Hi guys, I need some advise on an old British R109 receiver I'm trying
to get going, I bought it recently, and it has been modified, the mod
was to replace all the octal valves with small B7G valves, it has been
done very well each valve has its own adapter, however the detector
pre amp valve was originally an AR8 which is a triode plus two diode
and this has been replaced with a 6AM6 which is a straight RF
Pentode!!! first of all I thought the wrong valve had been used BUT it
seems to have been wired up as a triode, screen grid and anode
strapped together, and the suppresor grid used as a detector diode?
would this work? as I'm having trouble in this area of the set, I
suppose I could replace the 6AM6 with a DH77 and rewire it as that
more closely resembles an AR8 electrically, but don't want to go to
all that trouble if the suppressor idea should work and the fault is
elsewhere.
comments welcome
from Ron...

ron_ayling wrote:
Hi guys, I need some advise on an old British R109 receiver I'm trying
to get going, I bought it recently, and it has been modified, the mod
was to replace all the octal valves with small B7G valves, it has been
done very well each valve has its own adapter, however the detector
pre amp valve was originally an AR8 which is a triode plus two diode
and this has been replaced with a 6AM6 which is a straight RF
Pentode!!! first of all I thought the wrong valve had been used BUT it
seems to have been wired up as a triode, screen grid and anode
strapped together, and the suppresor grid used as a detector diode?
would this work?

Strapping a pentode into triode mode is very common when you need something
with particular characteristics and can't find it.

The question is what the two diodes on the AR8 were used for. If they
weren't used at all, you'd be home free. If one of them was used as a
detector and the cathode tied to the cathode, using the suppressor grid
might work, but it might also be noisy. I'd tend to disconnect the
suppressor and use an external silicon diode.

as I'm having trouble in this area of the set, I
suppose I could replace the 6AM6 with a DH77 and rewire it as that
more closely resembles an AR8 electrically, but don't want to go to
all that trouble if the suppressor idea should work and the fault is
elsewhere.

I don't suppose you could find an AR8 somewhere? If not, I'd first try
a silicon diode just for test purposes.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

In article ,
Edmund H. Ramm wrote:
In ron_ayling writes:

[...]
the detector pre amp valve was originally an AR8 which is a
triode plus two diode and this has been replaced with a 6AM6
which is a straight RF Pentode!!!
[...]

And two semiconductor (shudder) diodes weren't sneaked in
below the chassis?

Oh yes, and what about using a 6AV6? Two diodes, and a triode with plenty
of gain. It's got 2 pF grid to plate which is annoying, but you can do worse.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Thanks for the help guys, I now have the set receiving well, the fault
turned out to be something entirely different, but I can say the
suppressor grid of an EF91 works well as a detector, with the tube
wired as a triode, a little noisy as the gentleman said, so the guy
that modified it knew his stuff!!
Anyway thanks again, nice to know there are still glowbug enthusiasts
out there





On 2 Dec, 15:04, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
In article ,
Edmund H. Ramm wrote:

In ron_ayling writes:

[...]
the detector pre amp valve was originally an AR8 which is a
triode plus two diode and this has been replaced with a 6AM6
which is a straight RF Pentode!!!
[...]

* And two semiconductor (shudder) diodes weren't sneaked in
below the chassis?

Oh yes, and what about using a 6AV6? *Two diodes, and a triode with plenty
of gain. *It's got 2 pF grid to plate which is annoying, but you can do worse.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. *C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Dec 2, 3:00*pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
ron_ayling wrote:
Hi guys, I need some advise on an old British R109 receiver I'm trying
to get going, I bought it recently, and it has been modified, the mod
was to replace all the octal valves with small B7G valves, it has been
done very well each valve has its own adapter, however the detector
pre amp valve was originally an AR8 which is a triode plus two diode
and this has been replaced with a 6AM6 which is a straight RF
Pentode!!! first of all I thought the wrong valve had been used BUT it
seems to have been wired up as a triode, screen grid and anode
strapped together, and the suppresor grid used as a detector diode?
would this work?

