He shoots, he scores......!

[phantomman]

My brother Tom (the bass player in the family) is an electronic engineer with H-P out in California. He builds, repairs, and upgrades precision test equipment......spectrum analyzers, freq counters, signal generators, etc.

Today, one of Tom's buddies at another electronics company gave him a large carton that was in his late brother-in-law's garage -- "TV & AUDIO TUBES" was scrawled on the top of the box in blue magic marker. The box is literally filled with NOS tubes from the '60s and '70s.

Most of them are mil-spec, in their original GI packaging while the rest are a combination of Tung-Sol, RCA, Mullard, Westinghouse, and Raytheon. There's also a few matched sets of 6L6GBs marked "Macintosh". Tom's rigs are all vintage solid-state Acoustic and Sunn (370s and Coliseums) except for one original Model T. Thus, he's keeping all the 6550s and a handful of 12AX7/7025s. But guess who's gittin' all the rest......?



NUTHIN' BUT NET!!!

[Wilko]

Sets marked McIntosh, you mean.

Crap, I just ordered a quad of JJs for my McIntosh.

You feel like selling a quad of those for me to put into this;)

[phantomman]

That's a great looking amp, Wilko! My Dad had a pair of Mac 40s way back when.

Lemme take a look at the stuff when it arrives......I'll see what I need and what I can pass on. Truth told, I'm pretty top-heavy in 6L6s already. I uh......er, "liberated" (yeah, that's the word: LIBERATED) quite a few before I retired -- we'd previously turned in all our equipment that used vacuum tubes years before.

I'll get back to you for sure.

There were also some NOS 7027As in the box but Tom gave those to a buddy who plays a vintage Ampeg B25B.

[Wilko]

I just edited that to remove spam. I didn't ask, and you ain't lookin' to sell your stuff here.

[ziess]

Man, stop doing this Roger! Stop getting all this cool stuff!

[phantomman]

Originally Posted by Wilko

I just edited that to remove spam. I didn't ask, and you ain't lookin' to sell your stuff here.

Oh yeah, you're right. I'll shoot you a PM via e-mail later. Stay tooned......

[Stonefreefuzz1]

Roger Scores Again... If we were keepin' score it be....
Roger :431
Rest of Fender forum :28

Congrats bud!

[Fedora]

A couple of years ago, I was at the White Sands missile base servicing a very low tech piece of waste disposal equipment. This fellow pulls up and has a couple of vacuum tubes in his hand and asked one of the personnel standing with me if he could get rid if a big box of these tubes. I says, "hey, can I have those?" "Sure"! So I took this big box back to Minnesota, only trouble is, I don't know squat about tubes. I'm sure a lot of it is radio stuff. I was thinking on just offering them in lots on ebay??
Not to hijack this thread, but just wanted to share a similar story.

[phantomman]

You should sort them by type and cull out the ones that have no purpose for audio applications. If you have (or have access to) a tube checker, you can ascertain the condition of each one and mark them accordingly. Be advised though -- the military uses many types of RF (radio frequency) power tubes in radio, radar, and microwave transmitters. These tubes -- especially after use in a piece of equipment -- should be considered hazardous material. Ionizing radiation is nothing to be taken lightly and they should not be disposed of by casually tossing them in a landfill somewhere. Tubes such as these are known as "thyratrons" and "klystrons". They'll usually be marked on the base or glass jacket with the universal radioactive symbol. Beware.

(probably not a wise idea to carry a used one around in your pants pocket either)

HTH

[Fedora]

Thanks PM.
I get that from my wife all the time:
Is that a thyratron in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me!

Also in this box were a bunch of misc resistors and things. The military sure is thorough about packaging... one little resistor is wrapped in thick paper towel like stuff and sealed in a heavy silver coated paper.

I'll look for the radioactive symbol. I really hope I don't find any.

[Doc W]

Roger has the Magic Horseshoe, that's for sure.

Congrats on such a score.

[phantomman]

Originally Posted by Fedora

The military sure is thorough about packaging... one little resistor is wrapped in thick paper towel like stuff and sealed in a heavy silver coated paper.

The reason for such thorough packaging is, this stuff is expected to sit on a shelf at some depot for years (decades even), waiting for some unit in the field to request a replacement. Thus, it has to arrive in factory-fresh condition and meet its performance and durability spec.

The bonus, of course, is -- when it's finally sold off as surplus it's usually as "new" as the day it was actually made......to our collective benefit as "amp slaves". Some of the best tubes I've got are RCA 7025s made in 1958-59.

[Fedora]

Oh,sh*t!!
I went digging around that box o' tubes. Look what turned up. Just what part of these are radio active? And why?
What am I supposed to do with these things.
Any Ideas?

[chuckocaster]

there are times when you guys make me VERY jealous...





















but damn it's cool!

[phantomman]

Originally Posted by Fedora

Oh,sh*t!!
I went digging around that box o' tubes. Look what turned up. Just what part of these are radio active? And why?
What am I supposed to do with these things.
Any Ideas?

