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Old 02-24-2010, 12:20 AM
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Robert Grant Robert Grant is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Monroe County, MI
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Findm-Keepm View Post
Anybody got a NOS GE 2BU2A? Check the box for the little white patent number label that leads you to the patent GE got for the lead silicate glass they used. No other tube manufacturer licensed the patent, 3854964.

Hence, you had RCA and others making an electrically equivalent tube with less X-ray protection and with a nice disclaimer.

When I worked at Cain Electronics selling both RCA and GE tubes, we quickly figured out why the RCA tubes didn't sell. It took confirmation from the GE folks as to why.

Cheers,
BINGO!

The replacement tube is branded Sylvania (yellow paint), but was possibly a rebadging of the tube, since there is a separate silvery "2BU2 USA" mark near the bottom.

The original is branded Zenith, but has "188-5" next to the date code. 188-5 is the EIA code for GE Owensboro.
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