Recent content by atmasphere

The meter should be pretty accurate. It will be more accurate mid scale.

Nice! Careful with those toggle switches. The handle can corrode in that slot, making them hard to move. It would really suck to snap one of those off.

Dang! Total test equipment envy

Since that tester looks for all the world like a 539, its a good bet Hickok made them for WE. On that account its likely to have some of the same problems. One of them is a resistor that opens up for no apparent reason, which makes testing certain tubes really variable. You can read more about...

You have tube testers and a DVM- those are real bits of test equipment too! Most of my repair work is done with the DVM. The 'scope helps see if I did a good job; also useful for troubleshooting more complex situations. I recently used it to align an FM multiplex circuit.

Thanks for the tip!

Those wheels are supposed to have a spot of grease on them, as should the track itself. It should be something that doesn't flow easily, like automotive bearing grease. I would not use a lithium grease. Not only will the grease make things work even better but it will protect the part from...

Unless it doesn't! Glue it carefully and treat the meter with respect and it will be fine.

FWIW the glass on meters like that is usually glued in.

The switch doesn't look bad at all!

Its been different over the years. It used to be that when restoring an old radio or tube amplifier all you had to do was replace filter capacitors. These days you have to go over the whole thing because so may coupling caps have rotted and resistors are miles off value. In this amplifier...

Most of the tube testers I've seen have had really minor problems, mostly due to age. Some of them are difficult just because of figuring out how to use them (especially older ones like this)!

If you are restoring old tube equipment these are really handy sorting out the condition of the power supply. But at the same time on any old tube gear the power supply is always suspect until its been renovated. I've seen a few cases where this sort of thing would be handy servicing solid...

That Weston is a lovely piece! While you are at it, replace that large yellowish capacitor in the photo that sits above the two potentiometers. It can't be trusted.

That there is a proper tester! Do not attempt to test a 6C33 in that Septar socket since the tester likely lacks the filament current and the ability to set up the socket connections properly. To test 6C33s you just about have to build a special tester for them.