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Fred McKenzie

In article ,
wrote:

How valuable is a tube tester for
someone who is only, or mainly, going to be messing with audio gear
and the gear for testing audio gear.

If you will be repairing anything with vacuum tubes, then you need a
tube tester. I suggest a mutual conductance tester. Mine is a Jackson
model 648. It has a built-in scroll of setting information for many
older tubes.

You will occasionally find these on E-Bay or at a Hamfest.

I suppose I could always get a more sophisticated tester that needs
repair but then I would need to learn how to repair it and calibrate
it.

I don't think they are that complicated. Just a simple circuit with a
BUNCH of switches and tube sockets wired together. The meter is marked
in percent, so you can see how relatively good your tube is.

At some Hamfests, I've seen "calibration tubes" that you could use to
check your 100 percent adjustment. I never worried about mine, since I
just want to know if a tube is relatively good. Suppose it is only
reading 75 percent. That is still a useable tube if you don't have a
replacement.

Fred