share pics of your old test gear - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: williefleete
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2011, 06:11:24 am
content: a while ago when i was going through a phase of collecting boxes of random stuff off trademe i have picked up one or two bits of old test gearthe most interesting of which is a 70's era transistor tester from BK precision using in itself transistors, 74 series logic and a few op amps.originally it ran off 117 volts AC, however i had swapped the transformer out for a 240 volt one and more recently modified it to operate from 6 double A batteries replacing the neon with an LED, as it needs split rail each side needing ~4.5 - 5 volts. its handy for determining the pinouts of a particular transistor and whether said transistor is functional, using the rotary switch under the meter will measure leakage current and identify whether its germanium or silicon (i actually had a germanium transistor floating around and it did indeed identify it as a PNP germanium and the leakage current was within the germanium signal realms of the meter too) most modern transistors measured on the unit identify as silicon and have almost zero leakage unless a damaged one is put in then it just pegs the meter. with a functional transistor it emits a tone and lights the LED indicating which type of transistor it is.by the looks of things you can get banana probes for in circuit measurement however when i got the unit they werent supplied

author: Jon Chandler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2011, 06:58:24 am
content: This is one of my great finds...a telco network analyzer at Goodwill (a thrift store) for $8. Man, I wish I'd known about these sooner! It's essentially a sine wave generator and wideband AC voltmeter reading out in dB in the same box. Set the frequency and level on the output side, flip the switch and read the results on the input side. Awesome for characterizing a filter shape or seeing the effects on signal conditioning on your analog data.I think it was so cheap because it's designed for field use and the power cord tucks away behind a false back panel. They probably couldn't find the power cord so they couldn't even get it to light up. Works perfectly and agrees with my Fluke benchtop meter for frequency response and dB levels, although I'm not certain just what the 0 dB reference point corresponds to.

author: SG-1
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2011, 07:42:57 am
content: Here is a piece of history. This is how you would measure milli-amperes before electronic meters were born.

author: SG-1
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2011, 08:22:15 am
content: Here is the specs for the above instrument for those interested.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2011, 09:24:52 am
content: Here's an old piece of test equipment i've used on occasion.A magnetic current meter, you just position the cable you want to measure in the channel on the back and it reads the current from the magnetic field in the cable.

author: the_raptor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2011, 12:44:59 pm
content: Nice gear. One day I hope to have a lab full of this old type of gear to fulfil the whole crazy scientist look.Modern gear is so boring looking.

author: JohnS_AZ
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2011, 04:09:45 pm
content: I've got a lot of old stuff, but this is probably the oldest.

author: JohnS_AZ
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2011, 04:23:31 pm
content: And then there's my favorite DMM. <grin>

author: Jon Chandler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2011, 05:09:30 pm
content: I've postedWeston Engineering Notes from 1946 and 1947. I have another year and a half to scan. I'm not sure if John's meter is pictured anywhere in the collection but a lot of similar meters are.As far as I have been able to determine, Weston Instruments went though a series of mergers and acquisitions in the 70s and has disappeared in the process.

author: tecman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2011, 06:14:31 pm
content: Quote from: JohnS_AZ on February 14, 2011, 04:23:31 pmI had one of those when I was in college (early 70's). Got it at a place that got scrap from Western Electric. It was not the fastest, but worked great, until I sold it.Paul

author: williefleete
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2011, 01:50:42 am
content: Quote from: JohnS_AZ on February 14, 2011, 04:23:31 pmi'll bet. its got NIXIES!!!

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2011, 01:57:01 am
content: Just some stuff I have:Tektronix 547Simpson Roto Ranger (multiple scales rotate into place behind pointer)A "tube testing" versionOld Weston in wooden case (Needs cleaning!)Hickok 539C Tube Tester (So called "engineer's model, but the "FAA" tester is supposedly better.)Hickok (I think it's a 501)Cornell Dubilier Capacitor Checker with "magic eye" tube

author: williefleete
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2011, 02:03:13 am
content: Quote from: Excavatoree on February 15, 2011, 01:57:01 am

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2011, 06:10:17 am
content: i saw tons (literally) of that stuff at hamfest orlando & skycraft this past weekend. i should have snapped some photos, but i fail.-sj

author: tecman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2011, 02:50:55 pm
content: Here are some shots from my shop.One of my Weston meters:My Tek 547 was my first "real" scope. Still works and I used it regularly until a few years ago:Here are a some additional Tek plug-ins for the 547:Paul

author: SG-1
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2011, 07:16:52 am
content: This meter has up to a 240 volt input.

author: SG-1
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2011, 07:22:56 am
content: This meter can measure up to 600V DC to 135Hz. Note the mirror behind the indicator, this is to prevent parallax error when reading the scale.

author: lowimpedance
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2011, 12:26:38 am
content: A pic of an interesting LCR meter, now where is the LCD!!.John