pin, octal (8-pin), and 9-pin tube bases?
I once had a set of adapters that brought the pins out to tabs for
troubleshooting, but they were expensive, and I haven't seen them for
sale for years.

John Perry

 

[Tim Wescott]

Hi,

I have an antique radio that I'd like to keep running, but it uses
tubes. Besides the other obvious deficiencies of tubes, they are
getting extremely expensive.

I've put together transistor circuits to simulate some of the tubes in
my radio, but I don't like having to break dead tubes to get to the
insides of their bases, and I'd rather not change the chassis. What I
want is tube bases that I can put my circuits into, and plug modules
into as if they were tubes themselves. Google, etc. give me only
sockets and 4-pin bases when I search.

Anyone know where I can get 7-pin, octal (8-pin), and 9-pin tube bases?
I once had a set of adapters that brought the pins out to tabs for
troubleshooting, but they were expensive, and I haven't seen them for
sale for years.

John Perry

Antique Radio Supply (http://www.tubesandmore.com) has 4-pin and octal
bases. If by 7- and 9-pin you mean the glass miniature tubes I haven't
seen anything on the web. Vector used to make little modules that you
could put circuitry into, they had both 7- and 9- pin versions. Perhaps
you could find some of them.

 

[Joerg]

Hello John,

You might want to post the question on:

rec.antiques.radio+phono

That's where a lot of the restorers hang out.

Regards, Joerg

 

[Henry Kolesnik]

Hi John
Check on www.arrl.org for a hamfests in your area.
There you should find all the parts you'll ever need.
The stuff you want will be dirt cheap or free because the demand is low..
Good luck

 

[John Fields]

Hi,

I have an antique radio that I'd like to keep running, but it uses
tubes. Besides the other obvious deficiencies of tubes, they are
getting extremely expensive.

I've put together transistor circuits to simulate some of the tubes in
my radio, but I don't like having to break dead tubes to get to the
insides of their bases, and I'd rather not change the chassis. What I
want is tube bases that I can put my circuits into, and plug modules
into as if they were tubes themselves. Google, etc. give me only
sockets and 4-pin bases when I search.

Anyone know where I can get 7-pin, octal (8-pin), and 9-pin tube bases?
I once had a set of adapters that brought the pins out to tabs for
troubleshooting, but they were expensive, and I haven't seen them for
sale for years.

 

[Adrian Tuddenham]

Anyone know where I can get 7-pin, octal (8-pin), and 9-pin tube bases?

Some plug-in relays use octal bases and have neat transparent enclosures
that you can build your circuits into (as long as they don't get too
hot).

You can keep the salvaged relays and use them 'naked' for a different
project another time.

 

[John Fields]

Hi,

I have an antique radio that I'd like to keep running, but it uses
tubes. Besides the other obvious deficiencies of tubes, they are
getting extremely expensive.

I've put together transistor circuits to simulate some of the tubes in
my radio, but I don't like having to break dead tubes to get to the
insides of their bases, and I'd rather not change the chassis. What I
want is tube bases that I can put my circuits into, and plug modules
into as if they were tubes themselves. Google, etc. give me only
sockets and 4-pin bases when I search.

Anyone know where I can get 7-pin, octal (8-pin), and 9-pin tube bases?
I once had a set of adapters that brought the pins out to tabs for
troubleshooting, but they were expensive, and I haven't seen them for
sale for years.

 

[[email protected]]

Anyone know where I can get 7-pin, octal (8-pin), and 9-pin tube bases?

I wonder if you could get appropriate diameter pins from someone like
Keystone, and install them in small circuit boards in the tube base
pattern. You'd end up with a little square or round plate with tube
base pins sticking out of one side; you could solder your circuitry
to the pins or to pads connected to the pins on the circuit board.

Matt Roberds

 

[Roger Johansson]

I wonder if you could get appropriate diameter pins from someone like
Keystone, and install them in small circuit boards in the tube base
pattern. You'd end up with a little square or round plate with tube
base pins sticking out of one side; you could solder your circuitry
to the pins or to pads connected to the pins on the circuit board.

I have several times used a similar but faster method.

I find some wires or pins which fit in the holes.
I press these pins into the contact through a piece of paper.
Then I spread epoxy glue on the paper, covering the pins as much as
possible. The glue becomes a solid block, holding all the pins in place.
With some ingenuity you can add a strain relief if neeeded.

 

[John Perry]

I have several times used a similar but faster method.

