vacuum tubes

[Rhino 21150]

While looking for something else (what a surprise!) I came across this site: http://www.vacuumtubesinc.com/index.html TARGET=_blank>http://www.vacuumtubesinc.com/index.html They sell tubes and schematics for old radios!

[denise 20352]

  That brings back memories.  Radio Shack stores used to have tube testers in them, and a tube would test good in one store, you would take it to another store with the same tester and it would test bad.  Those were the good old days.

  To go further back, remember the tube testers in the drug stores?

-d

[Dave Leger CLC #19256]

I remember them well.  When I was a child, we got our 1st color television set (a used RCA).  It had something like 35 tubes in it.  It seems as if every other month I would go with dad with a paper sack with half a dozen tubes, and wed test them one by one.  For me, it was a great adventure!

Dave

[John Washburn]

Well,

I know Dave and I believe he is much older than Color TV, but that is another story.

I bought one of the tube testers out of a Seattle Drug Store. Why, they can test Radio Vibrators (no comments needed). Now if I can find it, I will fix it up.

John Washburn
CLC #1067
Dave Leger is my mentor

[rhino 21150]

I remember OWNING a used tube tester, dont recall the brand. It was one of the few portable models, if forty pounds is portable. It would test everything up to one kilowatt transmitter tubes. It would check tubes with plate caps and grid caps. It even tested a few characterisitcs of picture tubes such as gassiness. I sold that in the early eighties for what I paid for it in the early seventies. It should be worth its weight in plutonium these days!

[FRED ZWICKER #23106]

I recently needed a special miniature round battery for the key fob on my wifes new car, as it worked one time and not the next time.  So I stopped at Radio Shack to buy a new one.  I wasnt sure if the battery was bad or not, but wanted to be sure that I had a strong battery and bought the new battery.  

I then asked the clerk to test the old battery to see if it was still OK.  The clerk couldnt figure out how to test the battery, so the manager showed up.  The 2 batteries were laying on the counter and he quickly grabbed the NEW battery and said it tested OK, but was weak.  He then tested the OLD battery and said it was also OK, but was better.

I said, "OK" and left.  (I am easy). I then installed the new battery in my wifes key fob and it is working fine and am saving the original battery for a spare, since it tested better than the new one.  Whatever it takes to keep my wifes car running is my goal.  Luckily I dont have such problems with my LaSalle.  Sometimes I think we are going backwards with all of the modern technology and no one knows how to fix things.

Fred Zwicker

[Doug Houston]

There were several kinds of tube testers. VERY few of them told any story about the tube at all. Even radio shops had testers that werent very revealing. When television came along, the useless character of meny testers became annoying. The best way to check a tube in a TV set was to substitute in a new one.

The best tube testers are the kind that are "Dynamic Mutual Conductance" testers Hows THAT for a mouthful? They were made by Hickok Electrical Instrument Co. in Cleveland, I believe. Their model 539 series was about as far as you could go, short of a General Radio Vacuum tube bridge. Hickok made a few models in portable form for the Signal Corps, and they were tops. My own tester is a Hickok 539C. Its a model that a lot of electronic labs used. I dont use it a lot, unless I really need to see whats going on in a tough performer. But at least, if it tells me that something is good, Ill take its word.

[Dave Leger CLC # 19256]

Im only 4 years older than color television.  The 1st color television commercial broadcast was in 1953.  As for Mr. Washburn, lets just say he was around when my 47 club coupe was new.    :-)

Dave Leger