JAN tubes

[gyraf]

J.A.N: joint army/navy. Ruggedized tubes, better mechanical stability, longer life.

Nice for aviation electronics, but also for audio-geeks like us. I've had very consistent results from the JAN5814, a mil 12AU7 type.

Jakob E.

[EveAnna Manley]

What are these car keys doing in this box of JAN 7044's?????




Also them fighting boyz had all these four digit special military numbers for their special tubes.

For instance:

Regular Folk tubes = Military Tube number

12AY7 = 6072
or
12AY7A = 6072A
12AX7 = 7025
12AT7 = 6201
etc.

There weren't like secret special military factories or anything like that. The Army and Navy would demand specially ruggedised and higher spec parts (like Jakob said) out of the regular Raytheon, GE, RCA, etc USA factories.

But as with any tube, you have to judge its merits on a tube-by-tube basis. In a box of 100pcs normal 12AY7 you might find 20 of'em that beat some other box of 100pcs 6072A. And then tomorrow one of your 12AY7's might just decide to die or go noisy. Ya never know. Same when you pay a ton of bucks for some tube that's supposed to be the sh!t on ebay. You might pay $100 for a "Telefunken" 12AX7 that's really just a repainted Ei or Chinese normal tube. Or it might really be a diamond-base Telefunken but it is hissier than a room full of snakes... and you would have been better off getting a normal Joe Bloski Yugo 12AX7. Ya never know until you plug that puppy in.

Also interesting, for a long time, the US Military was only supposed to buy USA made product. The owner of a big well known tube supplier served some time in jail in the early 80's after selling chinese tubes to the military (and telling them they were American made...) I think they have dropped those rules by now. Well, I don;t think they are using too many tubes anymore anyway.

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by EveAnna Manley
Well, I don;t think they are using too many tubes anymore anyway.

What makes you say that? Since the pulse of a nuclear blast kills transistors I figured that the military still used tubes for all it's communications and radar gear.

[EveAnna Manley]

Yes, I know. That's why we use tubes...


I took this photo while thinking about the post apocalypse vacuum tubes ruling the world.



Honestly I had heard this about ten years ago that the military wasn't using tubes too much anymore (like they used to relatively speaking).
(Which was why they were selling off huge warehouses of their tube stashes.)
Might have something to do with the end of the Cold War.


If anyone knows any better up-to-date facts, let us know...

[Jay Kahrs]

Cool picture. It's nice to know that my Sound City 120 will keep running after i've been vaporized.
grudge

I guess biological weapons are cooler these days, less threat = less tubes.

[e-cue]

Sooooo, only roaches and manley gear will be left over in a post WW3 conflict?

[imacgreg]

What I'm wondering is where did you get a human skull??

Ian

[EveAnna Manley]

I got the skull in TJ, Mex.

(It's not real but it looks convincing...)

And rats. They'll survive too, no?

[e-cue]

Originally posted by EveAnna Manley
And rats. They'll survive too, no?

Roaches, Manley Gear, and A&R?

[McQ]

Originally posted by e-cue
Roaches, Manley Gear, and A&R?

Help stamp-out and abolish redundancy!

Calling for annihilation of all things roach-like in Austin,
McQ

P.S.- ...and Manley-ness is next to godliness!
P.P.S. - I promise that this is my last useless post...

[Dan-O]

Sooooo, only roaches and manley gear will be left over in a post WW3 conflict?

I think Keith Richards is in there as well.

[toledo3]

I'll tell you what- the sound difference between jan 7025's and the new sovtek stuff, is like night and day in some designs. I'm really getting depressed that I am running out of my cache.

[electronboy]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by EveAnna Manley
[B]What are these car keys doing in this box of JAN 7044's?????




Also them fighting boyz had all these four digit special military numbers for their special tubes.

For instance:

Regular Folk tubes = Military Tube number

12AY7 = 6072
or
12AY7A = 6072A
12AX7 = 7025
12AT7 = 6201
etc.

Hello Eva Anna,

you might want to look up your tube data books, the JAN number was based on the standard US Code with indication of W or WA. A 12AX7WA is a special Military selected 12AX7 with long live option, based on a dual carbonate cathode a special cathode alloy, the W option indicates a special selected radio tube.
The four digit key derived from the GE industrial tubes, special designed tubes in industrial use, mostly based on standard radio tubes design but designed to handle power electronics, like on off function, comparator functions, inverters, electrometer, etc.
Some digit number tubes were just restamped standard tubes, other tubes like the GE five star series, specially designed for long live under hard conditions, that nearly last forever.

However the military doesn't use tubes anymore, or at least in 80% of their gear due to radiation EMP prove transistors and IC developed in the early 1990s. Since than most JAN tubes made in the early 1980s, hit the tube market....

In your nice pic with the scull I spotted a GU50, are you doing something with this tube? Ever tried the LS50 from Telefunken?

Regards,

W. Tell

[RobbieNuke]

I had read somewhere (but can't verify the truth) that GE brand tubes with JAN and JG prefix were commercial/consumer graded tubes that passed a more rigid QA test and performed more in the "middle of the road" (i.e. neither too high nor too low) so when substituted in the field performance would be more uniform. Simply put, JAN or JG tubes should be more consistent in performance with other JAN or JG tubes. However, they are not truly "Mil Spec" in the sense of being a specially constructed tube.

The WA (Army), WB (Navy), and WC (Air Force) suffix indicated actual spec designs (ruggedized construction, higher tolerances, materials, etc) that were superior to the commercial/consumer tubes. These are the true "Mil Spec" tubes that are basically designed for rough handling, extreme ON/OFF duty cycles, vibration, and other harsh environments.

Four digit numerical tubes were designated as industrial versions of the commercial counterparts (i.e. 12AX7 = 7025) and were similar, if not identical, to "Mil Spec" tubes.

Eventually, "Mil Spec" tubes were offered as premium commercial tubes. They featured five 5-pointed stars stamped on the tube and a solid black triangle on the box flap.

Also; green printing signified built for a military contract, red for special distributors and/or OEM supplies, and white for general distribution.

I've seen a tube marked JG 6100 / 6C4WA... that sucker must be nuke proof!

Taking all the info above into account helps explain all the variations one can find of NOS tubes available. Of course, the final audio quality is subjective to the listener(s). But in choosing a tube for a 35 Watt home stereo as opposed to a 300 Watt bass amp I hope this sheds some light on the matter.

[emrr]

I always enjoyed the printed Angela catalogs that described the purpose of ruggedized tubes as "to survive the wild boogie action of a jeep encountering an endless series of deep potholes". Most of us don't need that degree of ruggedization.

[RobbieNuke]

Musical instrument amps do take a fair amount of mistreatment from rough handling (as opposed to home radios, TV's, ham radio stations, and hi-fidelity systems from the 50's and 60's), especially the vibrations from high powered bass amps.

Most NOS tubes that are actual industrial or mil spec seem to be priced about the same as the ordinary consumer versions, so why not have the peace of mind (no guarantee, for sure) that the premium versions seem to offer.