On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 19:50:10 GMT, "RadioGuy"
wrote:

Ted Bruce wrote in message
.. .
You mentioned that Heathkit used 6146's in virtually all of their
gear. That is a valid statement, but they used 6GE5 sweep tubes in
the lower price-point HW-series monobanders, including the ones for
MARS/CAP. It was a purely a matter of economics, I think. Retail
price aside, there had to have been more manufacturing volume on the
sweep tubes, because just about every family had a TV set.

I now have a 4B-line, and also a bunch of HW-series rigs. The 6GE5's
are fairly inexpensive even today, compared to 6146A's or W's or the
later GE 6146B's that Heathikit blessed.

73,
Ted KX4OM

Yup... for sure... I forgot about those monobanders. I even had one
myself---the HW-32A.

Well, you raise the question that's been on my mind for quite awhile---just
what was the production on the 6146? I don't have the slightest idea how to
find that tidbit. They were well in production before TV became
commonplace---maybe 10 years or so. Just what was the production figure on
the 6JB6? To be honest the 6JB6 doesn't sound like a common tube. I recall
the horizontal deflection amplifier tubes like the 6DQ5 and 6DQ6 but looking
in my 1961 RCA tube handbook I don't seen the 6JB6 listed.

I recall, Kenwood had 6146's in their TS-520, correct me if I'm wrong but
wasn't it a 6146 of Japanese production ( I remember they had the shiny
chrome finish on the metal surfaces that typified some of the Japanese
parts)?

RG

You're right about the Kenwoods. I just sold a TS-530S that I bought
new in 1983, and it used 6146B's. It was rated at 220W PEP Input,
about 10% higher than the 6146/6146A rigs. I don't recall how the
finals looked. I opened the case only one time, to enable the WARC
bands. Boy, that was one fine radio! I used it for only 7 ARRL-log
pages worth of contacts, mostly some skeds with relatives and playing
around during contests. I kept it in a zipped up bag that you buy
pillows in. When I auctioned it, I packed it in the original double
box with the styrofoam inserts, and it looked brand new. I knew that
I would never be able to repair it myself, since it was a hybrid
mostly transistorized rig. So, I let it go, and bought an HW-101, and
got my Drake 4B line out of storage.

By the way, Glen Zook, K9STH is an authority on the 6146 family.
Check out his site at http://home.comcast.net/~k9sth/

Ted KX4OM