Strapping a pentode into triode mode is very common when you need something
with particular characteristics and can't find it. *

The question is what the two diodes on the AR8 were used for. *If they
weren't used at all, you'd be home free. *If one of them was used as a
detector and the cathode tied to the cathode, using the suppressor grid
might work, but it might also be noisy. *I'd tend to disconnect the
suppressor and use an external silicon diode.

as I'm having trouble in this area of the set, I
suppose I could replace the 6AM6 with a DH77 and rewire it as that
more closely resembles an AR8 electrically, but don't want to go to
all that trouble if the suppressor idea should work and the fault is
elsewhere.

I don't suppose you could find an AR8 somewhere? *If not, I'd first try
a silicon diode just for test purposes.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. *C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

AR8 is a battery 2v direct heater valve , was the detector/amp in a
WS/18 rx and oscillator in the tx....

G ...

On Dec 4, 5:45*pm, Graham wrote:
On Dec 2, 3:00*pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:





ron_ayling wrote:
Hi guys, I need some advise on an old British R109 receiver I'm trying
to get going, I bought it recently, and it has been modified, the mod
was to replace all the octal valves with small B7G valves, it has been
done very well each valve has its own adapter, however the detector
pre amp valve was originally an AR8 which is a triode plus two diode
and this has been replaced with a 6AM6 which is a straight RF
Pentode!!! first of all I thought the wrong valve had been used BUT it
seems to have been wired up as a triode, screen grid and anode
strapped together, and the suppresor grid used as a detector diode?
would this work?

Strapping a pentode into triode mode is very common when you need something
with particular characteristics and can't find it. *

The question is what the two diodes on the AR8 were used for. *If they
weren't used at all, you'd be home free. *If one of them was used as a
detector and the cathode tied to the cathode, using the suppressor grid
might work, but it might also be noisy. *I'd tend to disconnect the
suppressor and use an external silicon diode.

as I'm having trouble in this area of the set, I
suppose I could replace the 6AM6 with a DH77 and rewire it as that
more closely resembles an AR8 electrically, but don't want to go to
all that trouble if the suppressor idea should work and the fault is
elsewhere.

I don't suppose you could find an AR8 somewhere? *If not, I'd first try
a silicon diode just for test purposes.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. *C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

AR8 is a battery 2v direct *heater valve , was the detector/amp *in a
WS/18 rx and oscillator in the tx....

G ...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes the 6AV6/6AT6 (or the E series equivalents) come to mind.

And the AR8 also has/had the unusual 'Mazda Octal' base; which looked,
at least at first glance, like an International Octal, but wasn't.
The centre spigot is larger.

Remembering to my cost some 50+ years ago (1953 I think?) when
building a radio from scratch from war surplus, I used the wrong tube
socket and had to desolder and rewire in a proper octal.

Also, musing, I recall two other problems with that set. a) I needed a
tube without a top connection and bought a 6SS7. b) Took it away on an
installation job the lodgings ended up in part of the City Of
Gloucester (UK) which at that time still had 230v DC mains.

Never could explain to the landlady that "Oh yes there wasn't such a
thing as AC/DC mains. And that it had to be one or the other". Moved
lodgings shortly after; for other reasons!

The DC nearly blew the power transformer out of it! Fortunately it was
a sturdy ex-Admiralty Parmeko or something which I may still have
buried in another old power supply downstairs?

Hi Ron,
I am in the process of restoring an R109 too,
all the original valves were quite low emission but I managed to get NOS
replacements off eBay.
I replaced all the paper and electrolytic caps and all resistors that had
gone high.
The original vibrator unit and transformer were missing.
I have managed to obtain a vibrator and I will be fitting a suitable
transformer that was designed to fit in the Class D Wavemeter.
I really hate it when people modify equipment - I wish they would leave well
alone!!