On 19/01/2016 11:18 AM, John Heath wrote:
On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 11:59:22 PM UTC-5, Phil Allison
wrote:
Trevor Wilson wrote:


** The VCM163 ( Valve Characteristic Meter) is oddball among
valve testers, uses only AC voltages for ALL supplies -
plates, screens and grids !!

http://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/tub...principle.html




Expensive too, working examples go on Ebay for up to $3000.


**The transformers inside the thing are amazing things. They
would be very expensive to produce today. Mind-numbing numbers
of taps.



** However, the VCM163 is a VERY clever device, which could be
done more cleverly today. That said, it is very convenient and
it operating within specification. Except for the transformer
switching, it is a very simple device at it's core.


** Full article and internal pics he

http://schmid-mainz.de/Radio-Bygones_140.pdf

One of the C-Core transformers is used with a half wave load, which
could make it growl a bit and get hot after a while.

BTW:

Can it be used with valves that have anode caps ?

Like the 6CM5, 6DQ6B, 807, 300B and 6146 types.


.... Phil

That looks to be a very well built tube tester.

**It's better than "well built".


Leave it to England
to raise the bar , Britannia rules the waves and all that. I suspect
it comes with a plug in anode top cap lead. Someone on ebay is
selling one for 57 eur. Who in their right mind would pay that much
for a piece of wire ??

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/AVO-CT160-and...-/331110707340



**LOL. It's still probably less than what AVO used to sell them for.

--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au

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