Edward Knobloch wrote in message
news:NUN2e.33466$qN3.7797@trndny01...
Hi, Gang

The 6JB6 tube used by Drake seems to have the same specs
as a 6DQ6B (octal) sweep tube. Pretty wimpy.
The 6JB6 has a button stem base, and therefore
should be a better high frequency performer than the 6DQ6B.

The 6DQ6 was favored on low-end rigs like the Heath DX-20
or Knight Kit T-60. The Hallicrafters SR-150 used two 12DQ6B's.
The 6DQ6B was a bit beefier than the original 6DQ6 or 6DQ6A.

Sweep tubes are really good at surviving abuse,
at least for short periods. I was trying to tune up
a newly aquired Swan 240 beater, and my first indication
of an intermittant plate meter was the red glowing plate
of the single 6DQ5. I thought that tube was a goner,
but it still worked fine, a hundred watts out with a whistle.

73,
Ed Knobloch

How those tube types bring back memories;. 6DQ6, 6X4, 5Y3, 6BE6, 807, 1625,
50C5, 6AQ5, 2E26, 5763, 6146 the list could go on and I guess every veteran
ham has a number/s dear to him or her for one reason or another.

Yea, that 6DQ6 saw a lot of service in ham gear and I had a couple of fist's
full of them in my junk box---I even built a transmitter using one of them
too. I recall the articles in ARRL handbook and QST using those tubes in
transmitters. Those TV sets that we salvaged (sitting on the edge of the
street next to the garbage can waiting to be picked up) besides the
transformer, all had one in them (or maybe a fellow would hope so). I think
if there is any sweep tube that represents the genre of sweep tube designs
its got to be the 6DQ6---a classic tube perhaps. The CB amplifiers of the
70's using that tube would make an interesting thread by itself. I guess
that tube was too expensive for Drake to use in their designs. I think that
is sort of the thoughts that some of us had---why this 6JB6 in Drake
gear... like, where the heck did this tube come from? Yet, according to one
tube dealer, the 6DQ6 goes for $6 each compared to $20 for the 6JB6.

RG