This was a good test I have been thinking of getting that solid state 1L6 tube for some time but the high price put me off. Now as I see it sure looks to be a solid replacement I think it is a winner. The $50 price is more than worth it in the long run if you have a good Transoceanic radio that you will be playing a lot. Great test.
Owen, I do play my T.O.'s a lot. Here's proof that I've found another interesting way to burn perfectly good money....LOL! Just kidding! This SS1L6 exceeded my expectations. Hope you're enjoying your H-500! Take care!
Hi Bob, Thanks for setting up this test. Sure was an eye opener. I'm guessing the cost is so high because these solid state 1L6 tubes are hand made for a niche market. That plus there may not be any competition from someone else to bring prices down. Regards, Tom
I bought one of those solid state 1L6 tubes quite a few years back it’s in my L600 it works great, also I bought the solid state ballast tube replacement. I think they are well worth the money. I saw the Hallicrafters S38 tucked away in the corner anyway good video enjoyed it.
I knew someone out there had these! Another happy customer! I took two of these regularly for 3 weeks just before breakfast and lost 28 pounds and one waist size. Whoops.... wrong video - LOL! This SS1L6 impressed me! I know that the entire miniature tube lineup for T.O's were made the same way a few years back. Funny thing is that the 50A1 ballast tube seems harder to find than a 1L6.... By the way - The radio you saw is a Lafayette HE-10, not a Hallicrafters S-38. Good guess though! Thanks for stopping by! RW
Nice job Bob. Interesting results. I, too, have thought of trying one of the SS versions. Again, the price being factor - as I already have a stash of 1L6’s. I just might spring for one! Thanks.
Make sure if you do this, don't do it in the presence of your other transistor radios. They may become jealous of your tube radio mod and morph into cheap Crosley radios and phonos! lol
I have seen these 1l6 substitutes on ebay lately in the 40 to 60 dollar range, however I have a question on a T.O. model L507 chassis 5L 42 and the question is when aligning all bans except the 16 meter went fine, but the 16 meter band could not be aligned properly, it was WAAAAAYYYY out, the nearest I could get the oscillator coil was at 18.5 MHZ with the slug all the way out almost. Could this be a problem with the coil itself, a Capacitor associated with said coil on the tower maybe!?? Other than this the radio works O.k. John A Bellas
Much as I like the performance of the solid state amplifier, I'm not sure I like the idea. In theory, you could just replace all of the tubes and have a better performing radio but would it be worth it? Certainly lower battery requirements, more audio output, better IF performance but... Still, an interesting video Bob and something I have not seen done before except with rectifiers going solid state.
Curiosity got the best of me.....(and 50 bucks). The fact is this tube does work very well. The individual who did this should be commended for this idea and bringing it to fruition! Your point is well taken since using this does take away from the originality of the radio. I see the same goings on with antique cars. I just wanted to see for myself what this would do and share it with everyone as well.
I found an H500 cleaning out my dad's garage. All original, but I don't want to just plug it in and let the smoke out. I'm a HAM, but not an electronics guy. What are these worth working and just as "shelf art"?
Like everything else in life, condition is everything. If it's in good condition, non-working sets are worth 50-80 dollars depending if the tubes are there and not missing original parts. One that's been serviced (properly) can be worth between 140-180 US dollars. If the radio means a lot to you as if was your father's radio, it's priceless - RW KC2RDU
Just imagine the effect of adding the solid-state 1u4 to the IF and RF amps. You'd almost have a modern rig, but sadly lose almost all the vacuum tube charm.
I listed the WRONG chassis/ model # below IT IS the H500 model chassis 5H40 that has this 16 meter problem with the OSC coil slug all the way out the form to get DOWN to 18.5 MHZ not even close to the 17.8 MHZ specified.
Take a look at the (2) resistors going to the 1L6. First, check the 100k resistor. This goes across the filaments and fi it's 110k or greater, it will show up as trouble doing the oscillator trimming on each band - I assume you already aligned the I.F. cans. If that doesn't work, heck the 180k resistor as well. If your filament string isn't at least 7.7 volts, this might happen.
Interesting video! But I don’t understand why the SS 1L6’s are so expensive. It’s cheaper to get a real one. I’d like to see you repeat that test at 600KC, 1600KC, 5MC.
I'm with you on the price. I'm confident the person putting this together is doing so on a small scale. He/She is doing this for little profit. Because this is a niche market, you cannot justify making 10,000 of these for a better price and I get that. I did put this in my first collector radio last night - my H-500. Although the sunspot gods have not blessed us lately, With the SS1L6, I was able to receive WMVP at 1000KC from Chicago with the signal periodically fading in/out but fully clear with WINS 1010 from New York City next door. I'm 27 air miles from NYC.
The price is worth it for the added voltage. Forego the beer for a week and buy the tube. :^D Fully restored and aligned and this should be a screamer.
I just bought a G500 off eBay in really nice condition; the guy I bought it from said it worked really well 'It's really clear and sensitive'. I asked him if it had been restored and what was done and how long ago, he replied that he didn't know for sure but someone went to a lot of trouble cleaning it up. It has the power cord swapped out for a white one, so that plus what he said about how well it worked leads me to surmise that someone went through it in some way at some point in the recent past.
@@fixman88 Hopefully it’s working nicely for you. The only problem I had with mine was the germanium rectifier. A trip to RadioShack fixed it. I put a Zener Diode in and left the old ceramic block part in place in case the future owner wanted to hog the block out with a dremel tool to hide the Zener inside. 😉
i guess for a to purest the solid state tube is an abomination but we might as well face it, this will be the only way we will keep these radios running. they ain't making anymore 1L6s. i think it is well worth the 50 bucks, but i would like it much better at 20.00
While this experiment made for a nice video for RU-vid, it was precisely that, an experiment. As I have many other radios, I know for a fact that a lot is not being heard on the higher bands at all. So, the airwaves are a much more “real world” proving ground than the output of a signal generator. Not trying to be a jerk here, but if you put this into service, and actually hear radio signals up that high, given propagation conditions, let us know. Otherwise, the 1L6 is just fine. I have a NOS one that I keep nearby for that “just in case” moment. While prices have come down, there always will be a finite supply of them. The price difference in the solid state substitute just does not seem to be justified here.
I agree with you 110 percent! The propagation as you know has been less than favorable. There has been band openings here and there, but nothing like it was 20 years ago. Knowing how inconsistent fading signals are, are why I went with the signal generator for this. Curiosity made me break away with 50 bucks. I do have my own pile of new and used 1L6's if I need them. In the total picture, I just wanted to share my findings with everyone and enjoy reading what folks have to say. Thanks for stopping by! RW - Bob
