AVO Mk1

Will describe it later in detail. So far, this one is amazing. Inside is almost no electronics, and since no calibration is needed, nothing can be off-calibration. I tested a 6SN7 that I know has exactly 2.7mA/V at 250V / -8V. The Mk1 reproduces this value accurately. I want to investigate it better, to see how they get this precise results from just two transformers and some resistors. It is the mother of all other AVO's. If you are buying a tube tester, I think this is one of the few that you can buy with little risk. I would say if some unknowing seller says "it works" it is probably good. It has no sockets for 7 pin miniature and noval tubes, but a socket adapter for those existed. Of course you can't get those, and they're always missing. You can easily make the adapters yourself from old tube sockets, and the settings for 7 pin and 9 pins tubes plus settings for ALL tubes in the later edition manuals! What else do you need :)

In a few words: A fully underestimated tester, secret tip. I see people pay 220 Euro for "low end" Emission testers. I don't think these are worth that at all. Then you better pay this price for a Mk1!

AVO PATENTS Zipped files. Very interesting. Package-1 .... Pakage-2

AVO Mk2

Here will be placed (later) a re-build report about the AVO Mark 2. This tester can do the same as the Mark4, but it has a little different method to operate it. The principle is comparable to the Mk4. What is better about the Mk2, it has one tube inside which only function is to be a reference tube. So the reference tube and the tube under test go into a wheatstone bridge, where non-linearity of the tube-under-test is compensated with the non linearity of the reference tube inside. This is a very clever system. Also the Mk2 is very easy serviceable, because you can take off the whole cap with just four screws. So you can access it from all sides. With the (later) Mk4 it is almost impossible to work on the inside electronics.

The Mark2 is a very old tester, so they all need some service or repairs before you have them back into instrument condition again. The used electronics are of good quality. No strange components, that you don't know what they are, no rusty resistors, no leaky capacitors, the wiring is still very good after all those years, no signs of cracks or anything. All semiconductors are still good. All rectifiers are solid state, but not Germanium. These are the antique kind of early diodes, with several layers of metal to metal-oxide and very high (40Volts) forward voltage. I took them out and tested them, and they all worked fine after 50 years. I was ready to replace those with new rectifiers, but the old ones tested so nice on my Metrix tube tester. No leakage at all, and very well defined "on" voltage. So I just put them back in.

The reference tube has it's own supply transformer, and the whole unit with the reference tube is mounted on a separate chassis. This sub chassis has only four wires. Two are connected to the mains, and the other two are the connections at which a diode is presented. This diode is then wired into the rest of the circuit. A Very beautiful design., like a master piece, and you can see from this way it is build, that this "tube diode" is the core of this tester. I don't believe the solid state part they used for this in the MK4 is just as good.

The Mk2 has all sockets for any tube that is used in Radio or amplifiers. It can do any mains voltage.

In a few words: For me Mk2 is a better quality tester than the Mk4, and the circuitry of the Mk2 doesn't suffer yet from the "need" of having to use no tubes inside. It's amongst the top-ten testers. The price difference with the Mk4 is not justified, since Mk2 has a higher negative grid voltage possible, and for the rest if it the Mk4 gives no higher precision, and no better or faster results. Mk4 has a more solid case, the case of the the Mk2 can be lifted off very conveniently for service, which is for me more important than nice looks. .

Manual of AVO Mark2

AVO Mk4

Will describe it later. I bought it as "perfect" with the option to give it back. Well it needs some repair, one pot is defective and mains is not indicated correct. For the rest it seems ok, so I keep it.

This is the most sought of, and most wanted tester. Mk4 does seem to have some small advantages over the Mk2, like more precise reading of the scales. However this is only what is seems. Reality is, with the Mk4 you are supposed to believe it is incredible precise because of the very accurate and nice way of reading the numbers from the scales. But.... what is the use of that, when the generic precision of the whole machine is not better than +/-20%, and not more precise than the Mk2 anyway?

So we have to say it, that this extremely precise way to read the numbers from the scales is marketing bullshit. The resulting precision from a measurement doesn't come from extremely precise scales, as long as the base precision of the whole machine produces 20% error. In numbers: You can read a Gm of 5,05mA/V with an accuracy of 1mA/V. Same as with the Mk2. With the Mk2 you can read 5mA/V with an accuracy of 1mA/V. What's the difference? None!

