Looking for a tube tester

[vintageboris]

I have a growing number of tube gear (Hammonds, Leslie, Amps etc). Due to the nature of those machines a tube tester would be a very helpful tool.

If someone has a spare, working tube tester for sale and is willing to ship it to Europe, I would be happy to get a message. It doesn't have to be one of those over-hyped Hickoks - an Eico, B&K or Sencore (Mighty-Mite) would also do the trick for me. It should read the usual tubes (12AX**, 12AU**, 6AU6, 6L6, 6V6, EL34 etc). Possibly calibrated.

Thanks in advance.

[bfish]

Hi Boris,

How big a hurry are you in?

I've got a couple extras (in storage) that I retired when I got a bargain on a late model B&K. Don't remember specifics, but I'd probably have to go over them for reliability. Just cost you shipping, but it might be a month or even two before I get around to it.

There's really not much to a tube tester, just a power supply, some voltage dividers, and the multi-pole switches to connect the various socket configurations. If the power supply produces the correct voltage, the dividers are in tolerance, and the meter's not whacked, there's no calibration to it.

[vintageboris]

Hi bfish

No real hurry indeed, I've been living a few decades now without

Thanks for your generous offer.

Just give me a msg for details when due.

Boris

[bfish]

You're welcome Boris, glad to help.

It's not that it's a big job, but to be fair, I've gotta just put you on the list of to-do's for friends in order received. Gotta get back to GM's stuff soon...

The one I have in mind is a Triplett 3413A. It'll serve your needs unless you branch off into 4-pin land...

Has manual, good chart, chart update, big meter, blah,blah. Even looks cool.

If you don't mind in the meantime, figure out a good shipping method for me. I've never shipped anything overseas, so I'll need instructions. I have easy access to USPS, UPS, and Fedex that I know of. Shipping zip is 72714. Pkg. approx. 20"x24"x10", < 10 lbs.

[timp]

Did I hear you saying that you had a couple of them?

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ April 10, 2008 11:38 PM: Message edited by: timp ]</font>

[bfish]

Yeah, but the other one has issues as I recall, don't remember for sure, but maybe a bad xfmr. It is in a nice wood case though, which I planned to use for my B-K, as its' plastic case hinges are splitting out.

Used to be, you could get a decent one for $5-10. I just ran a "completed item" search on eBay though...wowee-zowee...Sorted "highest first", I had to scroll 3 pages before I got down to the $100 range...I guess the sucker birth rate must have taken a huge jump in the '70s or '80s...thankfully, I didn't sire any of them. Still, there were several in the $50 range that would do just fine. The old TV-7s and cardmatics were very nice, but certainly not $300-700 nice...It appears the older-equates-better malady has spread to the test equipment market...duh...to be of ANY value, test gear has to work precisely, a parameter that doesn't usually parallel age.

[timp]

Thanks Bfish. You'r right though. Those testers' prices are going way up there. that's for sure.

tim

[vintageboris]

Oh boy, those guys...

I'm overwhelmed...

Boris

[cclark65]

If your uncomfortable shipping overseas you can ship to me and I'll ship it over. Also, we get really good rates since we ship hundreds of packages a day, so it might even be cheaper to send to me so I can forward it on. I'll try to remember to get a shipping quote in the near future.