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Thread: The wacky world of tubes...

  1. 08-14-2014, 11:53 AM #1
    w3bny
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    The wacky world of tubes...

    As all you boatanchor weenies and wanna be weenies know, the mystique of the boatanchor is in those glowing beauties we call vacuum tubes. Your cat calls them "a nice place to take a nap". Also, as we guys and gals know, we need a way to find out if these guys are bad or not. Enter the tube tester. Back in the day you could go into just about any shack (or Radio Shack for that matter) and get your suspect tested to confirm yes its bad or "sorry charlie, try again". Well I got a BK707 tester that I got a couple (about 8 ) years ago. I was gonna sell it but now that Im in the boatanchor business, discovered I needed it. Some FB OM out there said I needed to do the calibration on it. Ok looked it over and seemed ok. Put a tube on it and bad...lets try another...bad...wait a second...bad...every tube I have cant be bad...yeah that one was bad too! Then i remembered that someone gave me a Knight tube tester (the one with all the lever switches and the roll chart) anyway thats the only thing I had to even verify that all the tubes were indeed bad (or at least suspect) or that the 707 was FOOBAR.

    Got it out, hooked it up to a Variac and slowly dialed up the voltage over 30 minutes till it came back to life without any arky-sparky or electrolytic caps going esplode! I must say its kind of a confusing beast but put a tube in and good....good again...hey this one is good....in all I have only 1 suspect tube but not for sure since the Knight is suspect as well. So now it looks like I might be able to get the Knight back in full calibrated service easier than that 707 so I can progress onward with the boatanchor referbs.

    Moral of the story.... If you do not have a WORKING CALIBRATED tube tester. GET ONE because its all about the tubes baby.

    PEH!
    Yeah...I'm a furry...Deal with it!
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  2. 08-14-2014, 09:47 PM #2
    n2ize
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    Most of the time you don't need a tube tester. Most old tube rigs can be diagnosed better without one. For example a tube can show good on the tester yet be soft in the circuit. Very few of the old timers had tube testers yet kept their rigs running.
    I keep my 2 feet on the ground, and my head in the twilight zone.
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  3. 08-14-2014, 09:56 PM #3
    K7SGJ
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    Quote Originally Posted by n2ize View Post
    Most of the time you don't need a tube tester. Most old tube rigs can be diagnosed better without one. For example a tube can show good on the tester yet be soft in the circuit. Very few of the old timers had tube testers yet kept their rigs running.
    True, but tubes were a nickel ninety-eight back then, and you could afford to have many spares. I always said, the best tube checker was the device the tube was in. Well, I didn't ALWAYS say that...........now that I think about it, I never said that. Never mind..................
    A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory

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  4. 08-14-2014, 10:34 PM #4
    XE1/N5AL
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    Quote Originally Posted by w3bny View Post
    ...Back in the day you could go into just about any shack (or Radio Shack for that matter) and get your suspect tested to confirm yes its bad or "sorry charlie, try again"....
    Even the corner drug store had a tube tester and an assortment of commonly used tubes. Then, all of that stuff quietly disappeared; and apart from ham radio operators, I'm not sure that anyone really noticed.
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  5. 08-14-2014, 10:41 PM #5
    K7SGJ
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    Quote Originally Posted by wb5ydk View Post
    Even the corner drug store had a tube tester and an assortment of commonly used tubes. Then, all of that stuff quietly disappeared; and apart from ham radio operators, I'm not sure that anyone really noticed.
    All the drugstore tube checkers ended up stored in old phone booths, where ever they are.
    A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory

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  6. 08-14-2014, 10:42 PM #6
    NQ6U
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    Quote Originally Posted by K7SGJ View Post
    All the drugstore tube checkers ended up stored in old phone booths, where ever they are.
    Superman keeps all the phone booths in his Fortress of Solitude.
    All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
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  7. 08-14-2014, 10:47 PM #7
    K7SGJ
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    Quote Originally Posted by KJ6BSO View Post
    Superman keeps all the phone booths in his Fortress of Solitude.
    Well there ya go. Have that guy with the big red S check your tube.
    A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory

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  8. 08-14-2014, 10:50 PM #8
    NQ6U
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    Quote Originally Posted by K7SGJ View Post
    Well there ya go. Have that guy with the big red S check your tube.
    That would be super, man.
    All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
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  9. 08-14-2014, 11:46 PM #9
    K7SGJ
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    Quote Originally Posted by KJ6BSO View Post
    That would be super, man.
    Especially the kyrpton vapor regulators.
    A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory

    RIP ALBI-W3MIV RIP RUSS-W5RB RIP BOB-VK3ZL

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  10. 08-15-2014, 03:41 AM #10
    w2amr
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    I have a TV-7 military surplus tester from fair radio, and it works great. I don't know if they are available any more. Yeah I know, lots of knobs.
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