Michael A. Terrell wrote in message
...
Darrell wrote:

You miss the point. Drake didn't buy their tubes from the surplus
market.
They bought them bulk packaged from the manufacturer. It did make sence
from their standpoint and it didn't compromise the product. From a
boatanchor standpoint I wish they had used 6146's. But when put in their
shoes in 1963, it was a good business decision.

Most horizontal output tubes have distortion products comparable to the
6146 if you keep the voltage and power down to reasonable levels. Third
order products are typically in the -25 Db range which is right in there
with the 6146.

73,
Darrell, WA5VGO


Another point of view: If a ham needed new final tubes he could buy
them at any TV shop or parts house, but the 6146 wasn't always available
over the counter without a wait.

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Well... maybe if you were using a single tube that would be the case. The
Drake gear (besides gear from other manufacturers) used more than one tube
requiring them to be matched. I recall Drake sold matched sets of tubes
after checking their cathode currents in a test fixture. The tubes were
them marked and collected into sets for sale. I recall seeing the number
'18' on the envelope of a matched set of 6JB6's. What '18' meant I just
don't know. I also recall some folks back then claim the the tubes were
also matched on the basis of plate capacitance. I'd look at the matched
sets that I have but they have been in sealed packages for nearly 30 years
so I hate to open them.

The 6146's weren't a problem... we always seemed to get them if we needed
them---they seemed to be everywhere. They were sort of like antenna
insulators---if you needed them someone had them and would give them to you.
I never bought a 6146... One fellow gave me a couple of boxes of 6146W's
(yea... they were in the white boxe with the black print on the side ;-). A
lot of manufacturers were using the 6146's in their designs and the tubes
had been around a long time---for decades.

RG