Vacuum Tube PORN !!! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 01, 2020, 01:55:37 pm
content: 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.jpgOne 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' historicalpiece 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' tubesmight 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.jpgMy 'bits' don't work as they used to, so now, this is my Porn!!! Hahaha....

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2020, 07:30:59 am
content: You call that a tube tester?Theseare 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. ButDO NOTreplace working 20s or earlier tubes "just to get better performance", fast way to get instantly shunned from tube communities.

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2020, 12:16:37 pm
content: Quote from: Cyberdragon on May 02, 2020, 07:30:59 amOh my God!!!... My legs are shakin!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 applicabledata-sheets for their switch settings today. You know what I mean !

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2020, 03:49:26 pm
content: 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.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2020, 05:49:18 pm
content: With respect to the British Avo unit, I remember that US Hickok testers often had a control knob labeled “English”, presumably a billiards allusion.

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2020, 02:11:47 pm
content: Well,NOW, the time travel is going back aboutANOTHER20 Years!!!!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, wasthe '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 usingmultiple voltage batteries, and needed to at least know what is Negative or Positive!! Their earlier instructionswere to put both wires into a Saline Solution, and look for BUBBLES on the NEGATIVE wire!!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...