Author Topic: Vacuum Tube PORN !!!  (Read 1511 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline GlennSpriggTopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1259
  • Country: au
  • Medically retired Tech. Old School / re-learning !
Vacuum Tube PORN !!!
« on: May 01, 2020, 01:55:37 pm »
Ok, I;m getting old, and the 'bits' don't work any more...
There's a few old sites that may have excited me years ago, but these days it's old 'Tube' stuff !!!
You generally need to be old to appreciate it, marveling at the way things used to be built!  For Eg...
https://live.staticflickr.com/3287/3064309439_2fd1b4ee5c_z.jpg
One of countless tube testers for example. (Am not talking about the brand... xox)
Back in the 1920's though, even if original, their valves/tubes were very sub-standard. For instance,
an ancient 'UV-201' triode. This is even Pre-Thoriated Tungsten Filaments!  Do I want 'my' historical
piece to be truly 'original', or actually Functional!!  Probably somewhere in between!!
I can't 'help' feeling excited while playing with such old equipment, and although such 'original' tubes
might make it 'historically correct', there are better ones from the era to use...
I now also have numerous 'Ads' for such equipment/valves etc.  Like...
https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--1xKpim4Z--/a_exif,c_limit,e_unsharp_mask:80,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_south,h_620,q_90,w_620/v1444390864/fogn0fwc3p52dp721y9i.jpg

My 'bits' don't work as they used to, so now, this is my Porn!!!  Hahaha....  :-DD
Diagonal of 1x1 square = Root-2. Ok.
Diagonal of 1x1x1 cube = Root-3 !!!  Beautiful !!
 

Offline Cyberdragon

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2676
  • Country: us
Re: Vacuum Tube PORN !!!
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2020, 07:30:59 am »
You call that a tube tester?

These are tube testers. ;)











Also, 20s and earler tubes in working order can be EXTREMELY valuable. If a tube is missing, and the set is not mint otherwise, it's fine to just use substitutes. But DO NOT replace working 20s or earlier tubes "just to get better performance", fast way to get instantly shunned from tube communities.
*BZZZZZZAAAAAP*
Voltamort strikes again!
Explodingus - someone who frequently causes accidental explosions
 
The following users thanked this post: GlennSprigg

Offline GlennSpriggTopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1259
  • Country: au
  • Medically retired Tech. Old School / re-learning !
Re: Vacuum Tube PORN !!!
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2020, 12:16:37 pm »
You call that a tube tester?

These are tube testers. ;)











Also, 20s and earler tubes in working order can be EXTREMELY valuable. If a tube is missing, and the set is not mint otherwise, it's fine to just use substitutes. But DO NOT replace working 20s or earlier tubes "just to get better performance", fast way to get instantly shunned from tube communities.

Oh my God!!!... My legs are shakin!   :D   Beautiful!!  :-+
That could NEVER be replaced by some cigarette sized transistorized/digital box!!!
Seriously though, the problem with some old tube testers, (not yours!), is finding the applicable
data-sheets for their switch settings today. You know what I mean !   :-+
Diagonal of 1x1 square = Root-2. Ok.
Diagonal of 1x1x1 cube = Root-3 !!!  Beautiful !!
 

Offline Cyberdragon

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2676
  • Country: us
Re: Vacuum Tube PORN !!!
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2020, 03:49:26 pm »
Depends on how rare the unit is, you can probably find them online. Some testers even tell you the method of testing tubes based on the datasheet or just from a known good tube (though the ladder is usually funnily enough on crappy meters as it would not be calibrated).

My actual tester is a beat up Eico 666 with mods (currently in need of repair). I also have a really crappy heathkit for testing tubes that might be severely damaged (shorted) inside.
*BZZZZZZAAAAAP*
Voltamort strikes again!
Explodingus - someone who frequently causes accidental explosions
 

Offline TimFox

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 8995
  • Country: us
  • Retired, now restoring antique test equipment
Re: Vacuum Tube PORN !!!
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2020, 05:49:18 pm »
With respect to the British Avo unit, I remember that US Hickok testers often had a control knob labeled “English”, presumably a billiards allusion.
 
The following users thanked this post: GlennSprigg

Offline GlennSpriggTopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1259
  • Country: au
  • Medically retired Tech. Old School / re-learning !
Re: Vacuum Tube PORN !!!
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2020, 02:11:47 pm »
Well, NOW, the time travel is going back about ANOTHER 20 Years!!!!   ;D

The ORIGINAL 'Valve-Tester' was just that!! It tested a Valve!!!  Back in the early 20's, none of the 'modern'
Octal Base, or 7/9 pin valves/(tubes! who called what/when?) even existed yet!  All that existed then, was
the 'typical' '200A' teardrop shaped 4-pin Triodes/Diodes. So a 'Tester' was as simple as this!!!...

'One' would plug the plug into an 'active' Radio, and put the Valve into the unit, to read plate/grid current.

Way before then though, 'typical People' did not have the likes of voltmeters/multimeters, and were using
multiple voltage batteries, and needed to at least know what is Negative or Positive!!  Their earlier instructions
were to put both wires into a Saline Solution, and look for BUBBLES on the NEGATIVE wire!!  8)
Later on, advanced technology at the time invented THIS device!!...

where a chemical change due to the polarity, gave an indication of polarity.
Here's another Ad, for another model, that just had a light globe instead of a mA Meter...
« Last Edit: May 10, 2020, 02:13:57 pm by GlennSprigg »
Diagonal of 1x1 square = Root-2. Ok.
Diagonal of 1x1x1 cube = Root-3 !!!  Beautiful !!
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf