Owners of Tube Testers

[hellaboogie]

How many of you have your own Tube tester, I'm considering buying one, not looking to break the bank, what do you recommend

 

[Marshall Law]

I have one

 

[Mattfig]

I have an old Hickock one...Scroll bar and all...

Works great for general testing of all tubes...Awesome...

 

[LP Freak]

I've got one. Hickok 600a is a great unit and won't break the bank. It's good to find one that's been calibrated if possible.

 

[Anonymous]

i have a superior instruments td55. it doesn't match for mutual conductance, but gives me the info i need. it's old. i like old shit like that.

 

[hellaboogie]

I've got one. Hickok 600a is a great unit and won't break the bank. It's good to find one that's been calibrated if possible.

Cool, I buy a majority of the amps I've owned used and usually I toss the power tubes that are in the amps and replace them with new, it would be nice to have a way of knowing if they are good and potentially save me some money.

 

[LP Freak]

I've got one. Hickok 600a is a great unit and won't break the bank. It's good to find one that's been calibrated if possible.

Cool, I buy a majority of the amps I've owned used and usually I toss the power tubes that are in the amps and replace them with new, it would be nice to have a way of knowing if they are good and potentially save me some money.

This was my theory too. I've also bought used tubes that were supposed to be good and guess what?

 

[glip22]

i have a superior instruments td55. it doesn't match for mutual conductance, but gives me the info i need. it's old. i like old shit like that.

I have a Triplett I-177B and 949 adapter box. It sat on a shelf in an old warehouse since 1952 and was NOS when I got it. I sent it To Roger Kennedy(All Tube Testers) to calibrate and bring up to speed. Been going strong for three years now.

 

[glip22]

I've got one. Hickok 600a is a great unit and won't break the bank. It's good to find one that's been calibrated if possible.

Cool, I buy a majority of the amps I've owned used and usually I toss the power tubes that are in the amps and replace them with new, it would be nice to have a way of knowing if they are good and potentially save me some money.

This was my theory too. I've also bought used tubes that were supposed to be good and guess what?

Even allot of new tubes have low transconductance.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

Wait for this:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=kK1qRdFn ... K1qRdFnf5Y

Orange DIVO.

 

[Anonymous]

I've got one. Hickok 600a is a great unit and won't break the bank. It's good to find one that's been calibrated if possible.

Cool, I buy a majority of the amps I've owned used and usually I toss the power tubes that are in the amps and replace them with new, it would be nice to have a way of knowing if they are good and potentially save me some money.

This was my theory too. I've also bought used tubes that were supposed to be good and guess what?

Even allot of new tubes have low transconductance.

yep

i guarundamntee that the current prod tung sols wont test good in that, no matter what ones you get.

 

[Anonymous]

i have a superior instruments td55. it doesn't match for mutual conductance, but gives me the info i need. it's old. i like old shit like that.

I have a Triplett I-177B and 949 adapter box. It sat on a shelf in an old warehouse since 1952 and was NOS when I got it. I sent it To Roger Kennedy(All Tube Testers) to calibrate and bring up to speed. Been going strong for three years now.

i believe that ones miles ahead better than mine....i paid 25$ for it a while ago, and just needed it for shorts, leaks and emissions/quality.
i'll use my ears to tell me if i like a preamp tube or not!

...i need to get in there and put some new components in mine. there are some caps that need replaced...i noticed it last year, but haven't gotten around to it.
does that one use a tube inside it for calibration? that looks really nice man!

 

[MississippiMetal]

Heathkits are good basic tube testers that can be had in fairly decent condition for cheap. Hickocks are kinda the gold standard of tube testers, so expect those to be a bit more.

Basically, unless explicitly stated that it has recently been done, expect any tube tester you purchase to require a recap and calibration. You can't expect flawless performance from a device running 45-50 year old supply capacitors.

 

[glip22]

i have a superior instruments td55. it doesn't match for mutual conductance, but gives me the info i need. it's old. i like old shit like that.

