Tube Tester Projects
Mar 4, 2014 4:50:19 GMT
Post by dmreese1 on Mar 4, 2014 4:50:19 GMT
Mike asked for activity on the board so I thought I'd open a thread on my Tester projects.
Short story, a friend's dad was a Amateur Radio Ham for close to 70 years. When he passed away, he left a lot of equipment and thousands of valves (tubes here in the USA) along with a B&K 700 Tester. Well, around the end of 2013, I lost my X-Can V3 to heat damage (a thanks to Mike here for his help and advice on the MF unit) and started actively looking for another amp. After, browsing the forums, I found the garag1217 site and purchased a Project Ember, a welcome addition. Since I knew my friend Doug had all of these valves hanging around I got together with him and ferreted out a couple of dozen 6xxx and 12xxx valves from his dad's old stash. While I was there I saw this old dilapidated B&K 700. You can check out the attached pictures. Well, Doug is not a techie guy so when I asked about the tester he graciously gave it to me. I went home with a load of tubes(oops, I mean valves) and the B&K.
I looked at this test relic and started thinking of Doug's dad and how happy he must have been when he bought it new. I also knew that he was so ill for so long that he had to let his ham stuff go silent and how that bothered him. So I started to research the repair and operation of the unit and began the task of bringing it to life. I want to thank Bob at tubesounds.com for the advice, parts and great information, check out his website if you have not yet been there. I rolled up my sleeves and started the cleaning and rework (did I mention the cleaning?). It is a lot of work to bring equipment back to life after so much neglect, hand deoxidizing test sockets is no easy task and I had to improvise with dental brushes and really ugly pipe cleaners but I got it done. After the cleaning, deoxidizing all the switches /pots and replacing of all the electrolytic caps, I followed the Tubesound directions for modifications and calibration of the tester.
The end result, is a very functional and accurate piece of testing history. I also took the time to spruce up the case so that the overall look was up to the functional aspects. I now have a few more B&K tester projects going on and I am getting a lot of satisfaction by rescuing these from their despair. I am also amazed at the junk I see on eBay and the outrageous prices for what are basically derelicts.
Pictures at:
photobucket.com/albums/e210/dmreese1
Duane
Short story, a friend's dad was a Amateur Radio Ham for close to 70 years. When he passed away, he left a lot of equipment and thousands of valves (tubes here in the USA) along with a B&K 700 Tester. Well, around the end of 2013, I lost my X-Can V3 to heat damage (a thanks to Mike here for his help and advice on the MF unit) and started actively looking for another amp. After, browsing the forums, I found the garag1217 site and purchased a Project Ember, a welcome addition. Since I knew my friend Doug had all of these valves hanging around I got together with him and ferreted out a couple of dozen 6xxx and 12xxx valves from his dad's old stash. While I was there I saw this old dilapidated B&K 700. You can check out the attached pictures. Well, Doug is not a techie guy so when I asked about the tester he graciously gave it to me. I went home with a load of tubes(oops, I mean valves) and the B&K.
I looked at this test relic and started thinking of Doug's dad and how happy he must have been when he bought it new. I also knew that he was so ill for so long that he had to let his ham stuff go silent and how that bothered him. So I started to research the repair and operation of the unit and began the task of bringing it to life. I want to thank Bob at tubesounds.com for the advice, parts and great information, check out his website if you have not yet been there. I rolled up my sleeves and started the cleaning and rework (did I mention the cleaning?). It is a lot of work to bring equipment back to life after so much neglect, hand deoxidizing test sockets is no easy task and I had to improvise with dental brushes and really ugly pipe cleaners but I got it done. After the cleaning, deoxidizing all the switches /pots and replacing of all the electrolytic caps, I followed the Tubesound directions for modifications and calibration of the tester.
The end result, is a very functional and accurate piece of testing history. I also took the time to spruce up the case so that the overall look was up to the functional aspects. I now have a few more B&K tester projects going on and I am getting a lot of satisfaction by rescuing these from their despair. I am also amazed at the junk I see on eBay and the outrageous prices for what are basically derelicts.
Pictures at:
photobucket.com/albums/e210/dmreese1
Duane