Antique NOS Vacuum Radio Tube Radiotron Philco Raytheon

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You are bidding on a great lot of radio tubes. The list includes: Radiotron UX-171-A w/ sticker on bulb "FOR USE IN LAST AUDIO STAGE ONLY" Radiotron UX-226 Radiotron UX-201-A Radiotron UX-112 Radiotron UY-227 Two Songbird 199 Tubes Eveready Raytheon Type BH 125 MA Long Life Rectifying Tube National Carbon Co., Inc. New York, N.Y. Copr. 1929 w/ original wrap & box Large Philco Type 45 M1 with original sticker and date tested 2-27-32 Philco 8P 42 RCA Cunningham CX 371-A w/ sticker "FOR USE IN LAST AUDIO STAGE ONLY" w/ original wrap, instructions & box RCA Cunningham CX 326 w/ original wrap & box Sylvania SX-226 J1 w/ original wrap & box Sylvania SX-200-A w/ sticker "GUARANTEED DETECTOR NO. 44599 TESTED AND DELIVERED BY SYLVANIA DEALER" w/ original wrap & box Three empty Sylvania boxes SY-227, SX-201-A, SX-226 Hand-written on most of the boxes is tested "good". The gentleman who owned these tubes took very good care of them, as well as all his other possessions. They are all packed in an old Syrocowood Horse Triple Pipe Rack box. More myths debunked: those Nasty Old Spots (hey, another NOS!)inside the glass. "Burn Spots!" the Holy Grail Seekers scream, "UsedTubes...Junk!!" "NO", my voice of reason, drowned out in the techno-babble melee, implores, "getter spots!" Listen up: these are not burns like a light bulb hooked to high voltage makes. Instead, it is the result of electrically burning a metallic element inside the tube in the factory to remove the last traces of air from the tube and making a hard vacuum. The vaporized metal sputters itself on the glass, kind of like the sputtered aluminum layer inside your compact discs. This silver spot of metal coating acts to trap any residual gas that may leak in over the years. It does this by combining with the gas molecule and oxidizing. Only if the getter spot is white do you have to worry. That indicates the vacuum is lost and all of the getter has oxidized. Some getters don't always stay in one spot, they will sometimes chimney inside the elements if a bottom getter is used, making one or two silver spots on top of the tube. Side getters will sometimes darken a clear top tube, and may show "shadows" of the elements that blocked their path to the glass. Some getters may be black, sometimes with a rainbow iridescence. This just means the getter was deposited at a higher temperature, and the metal oxides are more "mixed up" on the glass. It will work just as well as a silver getter. Folks, listen, I hate to rain on your parade, but the getter spot on the glass has NO EFFECT on the sound the tube will produce. But getter spots are not Nasty Old Stuff! Do NOS tubes have dark pins? Most of them do. The only NOS tubes that retained bright pins are those that were sealed in the original box, and then stored inside of a plastic container, or possibly in a larger box in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. Not many tubes received this kind of loving care 40 years ago. Only gold pins should remain bright no matter what the storage conditions. Most pins of miniature tubes, being usually made of a copper alloy, will darken rather like an old penny. This does not affect the operation of the tube. If you are a purist, cleaning the pins with a good grade of contact cleaner with a Q-tip is a good idea. Cramolin DeOxIt is an excellent product for this use. Heavy encrustation will create noise and of course should be cleaned. I don't sell any tubes in this condition as all of my tubes have been inspected and cleaned w necessary. I know of some tube purists who sandblast the pins clean, and this is fine too, as long as any remaining grit is cleaned away by contact cleaner afterward. For most of us, a gentle brushing with a fine wire brush followed by contact cleaner will rid the pins of any Nasty Old Stuff. Don't freak about dark pins. These tubes are antiques, and have not spent their time in airtight containers! Cleaning the pins (... read more

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