Anybody try these octal sockets? Your thoughts?

[crispycircuit]

I'm shopping for quality octal sockets for my Poseidon.... These look interesting. Angela has #80102 gold plated, ceramic, from Japan $8 each... Antique Electronics has P-ST8-209m plastic looks nice $3.56.
I want cup type, not fork style pin connectors. Also sockets that mount from the bottom.....

[TomMcNally]

I've used a dozen or more of the Angela jobs, they are really nice. They are VERY tight, you need to gently rock the tubes in and out, so they hold very well. Definitely worth the extra money. The two piece ceramic ones Angela has are also good, they grip tightly and look good too.

[sorenj07]

the Western Electric octal sockets are the tightest sockets I have ever seen and are good quality. Each pin holder is a three-sectioned, machined piece of gold-plated brass, and the sockets mount from the bottom.

[EWBrown]

A good way to "pre-form" these new tight-gripping sockets is to take a "junk" metal shell octal tube, which has all 8 pins and insert it into each socket. Just one insert/extract per socket is needed, don't over-do it...

Metal shell lets you get a good firm grip, without the risk of breaking glass, cut fingers, and blood spurting all over the place, etc :o Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_11

For tight 9 pinners, take a junk 9 pin miniature tube, wrap the body in duct tape (you weren't planning to use this tube, eh?) and use it as a loosener, as described above.

Of course, if you have the early release JJ KT77s, with those skinny pins, you want a "tight" tube socket, and don't pre-form it as described above... The current crop of JJ KT77s should have the normal sized pins.

/ed B in NH

[EWBrown]

I like the Russian made ceramic tube sockets, as found on E-bay. These have nice grippy contacts, and come with a separate mounting bracket, and can be either top or bottom-mounted. If you have built any of the Bottlehead kits which use octal tubes, you have seen these sockets, or the Chinese made equivalent. They need a 26 mm diameter hole, one inch is too small, and 1 1/8 is getting kinda loose. Try for 1 1/16 if you can. The BH kits get around this by using a standard size US chassis hole, and a fat rubber o-ring-gasket as both a size-adaptor and a simple shock absorber.


/ed B in NH