[R-390] Tube Gettering

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 1:51 PM, Barry Williams <ba.williams at charter.net> wrote:
> On 3/3/11 11:20 AM, Tisha Hayes wrote:
>> I think that for the immediate future (10-15 years) we can all make do with
>> the supplies that we have all squirreled away, waiting for the big EMP event
>> so we can be the only ones listening to static.
>>
> That's what Nolan Lee always said. He had enough tubes and parts to last
> through the duration.

When you consider that pretty much everything electronic from the 30s
up to and through the 70s used tubes (including all the government
stuff), it's no surprise that there are literally millions of NOS
tubes still out there. It wasn't until the 60s that sand state really
took off. Aside from some of the really old tubes that were never made
in large quantities or similar specialized tubes, we'll never see the
end of them in our lifetimes. Even those high priced audio tubes still
seem to surface with regularity. And the Chinese are making more, too.

The 3TF7 is a perfect example. Prices rose along with internet demand
and activity, mainly driven by the R-390 folks. Some paid $50 or more
to get one before they were 'gone forever'. Yet they still keep
surfacing, NIB. Seen several back down in the $20 range over the last
year or so.

With the government purchasing the R-390 family, FRC-93 and so many
other tube-based systems in the tens of thousands (and spares in the
hundreds of thousands or higher), it all makes sense. The 6000 used in
the T-368 exciter seems to be the one exception, though they do still
show up. Haven't found anything else that used that tube, putting it
in the 'specialized' category.

de Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ/4