So for me, Mk2 and Mk4 are the same level: Mk2 has the big advantage of much higher negative grid voltage if you need it. (and oh yes, you need it) . The case of the Mk4 is stronger, end certainly nicer looking. But .... Mk2 is easier to service the inside, because you can lift off the whole cap. So for me Mk2 and Mk4 get the same score. Still either Mk2 or Mk4 are not as accurate as CT160.

So here is how I rank them:

The Mk4 service Manual HERE!
The MK4 ser manual HERE
The BIG AVO Valve Data Manual 11th. edition. HERE

AVO CT160

Is operated in a very unusual way, because you have to balance a bridge for the measurement. However you get used to it quickly, and once you are you start to appreciate it, given that you know what a bridge is, and given you know what you are doing. If these two things are not given, you won't like it.

It is quicker to operate than the Mk2, Mk3 or Mk4. CT160 is amazingly very precise but ONLY AND REALLY ONLY when the internal calibration resistor is awfully precise adjusted. Any yes, when it's older it needs to be replaced. Also the grid pots usually need a repair (that you may not know). These are the weak spots, and quite easy to fix. For the rest nothing serious can be broken inside. However a repair on this one, same as with any tube tester, is no job for amateurs. For a detailed test report, click here. 

In a few words: Amongst the top-ten testers.

Centrad 752

Will describe it later, looks a bit like a Taylor 45. It is defective. Need to repair it first.

Funke W19

This Funke W19 made in 1968 , I bought on Ebay in said to be "working condition",  but that was just about it, for the rest it was a mess. At least the basic material was very good. The man paid me back some of the money, and for me it was ok then. I love good instruments, and I spend over one week restoring and calibrating it, including the meter linearity.  Now it is like new again.  The best about the W19 is,  is has no settings.  So you plug in the pins on the test card, and you can read if the tube is good or not.  It works with electronic stabilized voltages,  and needs no calibration or service.  When the control lamp burns,  it means the internal electronics is working.  They thought of the user's comfort.  I would say it's  THE tester amongst professional tube dealers.  It gives very reliable results. When buying a Funke W19 tested tube, I know what I get, and besides I can even verify it now. It can measure almost any tube, USA and American, and can be operated without having to think a lot, and the reading is stabile very quickly. So you don't need to heat up the tubes very long. (Though you do need to heat up the tester for 10 minutes, so the internal voltage stabilizer reaches it's accurate voltage). It is ideal for having to test 100's of  tubes.  When I verified the results,  bad tubes, were really bad, and "?" tubes are indeed just like that, and new tubes from Electro Harmonics, Sovtek, etc., are always indicated at or above 100%

Here is how the W19 works, it is as simple as efficient and reliable. The W19 works with test cards, and you can make no mistake with those. We all know this strange feeling when plugging in a 500€ tube in a tester. You check all settings 5 times, and still are afraid for your expensive tube to blow up. When testing an ECC803S with any other tester than the W19, first I plug in a cheap JJ tube. However when testing an expensive NOS RE134, I have no cheap JJ tube to try it first. Here is where the W19S comes in, it's a good feeling you can do really nothing wrong. All voltages are set by the card. The internal voltages are taken from a ladder network. So the plate voltage is stabilized, but also other stabilized voltages derived from this. Now what is nice, you rotate the only button it has, all though the positions 1...13. In position "0" the whole tester is off. From 1...10 it performs all the leakage and short circuit tests, and each test is passed when the meter stays on the "zero" position. Suppose it fails one test, the meter goes to the left, into a small white zone first, which is acceptable, and if it goes further a red zone begins, which is where "leakage" starts. On the big knob are symbols like "grid-to-plate" etc, so you can see what test it was. That is all there is to say about how it works. I tested it with a KT88 and an external 400k resistor from grid to filament, and it indicates the middle of the red scale. Perfect!

Position 11 is the actual test, and the results is pre-printed on the test card.

Position 12 gives the transconductance by changing the grid voltage from 0V to -2V. So you need to calculate the micromhos (=mA/V). The transconductance test is invalid with tubes that cut off at -2V, but also here the cut-off should take place, so at least that you know, and the tube is probably good. With other tubes you can calculate the transconductance like this.

Position 13 gives the vacuum condition, and you're done.