Oh great -- I was afraid of that.

You might try giving your local fire department a call (NOT on the 911 line!). Explain that you have discovered some potentially hazardous material in your home and ask what procedure they recommend for disposal. Indicate that there may be ionizing radioactive agents that may call for HAZMAT protocols. Cull the tubes marked as hazardous from the others and only turn in anything that carries a warning on the box or carton.

There may not be as big a risk as you think -- I wore GI-issue Hamilton watches for over two decades while in the service and all of them carry the radioactive symbol on the face due to the tritium paint used on the dial numbers. Likewise the back of these watches are inscribed "RAD WASTE - DISPOSE OF ACCORDINGLY". My wrist never got cancer.

[Wilko]

I've got a ton of tritium on my wrist for the last 15 years or so.

It was just last week that I learned that the "T - SWISS - T" on the bottom of my dials means Tritium.

[phantomman]

Yeah, my GMT Master is marked the same way Wilko.

[Wilko]

almost the same dial as the sub. The original dial had the big dots, but I put on the newer style with the raised dots that a re a bit smaller. I got new hands recently. They glow way brighter than the originals ever did.

I just looked again, It says "SWISS T < 25"

T SWISS T indicates that the radioactive material Tritium is present on the wristwatch. The amount of radioactive material emitted is limited to a maximum of 25 milliCurie.

SWISS T < 25 more specifically indicates that the wristwatch emits an amount of Tritium that is less than the 25 milliCurie limit.

SWISS T 25 indicates that the wristwatch emits the maximum allowable amount of Tritium (i.e. a full 25 milliCurie).

[phantomman]

Yeah, samey samey here......SWISS T < 25

The wife's Ladies Day/Datejust reads the same (need an Optovisor to read the damn thing!).

[Wilko]

Originally Posted by phantomman

(need an Optovisor to read the damn thing!).

he he. I was using a loupe. I can't even read the other smallprint on the dial anymore without glasses.

superlative chronometer
officially certified

what evrrrrrrr

[phantomman]

Good luck with the serial number on the rear of the case and the band......

[TT100]

It's great getting tubes from heaven. Every once in a while I'm able to intercept a stash headed for the dumpster. Missed a good one though in Memphis when I got to a local TeeVee repair shop two weeks too late. "Man, I threw over 600 tubes in the dumpster." Some may have been amp worthy.

A TV station I left cleaned out the storage before I could go back and claim all the NOS tubes. There were mail crates full of them I'd step over contstantly. Bummer.

Anyway, last time someone gave me power tubes free it cost me over a grand to build the amp they needed.

TT

[Wilko]

Originally Posted by phantomman

Good luck with the serial number on the rear of the case and the band......

serial on the side (between the lugs).

Oh and the band (with glasses only)

501
B

number 93150

How'd I do?

[phantomman]

Pretty good, I'd say.

I've got the same marking on the lug but my band reads 78360. I also discovered another number on the inside of clasp -- 62523 H 12.

Damn near need an electron microscope to see it!

[Wilko]

more little details.
My bracelet is the basic stainless oyster style w/diving exansion with the double lock.

I'd guess yours is the two tone jubilee with regular clasp.

[phantomman]

No, mine's the standard stainless-steel Oyster band. I'd actually prefer the Julilee. The wife's has the two-tone Jubilee (stainless/14kt white gold). Her bezel is also white gold, with the champagne face.

[Wilko]

Nice.

My "other car" is a basic basic all stainless date with oyster bracelet. My daily driver is on the far right.

Here's pic with two fakes:

[KGWagner]

Originally Posted by phantomman

... Ionizing radiation is nothing to be taken lightly and they should not be disposed of by casually tossing them in a landfill somewhere. Tubes such as these are known as "thyratrons" and "klystrons". They'll usually be marked on the base or glass jacket with the universal radioactive symbol. Beware.HTH

A little off topic here, but just so you know - thyratrons and klystrons are not inherently dangerous in and of themselves because of any radiation hazard. But, all thyratrons have a generous mittenful of mercury in them, and so are potentially biologically hazardous if that gets released in such a high quantity. Klystrons aren't environmentally hazardous, but they can generate microwave radiation in operation, which if unshielded can be biologically hazardous. More than one serviceman has been burned or killed while working on high-power radars that inadvertently get turned on.

[phantomman]

Originally Posted by KGWagner

More than one serviceman has been burned or killed while working on high-power radars that inadvertently get turned on.

Indeed they have!



I got an RF burn on my right thumb once while tuning an oscillator and it took over two years to fully heal!

[NTBluesGuitar]

Originally Posted by KGWagner

More than one serviceman has been burned or killed while working on high-power radars that inadvertently get turned on.

Yep! My dad was in the Navy in Monterrey around '62, and tells the story of working on a radar that was powered on while his hands were in it. He got thrown from it.