OK, I had one of these a long time ago, 1960's I believe WOW, makes me feel old! Well at 76 I remember all this TV stuff, but they worked quite well!!!! I brought my wife in to look at this and she said she was the one who loaned me the $20.00 so I could go get one of these. Living in upstate New York she wanted a better picture on a Buffalo TV station that carried the Vikings football games.. So I installed a better TV antenna and used this to boost the TV signal. The TV repair man told us that this was the best unit ever designed for this purpose.. Never opened mine up, but you can see what the quality design was like, why it was one of the best units!!! Using those ferrite rods in the tuned circuit produces a very high "Q" that can peak the circuit for maximum performance!! No need to get a TV set, Unit can be checked with a Signal Generator, Spectrum Analyzer and or O-Scope and the tubes can be checked with a tube checker... You said the tube was a JAK5 but it must be a 6AK5 tube!! The 6AK5 vacuum tube is a miniature 7-pin sharp-cutoff pentode used as RF or IF amplifier especially in high-frequency wide-band applications at frequencies up to 400 MHz. Let the fun begin!!! Robert, OH, BTW, put your camera in steady mode not auto focus, that will help...
Man, I'm glad someone could relate to this thing, either way I'm getting a TV now lol. I didn't even consider a sewing machine oil, I wonder if air tool oil would be alright as well. My eyesight must be getting worse, I just went back to look at the tubes and it is a 6AKF! I guess a JAK5 would even make sense, doesn't the first number represent the voltage?
@@Almostdone0 Yes, 6 is the voltage of the tube for the filaments. most are rated at 6.3 volts Filaments.. Do you own a tube checker? But most tubes are probably OK.. I own 6 Tube checkers so I am considered Extreme! LOL
@@Almostdone0 OK, I have a 6000A for my Hickok units. You should shoot a video on that, TONS of folks are always searching for repairing tube checkers especially Hickok ones, good way to ADD A LOT of new viewers!!!
I would use ZOOM Sewing Machine Oil to lubricate all the sliding parts. The viscosity is so fine, unlike say 3in1 Machine oil,, no real issues with dust build up, last at least another 50 years.. Robert
The old Analog TV channels 2-13, 2-6 was 54MHz-88MHz, and channels 7-13 was 174-216 Mhz. Each TV channel was 6 MHz wide but just set your Signal Generator to and of the mentioned frequency's and connect it to the antenna terminals, and the TV side will go to your Spectrum analyzer.. A 200 MHz O-Scope can also work... Robert
Your RF amplifier should work with ATSC digital signals as long as the PHYSICAL channel is 2-13. So, you shouldn't have to get an old analog TV. In fact, since there are almost no analog TV stations left, an old TV is useless for your testing. If you don't have a station transmitting on a 2-13 physical channel in your area, you are out of luck no matter what kind of TV you have. Your amplifier should work with digital signals just fine. For example, Albany, NY virtual channel 13 (NBC) is transmitted over physical channel 12. NTSC (and SCAM, and PAL) analog and ATSC 1.0 digital are both transmitted over RF waves, and RF amplifiers don't care about the modulation or the coding of the signals. I have a 25 year year old transistorized TV amplifier, and it still works fine. Your amplifier differs from mine in that it has to be tuned to a specific frequency range (channel). My transistorized version is broad-band and is not tuneable. However, there is a filter for FM broadcast (88-108 MHz) to prevent these FM signals from overloading the amplifier. But having a tuneable amplifier should give better preformance because unwanted frequencies are not amplified so much. A schematic of your amplifier would be useful. You could generate one. The tubes are probably 6AK5's. I don't thnk '6AKF' follows any on the tube naming conventions. 6AK5's are RF pentode amplifiers (as mentioned in the comments). Comments about "digital" TV antennas and amplifiers being somehow different are just marketing hype. It's all RF signalling. In fact, my antenna is a 40 year old Radio Shack antenna. It still works fine with digital TV. Good Luck!
Something to keep in mind..analog TV stations no longer exist. Your amp may work perfectly after your restoration work, but there will be nothing to recieve. I salute your willingness to experiment and learn, though.
You could always pick up an RF modulator...hook an antenna to the rear of it, then an antenna to this amplifier...then off to the analog TV. The modulator will put out channel 3 or 4 in NTSC, this will amplify the small signal from the RF modulator, and you can receive it on your old NTSC TV. I have a few old analog TV's and this is how I "brodcast' in my house to receive over the air analog TV for them. That's a rather unique find. Never saw a tube based TV amplifier! Cool!
@@Almostdone0I wouldn't be so sure, or crushed. Even though I don't know *anybody* who watches it, broadcast tv is still a thing, and it's on the same RF bands. With analog, improving the signal was an obvious, "analog" thing: the picture *looked* better. With digital, since it's more or less all-or-nothing, what you might get out of this thing is... more channels.
OK, I had one of these a long time ago, 1960's I believe WOW, makes me feel old! Well at 76 I remember all this TV stuff, but they worked quite well!!!!