The cards are the software, the W19 the hardware. What is nice about the cards, they have the tube main data printed on them, including connections, and standard settings. Also many replacement types. Then it gives the actually test settings in the W19, the plate current, and most important, it tells you what is bad, "?" and good. These cards are really accurate. That's why I like the W19 so much.

Prices: I collect some from Ebay, prices are rising quickly. Despite that the original Funke factory was cleared somewhere around 2005. From that closure a lot of material came on Ebay, specially stacks of NOS test cards, several blue books, switches and meters. Even new cases have popped up on Ebay. Still prices go up and up. I bought mine for a few hundred Euro. You can only dream of that now.

There is the W19S and W19. The "S" is the military one, and looks less nice, but it has more sockets and a higher rated transformer. It can do filament current up to 4 Amps and plate dissipation up to 50Watt, but also can delicately and precisely measure battery tubes at less than a mA. It can test bigger tubes also with an AC plate voltage, which makes it possible to test any tube up to 250mA. The reading is in equivalent DC milliamps, which seems to represent real DC measurements nicely. I tried that out. Rectifiers can be tested used up to 250mA.

Making tests cards is a piece of cake, because when you remove the card, you have all the settings nicely printed underneath. So you can select the plate voltages AC or DC by plug in the correspondent pin. When the test does what you want, you can make your own card quickly from a sheet of paper, and stick the test pins through the paper.

In a few words: Ideal for for who want to get a very quick and reliable result, which is totally respected by the everyone.

Read more about the W19

Grundig Tubatest

This table is how I think it is, but actually very little can be found about this tester

Interesting tester. Made right after WW2, under the company name RVF (Radio-Vertrieb Fürth). Tubatest can be found at low cost still, and it works nice. The Tubatest 2 that I have, is a nice piece of hardware, in a strong and nice case, and you can work on it easily. The switches are nice made and high quality. The way the operate is logical and well thought of. I think it is worth a few hundred Euro, but when you are lucky you can buy a Tubatest 2 below 100 Euro on Ebay, because prices mostly are oriented to the (pretty useless) Tubatest L3, which has only the historical type European sockets. So, Tubatest 2 is my secret tip, or otherwise Tubatest (1) when you can get it together with the rare adapter kit .

So, most information and price orientation in the internet is for the pretty useless Tubatest L3, but this had no adapter kit build in, and no connector for it either!

Link to Grundig official nostalgia page. The company still exists. On the left side of this linked page, you can click their products, and you can see they made beautiful industry designs. Around the mid 90's, they changed to making products with futuristic looks, of the kind that Chinese designers make today. So you see they were way ahead of their time.

ELPO 508

Bought it on Ebay, and got cheated with it (as always). According to the German seller it was very accurate, but it produced complete nonsense when I tried it. What's the use if a nice and friendly old man is prepared to take it back, and all the mess and work was for nothing. So I decided to keep it, and repair it later.

Well this tester is a strange one. It seems to me like an AVO Mark 5. The principle is completely the same as the later AVO's have, only compared to the ELPO 508, the AVO's are almost primitive construction.

Selector. It does have the nice AVO selector switch on the top, so company connections to this AVO clearly must exist. (Who can help me to find this out???).

Overload Relay: Who owns an AVO, will know the overload protection is very inaccurate, and a problem source too. Well this one has a nice, very sensitive electronic circuit, which does the same as that relay in the AVO. Nicely build on a printed circuit board, and it obviously replaces this relay. On overload it switches from a green scale light to a red one. Nicely done, looks like taken from the AVO CT160.

Sockets: These are the beautiful (and best I have ever seen) tube sockets as used in the Russian L3-3.

Circuit diagram: Partially hand drawn"blueprint" ( A real blue one).

Operation: I have an AVO Mk1, Mk2 and Mk4. When you are in the position to compare these, you will know these more or less work the same, only they get more mature, and higher models are the more convenient to use. (not give more precision, just more convenient). The Mk1 is for instance more precise then the Mk4, and Mk1 needs no calibration. Only, Mk1 is a bit strange thing to use. Interestingly, the ELPO works like the Mk4, but.... it is much more convenient. That is because it can do all a MK4 can, and has a much simpler way to archive this result, whit less knobs. Someone has done a very good job on this. So the way I can see it, this company ELPO actually took the Mk4, and improved it and make indeed something like the Mk5. It also has many more calibration points inside, from which I expect it will deal with some of the unprecision the AVO MK4 has. I decided to restore it, and investigate this. This is why I kept it, and not send it back to the fraudulent seller.

