[Heathkit] 6C10 Compactron in Heathkit SB-610 Station Monitor

[k2cby]

I recently bought an SB-610 on the e-place.

It was a pretty scruffy, but everything seemed to function more or less
normally.

The one thing I did notice was that the horizontal display with ZERO
horizontal gain was a dash (about 1/8 inch long) rather than a dot. If I
expanded the horizontal trace to full screen, there was a normal horizontal
sweep but superimposed on it was a series of "dashes" where the intensity
peaked.

I traced the problem to a strong 60 Hz signal on the plate of the horizontal
amplifier (1/3 of a 6C10 compactron) but no corresponding signal on the
grid. Lacking a tube checker that would accommodate a compactron (I rely on
a TV-7), I isolated the 6C10 filament and fed it with dc from a bench
supply. Sure enough, the 60 Hz garbage vanished.

Questions:

Are 6C10s prone to heater-to-cathode leakage?

Does anybody have a source for NOS or tested good 6C10s at less than $35 a
pop?

 

Miles B. Anderson, K2CBY
16 Round Pond Lane
Sag Harbor, NY 11963
Tel.: (631) 725-4400

Fax.: (631) 725-2223
e-mail: k2cby at optonline.net