[Dan Walker]

   I have a Rogers console model  9M1091.
  It came with a 6X6 eye tube which is VERY dim. The 6X6 has an octal base.
 Can I sub a Russian octal based   6E5c  tube for the eye tube?
       Thanks   Dan

[gregb]

I have tried before Dan and you will need to do a wiring change to make it work. They are not plug and play. There are some British made 6U5G tubes with the octal base and they plug in and work fine. They do up come for sale once in a while so you have to watch for them. I bought 15 of them from AES some years back and I am down to my last couple.

Gregb

[Arran]

 No, not without rewiring the Rogers tube socket to match. However a 1629 will plug right in and work, the pinout is very close, but the heater voltage is 12.6 volt rather then 6.3 volt, then again the phosphor of the target might live longer on 6.3 volts. Of course neither the Soviet 6E5C (S) or the 1629s have dual shadows like the 6X6s have, there was one American eye tube that did, and it was octal based, but unfortunately it needs a separate driver tube.
Regards
Arran

[Dan Walker]

     Thanks Greg and Arran.   I do have a 1629, but I don't think it is very bright. I will try it .
 I checked out some 6U5G tubes and'' BOY'' are they expensive.

[Arran]

     Thanks Greg and Arran.   I do have a 1629, but I don't think it is very bright. I will try it .
 I checked out some 6U5G tubes and'' BOY'' are they expensive.

Dan;
  The 6U5s you are probably running into are of the more common six pin based variety, the prices on those are all over the map from somewhat reasonably priced good used ones to idiotic "pie in the sky" prices for NOS ones. The 1629s are usually much cheaper, but you have to watch it with those as well as some sellers really just pull prices ouit of thin air. How dim is the 6X6 anyhow? Can you see any green in it at all in a moderately lit room?
  Here is a page with some eye tube information, not all, but it might give you a few leads:

http://www.magiceyetubes.com/

 
Regards
Arran

[Phlogiston]

For newbies and others, a lot of us bought some of these when they were only $15. That was when he sold about 1300 of them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151325245645?_tr...EBIDX%3AIT

They are good tubes, but they are 6E5s with the big pin base.

Still not a bad deal at $20. Takes a couple of weeks to receive them.

[Arran]

For newbies and others, a lot of us bought some of these when they were only $15. That was when he sold about 1300 of them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151325245645?_tr...EBIDX%3AIT

They are good tubes, but they are 6E5s with the big pin base.

Still not a bad deal at $20. Takes a couple of weeks to receive them.

Russ,
  One of the problems with the 6X6s is how they are mounted mechanically, in most cases you could fit an adapter to use something like a 6U5 but on some Rogers sets there isn't enough clearance to fit. So what I have used are some 1629s I bought a few years ago to use as a substitute for 6U5/6E5 tubes with an adapter, ironically. But like the 6E5s the 1629s are single shadowed and the 6X6s were double shadowed.
Regards
Arran

[Dan Walker]

   Thanks for the input. I had a friend of mine build me a voltage doubler and after it was installed
 I used the 1629 eye tube and it works very well.

[radioswede]

   Thanks for the input. I had a friend of mine build me a voltage doubler and after it was installed
 I used the 1629 eye tube and it works very well.

Hi Dan, Wayne here in Phoenix.  It's been a while since I rewired a 6X6 for a 6G5(6U5) but if I recall correctly, you just interchange the pin 4 and pin 6 wires.  I was up in Calgary for a couple of months this summer but your whole street was blocked off for construction so it kind of deterred me from dropping by.