QUESTION I have only the polish manual, which is very nice and complete, but I can't read a word. Who can tell me how to calibrate it?

Hickock known issues, problems and general information

Link to official Hickok company foto archive

Hickock 534B

Very nice tester, with build in multimeter. Read here.

Hickock 539A

I purchased this tester from Eric Dekker from Belgium. This is a copy of his Ebay text:

"This tube tester is fully operational, all controls and roll chart work smoothly. The outside black Tolex covering does have nicks and tears but this can easily be recovered. All three meters are fully functional with smooth movement"

Here is what I received. Pic1 - Pic2 - Pic3

I found the tester gives completely wrong readings, and the main meter sticks.

Mind you this is sold by a person with over 900 feedbacks, and a 100% positive record, which is really exceptionally good. I offered to give it back, and he writes: "No discussion possible". So that ended his 100% positive record. Don't understand me wrong, this is no way to complain about a bad deal here in the Internet. I put this here on the website so you can all see what appears to be normal at the moment at Ebay.

So this is going to be my next restoration project. Then I will show here in detail if there were any other hidden defects in this tester, and what I had to do to repair it.

Hickock 750

Both 750 I bought, had good basic substance as I got it. No serious damage, and only worked ony by good technicians. Well almost. One had a sticky roll chart, which must have driven the owner crazy, ending up using a big screw driver, violently pushing the wheel, until it all broke down. But that was all of the mistreatment it got, and I could fix that at almost no cost. I had an NOS roll chart, and digged up a new thumb wheel. It seems to me, the later roll charts are simply too big, and these roll not smooth for that reason. For making it an accurate tool for daily use, there was a lot to do stil.

The 750 is a refurbished 532, and Hickok tried to replace the 539C by it. My opinion is, the 750 is one of the best Hickoks there is, and more useful than the overhyped 539C. More about this later.

What is really nice with the 750, it features an adjustable DC voltage of 200V, 100mA. I found both my 750's can not supply full current and full voltage simultaneously, so that must be how they are. When exchanging the 83 rectifier for an 83V, maximum currents exceeds even 100mA, while the micromho readings don't get affected. Perhaps I will change this later, but I think this is going to take some exchange of other components too. At least I need to check this better, and for the moment I will leave it as is. The voltage option lets you test stabilizer tubes, but you can do also other things with it, as you like. If you don't know how to do that, it's better only to test things as indicated on the roll chart. Later on in this article, I will show you how to repeat Funke W19 tests with it. You do need a copy of the W19 test cards.

The 750 differs from the testers like 533 and 534 because it works with different AC test signals, instead of a fixed signal. It has this in common with the 539 series. This allows testing of tubes with very high gain, so no overdrive will occur. This makes a 30.000 micromho scale possible.

They put back in the load test in the 750, which the 539C is missing. I think it was a mistake, to remove that with the 539C. The latter can only measure Transconductance, no load test is done. Also you can't compare the transconductance you measure with the 539C with your tube book, because the plate voltage of the 539C is too low, and simply wrong for most tubes. Next is, the roll chart data of the 539C is lower than for a new tube. That was done to give you a way to pick out the bad tubes, because in the end that's what people want. So Hickok put a non-standard roll chart in the 539C, with lower values than normal. So they printed the reject value on the 539C roll chart, not the "new tube" value. (of course you 539C users, you all know that... hehe). This makes I don't like the 539 so much. To to stop the confusion, Hickok put back in the load test in the 750, and also give standard tube data on the 750 roll chart, same as with older (normal) testers. That was a good decision.

I never found any documentation about how this load (English) test is really done. The word "English" suggest the AVO method, like in the Mk2...4, and CT160. I will check that later, with an oscilloscope. The oldest tester I have, using the AVO so called "patented" method, is.... a German military tester that I estimate from 1938. For the moment let's trust Hickoks experience, giving us the correct "English" dial setting for each tube. Somebody in Cleveland Ohio (where this tester was made..) must have had a huge cabinet full of good and bad tubes, and just tried out the right settings. The roll chart is the software of the tester, so to say.

( I know it was done like this from the book of Harvey "Gizmo" Rosenberg, who described the work of Julius Futterman. Before the war, Julius used to work for a company building tube testers, and tube manufacturers would send him all kind of tubes, to update the roll charts)

Now go to the restoration page of this tester. There were many things to do....

WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH THE 750 AND WHAT IS NOT IN THE MANUAL:

1) FUNKE W19 simulation. Here is something really new. With the 750 it is possible to do the Funke W19 tests with your Hickok 750. All you need is the famous Funke Blue book, which costs you about 30..80 Euro, and a copy of the card set which is on Ebay for 15 Euro. The Funke W19 is extremely popular in Europe, a top model, but it is completely ignored in the English speaking territories, except Asia who love the W19 also. Now don't ask me why that is, but this is where we are. The W19 is mainly an Emission tester, but boy.. it is such a good one. Test results are undisputable. This tester proves what a good Emission Tester can look like. It is at the level of the better Hickoks, in terms or reliability, accuracy and correct test results. So if you have a Hickok 750 (or 539), read here is how to do Funke W19 tests on it!

2) Forward voltage of rectifier tubes. This is of particular use in the laboratory. If you don't know much about tubes, and only want a quick result, you should use the classical test a by the roll chart.

Example: The 80 rectifier to my experience should have a forward voltage of 25..40 Volts at 60mA to be good. Where 25V rarely happens, and above 45 the "bad" range begins. Also note what it does at lower filament voltage. A good rectifier does not significantly change it's forward voltage if you do so. On the other hand, if the forward voltage is higher than normal, and you set the filament voltage one click higher, and the tube significantly improves by this, the tube is worn out. You can try to ge those results in-line with the classical test as on the roll chart. To do this test, just set up the tube from the roll chart first. Then set the "Adjustable Voltage" to zero, and the test know to position "H" for high. Flip the Vr-Mils switch to mils, and slowly increase the voltage until you see the milliamps go up. Check the forward voltage, this is when Vf begins. Then go on until you have 60mA and read the Vf now. Then do the other plate (switch setting is at the roll chart). You will see this is very easy to do, and you learn a lot about the tubes.

3) Forward voltage of Power Zener diodes. Same procedure as with tubes. Only you have to prepare an adapter this. Remove the base from an old octal tube, and connect two wires to plate and cathode. Take the connections for the VR105 tube. Make sure you don't reverse the Zener, and don't boost 100mA into a short circuited Zener, that is probably not so good for the tester. You will be surprised how bad solid state zeners actually are, they have high temperature drift, and bad load regulation compared to tubes like VR150 or VR105.

4) Continuity tester. This one is from the manual actually, but it's nice one. You can use the 750 as a continuity tester, when you set the "shorts" switch for position 4. Then put two probes in the "grid" and "plate" connections. Because the tester has an isolated chassis, this is of no danger. Then the neon lamp will burn, below 200K resistance. Nice for checking switches, connectors, etc.

Hickock I-177

This was my first tube tester. I have two of those. I bought the first one 15 years ago for 25 Euro in the same old electronics shop, where I bought my stuff when I was a kid. (Radio Kwakkelstein in Vlaardingen). Many years later he had a second one, that was broken and he still wanted 45 Euro for it. I took it for spare parts, but never needed any. The thing was made to last for ever, and work without maintenance in the humid and warm countries where the US army is going to save the world. So even if you find a stinky old one, it might be good still. It tests all tubes from before the Noval tubes. For later tubes there is an adapter kit, which by itself is a very valuable thing too, and this kit can be used on any other tester. I-177 is a really fantastic tester, it gives remarkable reliable results on the good/bad scale. They all need a calibration badly, if never done before. If this tester says the tube is "just ok" you can bet it that is just what it is. Most of all you get used to the reading when you test the same kind of tubes, and if you see a tube which is into as good as the other, you better throw that tube away. ( or sell it on Ebay (ahem....)

Basically this is THE Hickock tester for the pre-noval tubes. The later model was the TV7 , which could do also test Noval tubes.

The I-177 has an interesting way it operates, and this is worth a few lines here. They use their famous patented Hickok circuit, but in the I-177 they added a potentiometer which does noting else then change the meter sensitivity. The signal going to the meter has to pass an attenuator potentiometer. This is the "L" potentiometer. The result of that is, you can test any tube at all, and have a correct reading on the good/bad scale when you know the setting of that attenuator potentiometer. (Of course they knew that at Hickok, and this is the "L" value in the handbook). Since the good/bad readings are done by measuring true, dynamic Gm, there is also this particular position of that potentiometer where the Gm (micro mho) scale is valid. This position is marked with "gm" on the L Pot scale. So the good/bad reading and micro mho reading is done with the same circuit.