I have a Triplett I-177B and 949 adapter box. It sat on a shelf in an old warehouse since 1952 and was NOS when I got it. I sent it To Roger Kennedy(All Tube Testers) to calibrate and bring up to speed. Been going strong for three years now.

i believe that ones miles ahead better than mine....i paid 25$ for it a while ago, and just needed it for shorts, leaks and emissions/quality.
i'll use my ears to tell me if i like a preamp tube or not!

...i need to get in there and put some new components in mine. there are some caps that need replaced...i noticed it last year, but haven't gotten around to it.
does that one use a tube inside it for calibration? that looks really nice man!

It uses two tubes.One is a mercury 83 I beleive. I'll try to get some porn for you. It even has an odor of the chemical they sprayed in it for Moisture and Fungi because of the conditions in Korea during the war. It has a little high voltage at 5 volts instead of 2.5 or so so its not ideal for miniature tubes but I learned how to compensate for it in the bias adjustment.. The adapter box I found separate and redid the insert ends and main octal cable. The tester still marked with the Army stamp.

 

[hellaboogie]

Heathkits are good basic tube testers that can be had in fairly decent condition for cheap. Hickocks are kinda the gold standard of tube testers, so expect those to be a bit more.

Basically, unless explicitly stated that it has recently been done, expect any tube tester you purchase to require a recap and calibration. You can't expect flawless performance from a device running 45-50 year old supply capacitors.

Yep, after some research a calibration and possible replacement parts are to be expected

 

[stephen sawall]

Interesting subject

 

[2tallmusic]

I have a Mercury 990.

Small box, tests shorts, leakage and emission. I saw them between 50-90$. Does a good job for my purposes.

 

[blackba]

I have an old Hickok 534, I got it from my Grandfather before he passed away. It has been very handy to have. Last year I found an updated tube chart that had EL34's, GZ34's, etc. Before that I didn't know the settings for those tubes. It helped a lot as I had a GZ34 rectifier go out on an amp and the tube checker showed that it was bad.

 

[Anonymous]

i have a superior instruments td55. it doesn't match for mutual conductance, but gives me the info i need. it's old. i like old shit like that.

I have a Triplett I-177B and 949 adapter box. It sat on a shelf in an old warehouse since 1952 and was NOS when I got it. I sent it To Roger Kennedy(All Tube Testers) to calibrate and bring up to speed. Been going strong for three years now.

i believe that ones miles ahead better than mine....i paid 25$ for it a while ago, and just needed it for shorts, leaks and emissions/quality.
i'll use my ears to tell me if i like a preamp tube or not!

...i need to get in there and put some new components in mine. there are some caps that need replaced...i noticed it last year, but haven't gotten around to it.
does that one use a tube inside it for calibration? that looks really nice man!

It uses two tubes.One is a mercury 83 I beleive. I'll try to get some porn for you. It even has an odor of the chemical they sprayed in it for Moisture and Fungi because of the conditions in Korea during the war. It has a little high voltage at 5 volts instead of 2.5 or so so its not ideal for miniature tubes but I learned how to compensate for it in the bias adjustment.. The adapter box I found separate and redid the insert ends and main octal cable. The tester still marked with the Army stamp.

thats cool man...id love to see pics....i thoroughly enjoy 1940s-1970s electronic devices, especially anything tube related. that stuff fascinates me that someone actually figured it all out.
people these days arent really figuring stuff out, they're just figuring out how to work computers to figure it out for them. the survivalist in me thinks about movies (like pitch black..hokey, yes, i know) that place people somewhere foreign, with foreign or outdated technology, and blah blah, and how i would do if i were in that situation? would i be able to fix stuff and get it running, etc.

sorry, a bit off topic, i just love old electronics from the analog heyday.

I have a Mercury 990.

Small box, tests shorts, leakage and emission. I saw them between 50-90$. Does a good job for my purposes.

thats basically what my superior td55 is....portable too, so, if need be, it's useful other places than home.

 

[glip22]

The most optimal is a tester that tests for actual transconductance and a maxi-matcher. Too rich for my blood.