Scored some more test equipment!
 

I got these at the radio club today for free. Not really, about a month ago, I worked very hard unloading boxes full of junk for about three hours. Neither of them work correctly, I'll clean them up and see if that helps. The Sencore generator has some really unhappy interference (filter caps) and the Heathkit is giving skewed readings. I tried to test my Zenith Chromacolor tube with it, and the cutoff was acting completely goofy. I even read the instructions!

Here is what the Sencore CG-159 is doing.

The filter caps are bad.

That's what I suspected. I think the ones in the Heathkit are bad too. I'll change them all next weekend.

At the radio club, they also had a B&K 440, 465, and 467, and 1077 Analyst. And a Sencore Analyst. All in varying states of disrepair. I would have gotten the 467 tester except that it was extremely dirty and missing most of the adaptors. There are only two TV guys at that club, me being one of them. Now that I know all that stuff is down there, I'll offer them a lump sum and try to get it all.

It's interesting how your taste changes after you see something in real life. I had decided upon getting a Heathkit tester because it looked simple to use. But because it's so simple, there is actually a whole process you have to go through to clean or rejuvenate tubes. I remember my thread that I posted asking what CRT tester I should get saying I don't want a B&K because they're expensive and look complicated. After watching videos of them and comparing the process to the Heathkit, I've changed my mind. Now that I've held a B&K and seen it in action, I think that's what's best for me.

That Heathkit crt checker is the best one I ever used. Should be easy to fix unless you need some meters.

It's not broken. I was informed that these actually work that way. I'm going to be getting two B&K's from a fellow collector in a few weeks. I guess everyone has their own tastes for test equipment.

Does anybody know the purpose of this " Temp Control" on the Sencore dot-bar generator? It says "Goes out at 80F."

Stability... If you brought the generator into a customers home from a cold outdoor environment, a small heater would quickly warm up critical parts such as the crystal so that frequency drift would be minimized.

jr

Ah, that makes sense. I talked to a fellow collector today, and he agreed that I would trade my Heathkit, and he would trade a complete, but broken Sencore CR-143, and a complete, working B&K 470. I think it's a splendid deal. The Heathkit is in excellent condition, but I just don't think it's for me. You can't say I didn't give it a chance.

Ill second that:thmbsp: - go easy on the rejuvenate and only if you need it, that is: light 'em up slowly and you'll never fry a cathode:D

Be careful with any used test equipment. It might have a bad power transformer. Virtually Unobtanium!

About that CR-143- I've been doing a little (a lot) of homework on CRT testers. I found out that the CR-143 is from circa 1967, and was the successor to the CR-133, which was the successor to the CR-125. Has anybody got any experience with this tester? How is the rejuvenation feature compared to, say, a B&K 440 or 465? I'm looking forward to getting my new testers. The first tube I'll be cleaning and balancing will be the one in my CTC-120.

Heathkit is from...
 

the 80's sometime.