Novar to Magnoval Adapter?

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Novar to Magnoval Adapter?

Postby deshawnsmith » Fri Oct 18, 2013 3:37 pm

Hi all!

I bought an EICO 610A add-on for my EICO 666 tube tester so that I could test a bunch of the "newer" types of tubes (compactrons, magnovals, novars, etc.). When I went to test my first novar-type tube, I discovered that the 610A uses the exact same socket for both magnoval and compactron tubes. Unfortunately, a previous owner had shoved a magnoval tube into the novar socket, which sadly, as many of you already know, makes the socket unfit for ever testing a novar-type tube again.

It appears that I have a couple of options:
1) Replace the socket. This wouldn't be the easiest thing to do because all of the sockets are riveted to the faceplace on the 610A. I'd have to carefully drill out the rivets before installing a new novar socket.
2) Create a novar-to-magnoval adapter. I'd rather do this if possible, but therein is the rub: this just may not be possible. Do any of you know if I could even find a novar socket and a magnoval base? I'd wire the socket straight through to the base. It wouldn't look the greatest, but it would be a lot easier than drilling out rivets and hoping that a replacement socket would even fit right.

Any ideas here? Any favorite sources of such part as I might need for the homebrew adapter? Or does such an adapter already exist?

Thanks!

DeShawn
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Re: Novar to Magnoval Adapter?

Postby Geek » Sat Oct 19, 2013 12:58 am

Hi,

#1 is your best bet. Do the job right first time and all. Novar sockets abound on fleabay.

Cheers!
-= Gregg =-
Fine wine comes in glass bottles, not plastic sacks. Therefore the finer electrons are also found in glass bottles.
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Re: Novar to Magnoval Adapter?

Postby deshawnsmith » Sun Oct 20, 2013 6:08 pm

Any hints on how to drill out the rivets without accidentally damaging something else?

Love the username, by the way. My amateur radio callsign is KG7EEK. (lol)
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Re: Novar to Magnoval Adapter?

Postby Geek » Sun Oct 20, 2013 9:14 pm

That's a rockin ham call (y)

Take a centre punch and give the rivet a good ding dead centre. Drill a 1/16" hole there, then a 1/8" after that. Extract the rivet with sharp tipped side cutters.

If the rivet spins, no problem. With a nail, work at it like a dentist extracting a tooth.

Cheers!
-= Gregg =-
Fine wine comes in glass bottles, not plastic sacks. Therefore the finer electrons are also found in glass bottles.
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Re: Novar to Magnoval Adapter?

Postby deshawnsmith » Sun Oct 20, 2013 10:35 pm

Excellent! I'll give it a shot and let you know how it goes. But I probably won't start until the new socket arrives.

Thanks for the tips!
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Re: Novar to Magnoval Adapter?

Postby deshawnsmith » Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:29 am

Replacing the socket worked like a charm! I just finished testing a mess of Novar-type tubes. Thanks, Geek for your suggestions.

(y)
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Re: Novar to Magnoval Adapter?

Postby Geek » Thu Oct 31, 2013 4:06 am

Glad it worked out well! Thanks for the update :))
-= Gregg =-
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