posted on October 11, 2003 04:12:14 PM new
WTG Dragonmom !! Happy dance !! I have a whole box full of Admiral Supertron tubes that my uncle gave me and can't find any on ebay ...google searched and 1 site came up lol alot of help there.Guess I list 1 and see what happens ....if it don't sell I list the whole box full cheap just to get rid of them.He used to repair radios,TVs and stuff like that back in the 70's .
posted on October 11, 2003 06:37:23 PM new
Sanmar was the one who wound up knee deep in vacuum tubes. I forgot to mention to him, be sure to open up those auctions to international bidders when he gets ready to list. Vacuum tube electronics are still very much in use in many other countries and the demand for certain types is very high.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on October 11, 2003 08:26:22 PM new
I sure hope Sanmar sees this thread then.
The reason I found that seller (NOT me, BTW) is that I mentioned Sanmar's find to a friend who went ballistic, he has bought from THIS seller, who lives in Sweden or somewhere, before. He has lsot Tube auctions because the values go past his ability to buy. He was SO hoping the "guy I know" (sanmar) would decide they were too much trouble and not bother to list them- i told him there was no chance of that.
LIST THOSE TUBES!
"And All Shall be Well, and All Shall be Well, and All Manner of Things Shall be Well"
posted on October 12, 2003 11:20:28 AM new
HEY!!! Thanks dragonmom. I really appreciate the info. I have just started inventoring the tubes. Got one box done over 100 good onws in that box. Have 7 more to do. Also thanks for the heads up on internationa bidders. I hadn't given that any thought. Thanks sparkz. Dragonmom, tell your friend to start watching. I have 7 batches listed & will have mopre in coming days. It really is a pain to go throiugh all of these, they are sooo dirty. Must have stored in a outdoor shed. I have to use a damp rag & wipr them down to be able ti ID the numbers. Did anther 50 this afternoon.
[ edited by sanmar on Oct 12, 2003 04:17 PM ]
posted on October 13, 2003 01:09:47 PM new
As you can see, the big prices are for the high end European tubes like Telefunken et al. These are in high demand for audiophiles, but the common North American tubes are only worth a few bucks at most. If you are lucky, there's a rare one in your lot. TV tubes are pretty much worthless. When restoring old radios, tubes are the usually the easiest part to find and contrary to what most people think, tubes in a well maintained radio can last almost forever.
If you want to see retail prices you can try http://www.tubesandmore.com/
Good luck, you never know, there might be a nugget in there.
posted on October 13, 2003 04:37:20 PM new
Thanks for posting that last post. I've kicking myself for not buying all the old tubes I've seen over the years after reading about the high prices the tubes were getting on ebay. Now I feel better.
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
posted on October 13, 2003 05:23:44 PM new
Naturally, a tube with Telefunken printed on it will command top dollar. But in this solid state age, you don't always have the luxury of waiting for one to come along since they are no longer being manufactured. That's the reason anyone who works on tube type equipment will have a tube substitution manual. If a person has a vintage shortwave receiver he needs to get up and running, he doesn't care what maker's name is printed on the tube. It can be G.E., R.C.A. or Telefunken, as long as it works. I have a Telefunken receiver that I intend to restore this winter. It's going to wind up with several RCA tubes in it because I happen to have them on hand, and I shudder to think what it would cost me if I had to buy them from Sanmar
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on October 13, 2003 07:06:06 PM new
Hey, sparkz, you might be surprised at my prices.. So far I have gone through 200 plus tubes. All are USA mfcrd. RCA, GE, Tung Sol, Motorola, Sylvania, etc. Believe me this is a pain in the butt. I just unwrapped some tubes that were in newspaper from 1982. I have military tubers dating back to 1940!! They are in the original boxes.
posted on October 13, 2003 07:39:19 PM new
Sanmar...Tubes are like an autographed baseball. It becomes valuable when the player dies. Tubes started going up in value when they discontinued production in the US. When I got married in 1980, I gathered up all the high powered transmitting tubes I had, because the voltages these things operated at were too dangerous with kids around, and shipped two dishpacks full off to a buyer in Florida. Made over a thousand dollars on that deal. Some of these tubes, I'm sure, were used to power Radio Marti. (sorry about that, Fidel). I've still got several hundred receiving tubes and a few transmitting tubes, but as you say, it's a pain in the butt to go through and seperate them. Some you will want to list individually and some you will want to list in lots. You'll have to look at some of the auctions up now to get an idea which way to go. Also, there may be a few you want to list in categories such as amateur radio equipment. As long as you're not up against a deadline, do a little research. With over 200 tubes, you can bet there are at least a couple of sleepers in there.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
