Tube Tester Recommendations
 

I am looking for my first tube tester, could I have some things to look for
in a good one? I am mainly interested in post WWII equipment.
Thanks,
Ed

Ed wrote:
I am looking for my first tube tester, could I have some things to look for
in a good one? I am mainly interested in post WWII equipment.
Thanks,

If your interest does not include tube-type televisions,
go ahead and bite the bullet and get a nice-condition TV-7 or,
if you're rich, a TV-2. They will test nearly anything in
ham boatanchors and lots of people use them, so advice,
information and parts are available. Some may argue
that their "MojoJoJo 2000" is "better," but if only
a few people have them, it's going to be hard to get
help when trouble comes.
If you want to do televisions,
one of those folks could best advise.
73 Dave S.

Ed wrote:

I am looking for my first tube tester, could I have some things to look for
in a good one? I am mainly interested in post WWII equipment.
Thanks,
Ed

p.s. If you decide to get a TV-7 or TV-2, have someone you trust
check it out first; there are a lot of them in very worn shape.
That's a testiment to how good they are, that people wear
them out, but you don't want your tube tester to be your first
restoration project.
Dave S.

Ed wrote:
I am looking for my first tube tester, could I have some things to look for
in a good one? I am mainly interested in post WWII equipment.
Thanks,
Ed



Most anything in a Hickok will do nicely. I prefer the 539C (or B), but I have
also used units in the 700 series (736?).

If you google Hickok, you will find a host of pages dedicated to the history, and
technical issues of the Hickok testers.

-Chuck

In article , Ed none@this-time wrote:
I am looking for my first tube tester, could I have some things to look for
in a good one? I am mainly interested in post WWII equipment.

What are you testing? Receiving tubes, transmitting tubes? Do you need to
test weird TV tubes like compactrons?

On the whole, I would advise getting the cheapest real transconductance tester
that you can find. Stay away from mutual conductance types. But, if you need
to test something unusual (and 833s and 729s are unusual on testers but
common in ham rigs), you might want more.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

The TV-7/D, don't waste time or $$ or anything else.

73, Dick, W1KSZ

On Tue, 8 Feb 2005 01:12:57 -0600, "Ed" none@this-time wrote:

I am looking for my first tube tester, could I have some things to look for
in a good one? I am mainly interested in post WWII equipment.
Thanks,
Ed

The TV-7 series military tube tester is considered excellent,
but it has a shortcoming: it is unable to test sweep tubes
which don't have an octal base.

Dan J. Nelson sold adapters for use with the TV-7.
The adapters, containing 9 pin or 12 pin compactron sockets,
are plugged in to the octal socket of the tube tester,
permitting modern TV sweep/transmitting tubes
like the 6KD6, 6LQ6 or 6HF5 to be tested.

He used octal plugs with a 9 or 12 pin compactron tube socket
wired on top as follows:

Octal Pin 9-compactron pin Octal Pin 12-compactron pin
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5
6 6 6 10
7 8 7 11
8 9 8 12

Example:
6HF5 tube 12 to 8 adapter fil 6.3 selectors BY5-0340
bias 44 shunt N/A Range D Press 2 and hold, then 3
Min 32 New 60 top cap to plate

To perform a "Life" test, click the filament down one notch
and retest the tube. The reading should not fall off
more than 20% from the previous value.
Readings lower than this indicate a cathode which is marginal.

I don't know if Dan is still selling these, but it would be
possible to duplicate his design using a Pomona TVS-8
above-chassis octal test socket adapter.

73,
Ed Knobloch