I brought my wife in to look at this and she said she was the one who loaned me the $20.00 so I could go get one of these. Living in upstate New York she wanted a better picture on a Buffalo TV station that carried the Vikings football games.. So I installed a better TV antenna and used this to boost the TV signal. The TV repair man told us that this was the best unit ever designed for this purpose.. Never opened mine up, but you can see what the quality design was like, why it was one of the best units!!! Using those ferrite rods in the tuned circuit produces a very high "Q" that can peak the circuit for maximum performance!!
No need to get a TV set, Unit can be checked with a Signal Generator, Spectrum Analyzer and or O-Scope and the tubes can be checked with a tube checker... You said the tube was a JAK5 but it must be a 6AK5 tube!! The 6AK5 vacuum tube is a miniature 7-pin sharp-cutoff pentode used as RF or IF amplifier especially in high-frequency wide-band applications at frequencies up to 400 MHz. Let the fun begin!!! Robert, OH, BTW, put your camera in steady mode not auto focus, that will help...
Man, I'm glad someone could relate to this thing, either way I'm getting a TV now lol. I didn't even consider a sewing machine oil, I wonder if air tool oil would be alright as well. My eyesight must be getting worse, I just went back to look at the tubes and it is a 6AKF! I guess a JAK5 would even make sense, doesn't the first number represent the voltage?
@@Almostdone0 Yes, 6 is the voltage of the tube for the filaments. most are rated at 6.3 volts Filaments.. Do you own a tube checker? But most tubes are probably OK.. I own 6 Tube checkers so I am considered Extreme! LOL
I do, A Hickok 600A however its not ready yet. I'm halfway through the rebuild on it. @@myradiovideos
@@Almostdone0 OK, I have a 6000A for my Hickok units. You should shoot a video on that, TONS of folks are always searching for repairing tube checkers especially Hickok ones, good way to ADD A LOT of new viewers!!!
I would use ZOOM Sewing Machine Oil to lubricate all the sliding parts. The viscosity is so fine, unlike say 3in1 Machine oil,, no real issues with dust build up, last at least another 50 years.. Robert
The old Analog TV channels 2-13, 2-6 was 54MHz-88MHz, and channels 7-13 was 174-216 Mhz. Each TV channel was 6 MHz wide but just set your Signal Generator to and of the mentioned frequency's and connect it to the antenna terminals, and the TV side will go to your Spectrum analyzer.. A 200 MHz O-Scope can also work... Robert
Your RF amplifier should work with ATSC digital signals as long as the PHYSICAL channel is 2-13. So, you shouldn't have to get an old analog TV. In fact, since there are almost no analog TV stations left, an old TV is useless for your testing. If you don't have a station transmitting on a 2-13 physical channel in your area, you are out of luck no matter what kind of TV you have. Your amplifier should work with digital signals just fine. For example, Albany, NY virtual channel 13 (NBC) is transmitted over physical channel 12.
NTSC (and SCAM, and PAL) analog and ATSC 1.0 digital are both transmitted over RF waves, and RF amplifiers don't care about the modulation or the coding of the signals. I have a 25 year year old transistorized TV amplifier, and it still works fine. Your amplifier differs from mine in that it has to be tuned to a specific frequency range (channel). My transistorized version is broad-band and is not tuneable. However, there is a filter for FM broadcast (88-108 MHz) to prevent these FM signals from overloading the amplifier. But having a tuneable amplifier should give better preformance because unwanted frequencies are not amplified so much. A schematic of your amplifier would be useful. You could generate one. The tubes are probably 6AK5's. I don't thnk '6AKF' follows any on the tube naming conventions. 6AK5's are RF pentode amplifiers (as mentioned in the comments).
Comments about "digital" TV antennas and amplifiers being somehow different are just marketing hype. It's all RF signalling. In fact, my antenna is a 40 year old Radio Shack antenna. It still works fine with digital TV.
Good Luck!
Something to keep in mind..analog TV stations no longer exist. Your amp may work perfectly after your restoration work, but there will be nothing to recieve. I salute your willingness to experiment and learn, though.
Way to crush my hope and dreams! I guess at the end of the day a ill set this on near the TV and make it look like it is hooked up lol.
You could always pick up an RF modulator...hook an antenna to the rear of it, then an antenna to this amplifier...then off to the analog TV. The modulator will put out channel 3 or 4 in NTSC, this will amplify the small signal from the RF modulator, and you can receive it on your old NTSC TV. I have a few old analog TV's and this is how I "brodcast' in my house to receive over the air analog TV for them. That's a rather unique find. Never saw a tube based TV amplifier! Cool!
@@Almostdone0I wouldn't be so sure, or crushed. Even though I don't know *anybody* who watches it, broadcast tv is still a thing, and it's on the same RF bands. With analog, improving the signal was an obvious, "analog" thing: the picture *looked* better. With digital, since it's more or less all-or-nothing, what you might get out of this thing is... more channels.
Most likely 6AK5