Tube Testers

[RitchieMars]

I've been keeping an eye out for tube testers on Ebay lately and the only thing I've come to realize... is that I don't really need one. I think a tube tester is a cool piece of equipment, and for many applications I'm sure it's a must. But... I'm not the least bit impressed with some of the going prices of these testers, especially considering that all but a seldom few of them are sold without any real testing. I don't believe "It lights up" qualifies as a "ready to use" tester. Still, these things are selling. I mean really selling. Here's one example I had my eye on:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...T#ht_500wt_715

The 10-12 is a "dynamic" emissions tester! There's nothing "mutual conductance" about it. Granted, I would love to have one... but I just saw an Eico 666 sell for way less than this! In other cases, I've seen a tester listed by someone who claims to have no knowledge of these things and sells the tester as-is. I look at their feedback as a buyer... and it turns out that they're a regular tube aficionado judging by the very specialized items they've bid on. Wow... talk about fleecing! These audiophile guys sure know how to get suckered...

Don't get me wrong... I still hope to get a decent tube tester one day. But what I'm finding so far isn't very encouraging, to say the least!