[R-390] Tube organizing help
don at thedjbrothers.com
don at thedjbrothers.com
Thu Jan 4 20:04:36 EST 2007
I've been back and forth over this ground a number of times. I keep
something like 2-4000 tubes here to serve as spares. 80% of these are used
pulls that have been re-boxed. Space is at an EXTREME premium here so that
is a key factor in my thinking.
I started out setting aside a separate box for each radio with the spares
for that radio in it. This turned out to be grossly inefficient--space-wise,
so I abandoned that approach. What I do now is keep the tubes in boxes,
sorted by filament voltage and, if necessary, base type. So my receiving
tube boxes go like this (each new line is one or more boxes):
0--VR Tubes
1,2,3 Volt Types, all
5 Volt Rectifiers
5U4 have their own box
6 Volt Glass Octal
6 Volt Metal Octal
6A-6B Miniature
6C-6L Miniature
6M-6Z Miniature
Most commonly used 6V Miniatures: 6AU6, 6BH6, 6BZ6, 6BE6, etc.
6L6 have their own box
6SN7 have their own box
7 Volt and All Loktals
12 Volt Glass Octal
12 Volt Metal Octal
12A-12L Miniature
12M-12Z Miniature
Most commonly used 12 volt miniatures: 12AU7, 12AX7, 12AT7, etc.
Oldest: 01A, UV200, UV201, 199-299, 10, up through 27
2A3's have their own box
30's and 40's
45's have their own box
50's thru 79
80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85 Rectifiers
High-value Tubes, Nuvistors & Wire Lead: CK-xxxx, 7788, 7360, etc.
CRTs have their own boxes and I don't keep too many of them
Eye Tubes have their own boxes just marked EYE TUBES
I have found this arrangement to be space-efficient and easy to find what
I'm looking for. If a box is not full, I add padding to keep the tube boxes
upright so I can see their ends.
I already have way more tubes than I will ever use in my lifetime. So I
don't keep randomly-acquired tubes. I go through them and see if any of them
are an upgrade for me or fill gaps. If they are duplicates, I just sell them
off ASAP--remember, space is a problem.
I don't keep an inventory of receiving tubes because it is too much work to
keep up with as it changes. The tube boxes are all on easily-accesible metal
shelves and it is simple to pull down a box, pop it open and look for the
tube you need.
Unless the tubes are high-value types, I don't test them until I need one.
If I need a 12AU7, I pull out 3 or 4 and test them. I set aside a good one
to use, discard any weak ones, mark and date the other good ones and put
them back in the box. If I'm dealing with a sensitive circuit, I may test
several tubes in the circuit just to look for differences that the tube
tester didn't bother telling me about...
And that's about it. Once you get rolling, probably in this or any other
system, it's automatic and easy to maintain. It's getting started that is
really a pain.
Good luck.
73, Don Merz, N3RHT
-----Original Message-----
From: r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of R390rcvr at aol.com
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 3:08 PM
To: R-390 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [R-390] Tube organizing help
Good day all:
A common problem, but I could use some advice.
I have several thousand tubes for my various beasts, and don't have a good
organizing system.
I have tried shelves, boxes, etc. The main problem has to do with adding
and deleting tubes, changing the sequence, having room for additions,
without taking up the entire basement.
I certainly would appreciate the groups wisdom!
Randy
_____________________________________________________________
R-390 mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/r-390
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/faq.htm
Post: mailto:R-390 at mailman.qth.net
Unsubscribe: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/options/r-390
More information about the R-390
mailing list