Strange tube ID
 

Someone threw away an old wood-cabinet radio across the street from me.
Rummaging among the remains, I pulled a tube from the chassis, of a type
I'd never seen before.

It's a stubby little metal-jacketed puppy, about 1" high, octal base
with 7 pins. Metal is rusted enough that I can't read any markings,
though I can just make out the GE logo. Most of the rest of the tubes in
the set were standard-height metal-jacketed ones.

I thought it might be a plug-in rectifier replacement, but I don't think
they had silicon diodes back in those days. It occurs to me that it also
might not be a tube but some other socketed part that may need
replacement periodically.

Not a big deal; I'm not going to do anything with this stuff. Just curious.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Strange tube ID
 

David Nebenzahl wrote:

Someone threw away an old wood-cabinet radio across the street from me.
Rummaging among the remains, I pulled a tube from the chassis, of a type
I'd never seen before.

It's a stubby little metal-jacketed puppy, about 1" high, octal base
with 7 pins. Metal is rusted enough that I can't read any markings,
though I can just make out the GE logo. Most of the rest of the tubes in
the set were standard-height metal-jacketed ones.

I thought it might be a plug-in rectifier replacement, but I don't think
they had silicon diodes back in those days. It occurs to me that it also
might not be a tube but some other socketed part that may need
replacement periodically.

Not a big deal; I'm not going to do anything with this stuff. Just curious.


It sounds like a 6H6, a dual diode that was used as a detector and
AVC rectifier. Two pins for the filament, two pins for each diode, and a
pin to ground the shell totals seven pins.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

Strange tube ID
 

On Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:51:19 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


David Nebenzahl wrote:

Someone threw away an old wood-cabinet radio across the street from me.
Rummaging among the remains, I pulled a tube from the chassis, of a type
I'd never seen before.

It's a stubby little metal-jacketed puppy, about 1" high, octal base
with 7 pins. Metal is rusted enough that I can't read any markings,
though I can just make out the GE logo. Most of the rest of the tubes in
the set were standard-height metal-jacketed ones.

I thought it might be a plug-in rectifier replacement, but I don't think
they had silicon diodes back in those days. It occurs to me that it also
might not be a tube but some other socketed part that may need
replacement periodically.

Not a big deal; I'm not going to do anything with this stuff. Just curious.


It sounds like a 6H6, a dual diode that was used as a detector and
AVC rectifier. Two pins for the filament, two pins for each diode, and a
pin to ground the shell totals seven pins.


My first thought was also the 6H6, but he mentions 7 pins. So the
question is, does the socket have 8 pins available, and if so, I would
back up the 6H6 suggestion.

Peter

Strange tube ID
 

"Peter Dettmann" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:51:19 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


David Nebenzahl wrote:

Someone threw away an old wood-cabinet radio across the street from me.
Rummaging among the remains, I pulled a tube from the chassis, of a type
I'd never seen before.

It's a stubby little metal-jacketed puppy, about 1" high, octal base
with 7 pins. Metal is rusted enough that I can't read any markings,
though I can just make out the GE logo. Most of the rest of the tubes in
the set were standard-height metal-jacketed ones.

I thought it might be a plug-in rectifier replacement, but I don't think
they had silicon diodes back in those days. It occurs to me that it also
might not be a tube but some other socketed part that may need
replacement periodically.

Not a big deal; I'm not going to do anything with this stuff. Just
curious.


It sounds like a 6H6, a dual diode that was used as a detector and
AVC rectifier. Two pins for the filament, two pins for each diode, and a
pin to ground the shell totals seven pins.


My first thought was also the 6H6, but he mentions 7 pins. So the
question is, does the socket have 8 pins available, and if so, I would
back up the 6H6 suggestion.

Peter

As he said it was an octal base with 7 pins, I took that to be a standard 8
pin octal pattern, but with only 7 pins fitted, which was a common enough
scheme, with sometimes as many as three pins missing.

David, the 'unused' pin on a 6H6, is pin 6, so that's the 6th pin counting
clockwise from the spigot. If that's the one that you have missing, then I
would go along with Michael and Peter, and say that it most likely is a 6H6.
Was the paint on it originally black ?

Arfa

Strange tube ID
 

On 9/7/2009 5:24 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

David, the 'unused' pin on a 6H6, is pin 6, so that's the 6th pin counting
clockwise from the spigot. If that's the one that you have missing, then I
would go along with Michael and Peter, and say that it most likely is a 6H6.
Was the paint on it originally black ?

Yep. And yep.

I thought it would be obvious that it was an 8-pin base missing a pin by
saying "octal", but I guess not.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Strange tube ID
 

On 9/7/2009 5:24 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

David, the 'unused' pin on a 6H6, is pin 6, so that's the 6th pin counting
clockwise from the spigot. If that's the one that you have missing, then I
would go along with Michael and Peter, and say that it most likely is a 6H6.
Was the paint on it originally black ?

