Quote:
Originally Posted by TUD1
I remember when I got my very first CRT tester. It was a Heathkit IT-5230, and I hated it. Never could get an accurate reading on the thing. Then I got a B&K 470, and it was like going from a Chevy Corsica to a Buick Electra.
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Heathkit equipment is only as good as the builder of it. Mine has never wrecked a tube unless I went for broke on a tube that I was going to replace or trash anyway. That is how I judge a CRT tester, and I would like to get a Sencore CR-70 just to see what I'm missing but for what I have needed to date, the 5320 and my old-fashioned BK 445 are all I need.
The Heathkit has a Beltron-style clean and rejuvenate circuit that can bring new life to a tired 21" round CRT as good as any other. This tester has served me well for almost 40 years after I built it, requiring only current-limit lamps to be replaced. It has no PC boards, which I consider an Achilles heel of any portable equipment and mine sure is banged up. It came with only two BW and two color adapters, so I made more socket adapters as I needed them. That is not pretty either