[Bob Carriere]

Hi David

Tube suppliers have mainly gone underground....... just no demands....most have sold truck loads to collectors/hobbyist who are listing them on places like EBay.....

There is a dealer in Toronto that advertise the odd tube and some are NOS 19 set tubes....... just need to cruise or set up a search on ebay by tube number.

Also a few from Quebec..( CHECK ebay MARSRADIO1)....same story private individuals that sells only oinline with no storefront and mostlikely lquidating old store stock.

Currently on Ebay

6H6G at 9,99 or 7.64 or $3.00 or lot of 10 for 19.99

6K8g glass 18.75 steel shorter at 8.54

6V6G this one is still used in amplifiers and usually sells in matched pairs
at 88.99 or 14.99 Chinese or someone in Penn for 30.00 each

Things to look for.......NOS (which may not have been tested)......used........ tested and a reference reading from a specific identified tester....

I have purchased full sets of 19 set of tubes with box for $35 to $100
The 100 box had 2 missing but all else tested good the cheap box was full but only 4 or 5 tested good enough to use.

I have never been tricked in any of the Ebay transaction.....never a broken tube in shipping. I have two USA WW 2 tube testers by Hitchox which I use to test and match my tubes.

Caution on the price....some do not offer free shipping to Canada.....I keep a UPS box across the border.

......and things are not as cheap as they use to be.................. when I was a kid we used the large tube as grenades when playing soldiers...... my dad fixed radios so I had a good supplies.

I is even fun to get a lot of assorted tubes....50 to 100 for a few dollars and spend a few evening looking them up in my reference charts and try testing them................... a lot where taken out of store shelves and thrown loose in cardBoard box. At flea markets I am always on the look out for the coke bottle shaped tubes for lot deal........ I have done a few of the "peanut" size but just for practice.

If you are looking at just some tubes to fill a box to look good I might have a few dead ones of the particular ### you need. I always like to keep a few dead ones for testing comparaison. Let me know and I will look.

I still have about about 30+ tubes to test out one day when I am bored.......
Need to dust them lightly so as not to rub the numbers off..... look them up in the manual....adjust the tester....take a reading and compare to see how good or bad them are......the good ones get a small green sticker and a white sticker with the tester values...... the bad one just get a RED dot sticker.

Even the old sockets can be reused..... on most testers they have a 807 tube that can be replaced by a few solid state components....... so you smash the glass save the base and rewire the solid state parts...... no more heat from the huge plate of the tube...... but it does some recalibration on the tester.

Nice way to keep warm during the cold evenings.

73

Bob C