Their patented Gm measuring circuit is the best of it's kind as far as I know. Due to this patent all other manufacturers had to work without it.

It tests all known rectifiers. Also the big triodes like 300B can be tested, and as we know there are not many tube testers that can handle this tube. Not even all later model Hickoks can do a 300B. By experimenting with the settings I can now measure many unlisted tubes with it, like C3g and EM34. It's really a very nice tester, very much recommended. The circuit diagram is inside the tester on a plastic plate. (Fungus proof....), and an Excel list with all test data I found in the internet. These will all work in 100 years from now. They used to be cheap, and regardless useless. Some start to understand how good they are, and prices of those went up a lot over the last years. The bargain days are over, a good tube tester is expensive no matter what. I think these are still a good buy for the money.

Here is how to find out settings for an large size tube, like KT88 or so.

1. Find a tube with similar pin out. (that always exists)
2. Set the L pot to the middle position and Gm Sensitivity to 15.000
3. Set the Bias (R) pot for highest reading. Now rotate R clockwise, until you read 90% of maximum, and this is the bias setting. May be take a little less when the fuse lamps indicates a lot of current, and you think this is too much. The calibration comes in the next step.
4. Find the right Gm Sensitivity knob setting, so that the meter is nicely in the green. (somewhere)
5. Adjust the L pot until the tube is in the position of the good / bad scale where it belongs. So that is just in the green for a fairly used, "just ok" tube.
6. Now L + R + Sensitivity is a set of information that you must use in that combination. This is a relatively high bias, which is hardest for the tube. I verified some Hickok settings, this is how they seem to do it.
7. And that's it.
8. Here is the KT88 setting I found that way.

A=8 B=5 Fil=6.3 L=70 R=42, Socket E, Gm switch at 6000.

I have not yet tried this for small tubes, like ECC83, but there was no need also. The manual was complete so far.

In a few words: The best of this tester is the good/bad test. It discovers any potentially weak tube. Good buy when you use pre-war tubes. It can give the real Gm value of the tubes, and good/bad indication. It has no sockets for modern tubes. Use the MX949 adapter kit, and you can test any modern tube also. Make sure when you buy the adapter kit, you have the extended manual with it, otherwise you only have the adapter kit, but not the settings for it. They are all extremely out of calibration, so that needs to be done for 100% sure, unless the seller did it already for you. Steve Nolan has the complete manual as Excel file in the internet. (just Google for it)

METRIX-U61B / or U61 B

Somehow, this one does the same as the RPG375, but is deals with the negative points the RPG375 has. The Metrix U61B has no cards but many switches.  So it is more universal, and I find it quicker to use.  Also the internal voltages are electronically stabilized, so no readjusting of plate voltage when a tube draws more current. Also it has connections at the front plate for digital instruments.   Vacuum quality can be measured with tube testers like this very good.  For better measurements, this beautiful instrument  has a special connection to measure grid current directly, by connecting a nano-ampere meter to the tester. A great feature is the tube protector circuit. When the plate current meter is more than 25% above the maximum of the meter, the plate current will shut down, and you need to reset it. This is done with a very special, programmable current sensitive relay. So at each meter setting, it has another sensitivity. Another protection is when a tube has a short circuit, this will disconnect the whole tester from the mains, and a red indicator pin sticks out of the front panel, that you need to press back in, to switch on the tester again. This is a master piece. I use it for the very expensive and delicate tubes, like ECC803S etc., because of the plate current protection circuit. Also well suited for testing large numbers of tubes, Because of the protection circuits. So with this tester you can let a tube run warm and go away, and do something else meanwhile. When the tube starts to draw too much current, while you don't see it, the tester will shut down with a loud "clack". So you'll hear that and can check it. In a few words: Top class tester, when you are not too lazy to repair it sometimes.

Neuberger RPG375 from 1965

Their final model, and largest tube tester they ever made. The Neuberger company still exists. This is a parametric tester. Can measure vacuum, and show all parameters at the same time. Dynamic tests are made as difference of two measurements. I have this Neuberger 375 from the widow of the first owner, and it was said he never used it. The tester appeared fully unused indeed.

The meters are very good. They have strong damping, and not electrostatic.