I find some wires or pins which fit in the holes.
I press these pins into the contact through a piece of paper.
Then I spread epoxy glue on the paper, covering the pins as much as
possible. The glue becomes a solid block, holding all the pins in place.
With some ingenuity you can add a strain relief if neeeded.

FANTASTIC! I may even do the octals this way (I'd found some before I
asked this group, but in the future...).

I've noticed the ms connector pins seem to be about the right size.
I'll have to get some and try them out. Now, where might I find exact
specs on the pin sizes...

jp

 

[Ben Bradley]

Hi John
Check on www.arrl.org for a hamfests in your area.

And when you go, get all the flyers for other hamfests in your
area, as they're not all listed at the arrl site. If you don't find
everything you need at one hamfest (or even if you do), you may want
to go to the next one.

There you should find all the parts you'll ever need.
The stuff you want will be dirt cheap or free because the demand is low..

I've seen good selections of receiving tubes for a dollar each at
hamfests earlier this year. Older types such as Loctals may be harder
to find, but I've heard that even those can be cheap when you can find
them.
If your tubes' type numbers are just two-digit numbers and have
four-pin bases, then those might be more expensive and harder to find.

 

[John Perry]

And when you go, get all the flyers for other hamfests in your
area, ...

Thanks for the help, guys, but I can get all the tubes I want. The
problem is two-fold: 1) tubes are expensive and relatively shortlived;
2) I like semiconductors.

Semis are lower power, lower noise, more stable, cheaper -- what all
have I left out?

I can build very good tube emulators for a fraction of the cost of a
tube, and they'll last essentially forever. And they're not hot, and
consume no filament power.

If I should ever want to get rid of my SP-600JX, I'll get any tubes I
need then. BA enthusiasts generally want to be authentic, which is not
part of my personality .

jp

 

[[email protected]]

After Roger's post, I recalled a post where someone mentioned doing
something similar for those round multi-pin connectors popular on
military gear. The individual pins come in a few standard sizes,
but there are approximately 10**pi different arrangements. He needed
to make a mating connector for short-term use while the ready-made
connector was ordered. His process was to attach the right size pins
to wires and insert them into the connector he had, and then operate
the equipment to make sure he had everything right. Once he was happy,
he made some kind of "mold" around the outer shell (wax paper?) and
squirted RTV silicone in between the pins and the mold. He ended up
with a "plug" made of silicone with the pins sticking out of it.

I've noticed the ms connector pins seem to be about the right size.
I'll have to get some and try them out. Now, where might I find exact
specs on the pin sizes...

My first thought would be just to use a caliper to measure the pins on
some old tubes. If you don't need the caliper for anything else, even
one of those $5 plastic ones would probably work well enough.

http://www.tubedata.info/bases.html probably has most of what you want,
in millimeters.

Matt Roberds

 

[John Perry]

http://www.tubedata.info/bases.html probably has most of what you want,
in millimeters.

Good! I downloaded the ones I need for now. Thanks.

jp

 

[Brad Albing]

[snip]

Eureka!!! How's this for octals?

http://www.electronicsurplus.com/cc...black--plastic-enclosurewith-l-9-181-5245.htm

Perhaps I should pop over to Elec. Surplus (or as we used to call them,
"Western Garbage") over lunch and pick up some of those for [the OP]
John Perry.

 

[Rich Grise]

Hi,

I have an antique radio that I'd like to keep running, but it uses
tubes. Besides the other obvious deficiencies of tubes, they are
getting extremely expensive.

I've put together transistor circuits to simulate some of the tubes in
my radio, but I don't like having to break dead tubes to get to the
insides of their bases, and I'd rather not change the chassis. What I
want is tube bases that I can put my circuits into, and plug modules
into as if they were tubes themselves. Google, etc. give me only
sockets and 4-pin bases when I search.

Anyone know where I can get 7-pin, octal (8-pin), and 9-pin tube bases?
I once had a set of adapters that brought the pins out to tabs for
troubleshooting, but they were expensive, and I haven't seen them for
sale for years.

Are you handy with tools? Why not get some phenolic, some stiff wire for
pins, some epoxy, and make them?

Good Luck!
Rich

 

[j.b. miller]

You could try www.hammondmfg.com ( Hammond ) for 'relay bases'. They have
octal for sure, 11 pinners as well... 7s and 9s I think you're out of
luck...but... try asking a real ham radio operator where he gets his parts
from...

hope this helps

Jay