[Boatanchors] tracking tube inventory?

[Richard Post]

Hi Eugene,

My source for this info is the book "Shortwave Receivers Past and 
Present; Communication Receivers 1942-1997" by Fred Osterman.  Not 
all the tube receivers in the book have their tube complements listed 
but many do.  No connection other than a prominent place for one of 
the few newer books on my bookshelf.

I use an old version of Excel for keeping track of a fairly 
substantial tube inventory.  Helps me with, "which box is that 6XYZ 
tube in"?  Excel lets you easily sort by tube type/ number. I leave a 
printout in the garage and storage area.

You will find as you work with more receivers that certain tube types 
are more common.  Those common ones are also more likely to be out 
there in the swap meets.  For example, the one you mentioned, the 
6BA6 and its older octal cousin the 6SK7 or the older grid cap 
version 6K7, nearly all the same in specs, are likely to be found in 
most older receivers as the remote cutoff IF or RF amp.  Same with 
6AV6 - 6SQ7 - 6Q7 as detector/ avc/audio.

Its the obscure ones, not the common ones, that I look for in swap meets.

Another Eugene (Rippen) has a handy list of the RF output tubes for 
practically every transmitter ever made.  List is at:


<http://www.muchstuff.com/xmttube2.htm>


73,

Rich KB8TAD





At 4:54 PM +0000 3/3/06, Eugene Hertz wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>  So my first wonder was, is there a site or software any where that 
>I can choose a radio and it will give me the tube lineup?
>
>  software that I can use to keep track of a) what tubes my radios 
>use b) the total number of each kind of tube in use c) current shelf 
>inventory of each tube?
>
>This would be very useful to print out and bring to swap meets. That 
>way, I can see what I am in need of and look for them.
>
>Anyone have such a beast?
>thanks
>Eugene
>