All voltages + currents  can be measured at the same time. Some meters have more functions.  Connections are on the front for external instruments, but the build-in instruments appear to be incredible precise, so you don't need any external instruments. This is no quick tester for radio shops or TV Repair men. This is a full featured laboratory instrument.  It is card-based, but no need for using cards. When you want you can do all settings by hand, and there are standard banana connectors to all tube pins, and also current links to each tube pin. So you want to test for instance the leakge current with your digital meter? No problem, take out the link, and put the meter in.

If you know how to do it, you can also tap the plate voltages and other voltages, use it as a multiple power supply for lab experiments, with all voltages and currents adjustable, and with meters. So you have a 500V 100mA power supply too, and connections are simply on the main plug-in board, top left. (see the picture I used). The plate voltage is tube rectified with Telefunken tubes. These give natural protection against short circuit. So a short circuit will not blow the fuse or the tube under test, but uses the rectifier tubes as the current limiter.

It features the very nice Neuberger Rotational switch, before you test a tube, you can do leakage or shorts. This switch works the same as the Funke W19 or W20.

Inside you find top class instruments, finest resistors and electroncis, extremely well made, beautiful switches and controls. It is the absolute winner in terms of perfect construction, no other product comes near. Note the deck has no German on English words, only symbols. So any country, you can use it.

In a few words: This is a top laboratory product, when you have enough muscles to carry it. Disadvantage is the unstabilized voltages, and older type sockets are not available. However it is one of the few (or only?) testers that can do adjustable 500V @ 100mA. It can test all tubes from tiny fragile to big and heavy. The card system makes it fully universal, and SAFE. So you when have a test card, you can not do much wrong. If you want to test a 50Watt tube at 50 Watt, this is your tester. Price of 1500€ is fully justified.

Russian L3-3 from 1986

The L3-3 is the latest model, and it has silicon rectifiers in it, but all electronics is with tubes. The L3-2 is similar, but has many tube rectifiers inside.

This is one of the most amazing testers I know. When I bought them, the tube tester market was not so over hyped as it is now, and this tester was very unpopular.

When you use an old instrument, with power electronics it, you will know you need to repair it sometimes. Something breaks here, something is defective there, and it just belongs to daily use of an old instruments.

One L3-3 I have is NOS, means it was never used before, and that means often all capacitors are bad. The other one was used very often, and it was officially calibrated every year until 1999, which was the last calibration sticker on it. The NOS one stabilized perfectly after 100 hours, and the used one worked fine right out of the shipment box.

My L3 never needed never any repairs at all! Simply none. Only service, like a defective control lamp or a bad socket contact. All capacitors are still original. The rotational switch for the leakage current has ceramic decks, and are all shiny like new. In case you ever do need to repair it, you need to know this: First, you probably won't be able to read the Russian manual. Second, you don't need it at all. The schematic is very well drawn. They didn't try to to make "clever" schematics, but one that normal people (like me?) can understand, and it's all on one huge sheet of paper (size of 80cm). The the tester can open from all sides by means of perfect mechanical systems. Each wire is numbered, and the number is on each wire with a small sleeve. Third, the electronics function has no patented crazy circuits that nobody understand, like in all Hickocks. Instead you will find straight forward electronics, nicely arranged. It has printed circuits for the oscillator and the regulated power supplies, and free wiring for all "heavy" stuff. So anyone can understand it, when you understand a regulated power supply.

Detailed picture. I have two of those, so I can measure large numbers of tubes faster. While checking the readings on the one tester, the other one will warm up the next tube already. Like this I can work really quick. It is a fully programmable tester, by sticking pins in the pin board. All voltages internally stabilized, Max 300V, 100mA for the plate, and 2x 10mA for the other adjustable power supplies.    It features an internal 1600 Hz oscillator,  and a tube microampere tester with 2nA resolution (0,000000002 Ampere!). For perfect leakage measurements, the heater to cathode voltage can be programmed. Also the internal tube screen that separates double-triodes like some ECC....types, can be tested for leakage. The leakage current can be measured very precise, and also the voltage can be checked at what the leakage will start to begin. Tubes filaments can be heated with fixed voltage AC or fine adjustable DC.  Like in real amplifiers! 