Dang. I just measured the filament resistance (pins 2 & 7), and whaddya
know: got 5.5 ohms (IOW, continuity). No shorts between other elements.
This thing probably works.

I can see my eBay auction now:

"L@@K! RARE VINTAGE RADIO TUBE!"

(One site (http://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_6h6.html) tells me that
usage of this tube seems to have peaked in 1937-38.)


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Strange tube ID
 

On Sep 7, 7:58*pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 9/7/2009 5:24 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

David, the 'unused' pin on a 6H6, is pin 6, so that's the 6th pin counting
clockwise from the spigot. If that's the one that you have missing, then I
would go along with Michael and Peter, and say that it most likely is a 6H6.
Was the paint on it originally black ?

Dang. I just measured the filament resistance (pins 2 & 7), and whaddya
know: got 5.5 ohms (IOW, continuity). No shorts between other elements.
This thing probably works.

I can see my eBay auction now:

* * "L@@K! RARE VINTAGE RADIO TUBE!"

(One site (http://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_6h6.html) tells me that
usage of this tube seems to have peaked in 1937-38.)

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Wasn't there any id on the radio itself, either a sticker on the back
or bottom, or something on the chassis next to the tube itself?
Otherwise 6H6 seems limke a good bet. Were there any other tubes in
the radio? IF so, let us know.

Strange tube ID
 

On 9/7/2009 9:05 PM hr(bob) spake thus:

Wasn't there any id on the radio itself, either a sticker on the back
or bottom, or something on the chassis next to the tube itself?

Yeah, there was a diagram, but I wasn't interested enough to look at it.
(It was a GE, though, I remember that.) There had apparently been a dead
animal of some sort in proximity to the radio.

Otherwise 6H6 seems limke a good bet. Were there any other tubes in
the radio? IF so, let us know.

I have a bottle-shaped 6Y6-G here in front of me from the same set. Also
had a bunch of metal 6SN7s, I believe.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Strange tube ID
 

On Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:09:21 +1000, Peter Dettmann
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:51:19 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


David Nebenzahl wrote:

Someone threw away an old wood-cabinet radio across the street from me.
Rummaging among the remains, I pulled a tube from the chassis, of a type
I'd never seen before.

It's a stubby little metal-jacketed puppy, about 1" high, octal base
with 7 pins. Metal is rusted enough that I can't read any markings,
though I can just make out the GE logo. Most of the rest of the tubes in
the set were standard-height metal-jacketed ones.

I thought it might be a plug-in rectifier replacement, but I don't think
they had silicon diodes back in those days. It occurs to me that it also
might not be a tube but some other socketed part that may need
replacement periodically.

Not a big deal; I'm not going to do anything with this stuff. Just curious.


It sounds like a 6H6, a dual diode that was used as a detector and
AVC rectifier. Two pins for the filament, two pins for each diode, and a
pin to ground the shell totals seven pins.


My first thought was also the 6H6, but he mentions 7 pins. So the
question is, does the socket have 8 pins available, and if so, I would
back up the 6H6 suggestion.

Peter

I assumed that he was saying it was octal with the eight pin never
installed. Agreed, probalby a 6H6...

Strange tube ID
 

David Nebenzahl wrote:

On 9/7/2009 5:24 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

David, the 'unused' pin on a 6H6, is pin 6, so that's the 6th pin counting
clockwise from the spigot. If that's the one that you have missing, then I
would go along with Michael and Peter, and say that it most likely is a 6H6.
Was the paint on it originally black ?

Dang. I just measured the filament resistance (pins 2 & 7), and whaddya
know: got 5.5 ohms (IOW, continuity). No shorts between other elements.
This thing probably works.

I can see my eBay auction now:

"L@@K! RARE VINTAGE RADIO TUBE!"

(One site (http://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_6h6.html) tells me that
usage of this tube seems to have peaked in 1937-38.)


It was replaced by the 6AL5, a seven pin miniature tube.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

Strange tube ID
 

On Sep 7, 11:48*pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 9/7/2009 9:05 PM hr(bob) spake thus:

Wasn't there any id on the radio itself, either a sticker on the back
or bottom, or something on the chassis next to the tube itself?

Yeah, there was a diagram, but I wasn't interested enough to look at it.
(It was a GE, though, I remember that.) There had apparently been a dead
animal of some sort in proximity to the radio.

Otherwise 6H6 seems limke a good bet. *Were there any other tubes in
the radio? *IF so, let us know.

I have a bottle-shaped 6Y6-G here in front of me from the same set. Also
had a bunch of metal 6SN7s, I believe.

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

The 6Y6 is an audio output tube, the 6SN7's were not commonly used in
straight radio receivers, they are dual triodes frquently used as
audio amplifiers to drive the audio output tube(s). I would have
expected a 6SQ7 or 6SF7 and some tube with a metal tip for the IF
ampliifier and a second similar tube, but not necessarily the same
type, for the Oscillator/Mixer.