A very special feature of this instrument is this: You can program an Single Ended circuit for the tube under test, choose a the power supply capacitor for the rectifier, selectable a cathode resistors,  and the bypass capacitor. This is not the only circuit diagram feature. With an internal 1600 Hz (distortion free) oscillator you can test what the tube does, and make AC measurements. Wow! Can you imagine what a machine this is? It took me 3 weeks to understand most of it. It is constructed with printed circuit boards. Most of the electronics is with tubes, and some solid state components. This is the most versatile, and most precise tester I have seen so far.  I was lucky to buy one 1986 model NOS. I am the first user of it. Most calibrations can be done on the front panel, using the front panel meter. It can work on any mains voltage from 100...380Volt, and even 400Hz mains as used on ships and airplanes is possible. There is nothing you can NOT do with it. 

Disadvantage: You need to make your own test cards, Because it is supplied with a set of useless test cards for Russian tubes that you will never use. You should use those cards however to find out how to do it. So many special measurements can be done. Some tubes like 6L6 or 6SN7 are included, but most of the supplied cards are useless, and most of the audio tubes are missing. However, any card can be made, with any circuit you like. So once you have managed to make a good test card for an ECC81, you can easily construct all similar cards from this. I found some of the original cards are not constructed fully logical. For instance they often program a 6Volt tube with an adjustable 3...15 Volt filament. So you can burn the filament by mistake. I made my own cards, that set the 6Volts filaments for an adjustable 3...7 Volts. 

In a few words: Amongst the top-ten testers, and not at the last position.

Superior Instruments TV10

This is a nice Emission Tester. It looks like an antique piece, but it is better than may other "later" types. Tube testes of this kind have some advantages and some disadvantages. Many Emission Testers were made and are still around. When you buy one of those, you can have one which is nice and pleasant to use, or have one that is inconvenient, and only "so so" with the results you get from it.

The advantage is easy of operation, low cost, a great many were made, and not much can be broken inside. When buying an emission tester, and you want one that is useful, pay attention to this:

1. You need a mains adapter knob, so you can calibrate it for the right mains voltage before making a measurement. You will see that with an emission tester, already smallest changes on the mains voltage give a big reading difference. Take a Variac and try it! So if this knob is missing, you have a tester that the makers did not care so much about precision.
2. Make sure the switch panel in the middle has the easy flip switches as with this one. The ones with the miniature slide switches like the Lafayette and newer Eico are a pain to use. You have to set the switches before each measurement, and for the leakage and shorts test you need to test each tube pin one by one, by sliding up and down each miniature switch, which is really nasty to do. So if you can quickly flip them as with this one here, it's what you need.
3. A tester with a build in roll chart is better than one with a manual. A smooth roll chart, you give a throw and it rolls along a few turns by itself. They fool you on Ebay with that. When you need to push the roll chart, and it moves only one inch at a time... beware it is a very long roll of paper! This is hard to fix, and in the end the paper will tear and break. You may need a new NOS paper roll, and that's really hard to get.
4. The leakage test must correctly indicate leakage with the intensity of the lamp. That is done by defining a certain leakage where the lams begins to burn. So the beginning of the glow (faint light) must be at 300...400k Ohms leakage, nothing else. When the lamp only indicates shorts, that's useless. Old tubes have no shorts, but they do have leakage. To test that, just stick in a 400k resistor at two random pins, and then try to find that leakage.
5. The transformer must not be underrated. If the tester you want to buy is very tiny and thin, the transformer is probably underrated. Why does matter? It means you can not continuously test the tubes, and such a tester will have a "test" button. This TV10 has no such "Test" button. It has a test switch. So the TV10 can test a tube continuously, and heat it up while doing so, for instance for 10 minutes if you want it.
6. Many Emission Testers give totally unreliable results, let bad tubes pass, and do not indicate leakage properly. Verify that with tubes that you know to have some specific defects.
7. Make sure it has enough old type sockets.

TV10 has the same schematic, only TV11 has a solid state diode and an output for noise tests.

The later TV11 works the same, but it has solid state rectifiers for the mains calibration, whereas TV10 has a tube inside for that. Some later TV10 have Selenium cells build into the meter, making it a pre-version of the TV11. It is recommended to check all resistors, and replace them with new ones when deviation is more than 5%.

Conclusion:

Superior Instruments made very good products, this tester will do all of the above. Though it's a very old type, it's a good tester still. I was amazed to see it gives CORRECT readings for a good 300B and known to be weak 300B. Honestly... very few testers can do that, no matter how expensive. Most Hickoks don't even have 300B on the roll chart, because they can't test them.

Here is some more information about it