t***@myshop.com
2019-01-03 22:54:39 UTC
What company made the best vintage Test Equipment?
My personal opinion is Eico. Some Heathkit was not bad too.
Another favorite, is Paco, but that is only based on one piece of test
gear, which is an signal tracer. Paco stuff is rare and hard to find.
That Paco tracer is very similar to an Eico tracer. So much similar, I
kind of wonder if the same company made it????
I mostly collect EICO test equipment though. Back in the day, they had
the biggest variety and made very sturdy and reliable gear. Amazingly,
most of that stuff still works when I buy it. Aside from replacing
line cords quite often, I recap it, spray contacts and pots, and use it.
Of course many of these devices did not have Capacitors. They had
Condensers, and those never went bad...... <LOL>
So, the next time someone tells you to recap a piece of vintage
electronics, check the schematic, and I'll bet at least half of them
use the word "Condenser". So, of course you have to mess with the
person who asked if you changed the caps, and tell them there are
none. That ought to start a "war of words".... :)
Anyhow, what are your favorite vintage testers?
(I am only referring to tube based testers)
By the way, I do almost all my repairs using that old test gear. My
only modern test gear is a Sencore scope, a frequency counter, and a
few multimeters.
One question I have never been able to answer, is why many Eico testers
came with both blue and silver faces? (Same model numbers). Does anyone
know? I have often wondered if the KIT version was one color and the
FINISHED ones were the other color? (Just a guess).
My personal opinion is Eico. Some Heathkit was not bad too.
Another favorite, is Paco, but that is only based on one piece of test
gear, which is an signal tracer. Paco stuff is rare and hard to find.
That Paco tracer is very similar to an Eico tracer. So much similar, I
kind of wonder if the same company made it????
I mostly collect EICO test equipment though. Back in the day, they had
the biggest variety and made very sturdy and reliable gear. Amazingly,
most of that stuff still works when I buy it. Aside from replacing
line cords quite often, I recap it, spray contacts and pots, and use it.
Of course many of these devices did not have Capacitors. They had
Condensers, and those never went bad...... <LOL>
So, the next time someone tells you to recap a piece of vintage
electronics, check the schematic, and I'll bet at least half of them
use the word "Condenser". So, of course you have to mess with the
person who asked if you changed the caps, and tell them there are
none. That ought to start a "war of words".... :)
Anyhow, what are your favorite vintage testers?
(I am only referring to tube based testers)
By the way, I do almost all my repairs using that old test gear. My
only modern test gear is a Sencore scope, a frequency counter, and a
few multimeters.
One question I have never been able to answer, is why many Eico testers
came with both blue and silver faces? (Same model numbers). Does anyone
know? I have often wondered if the KIT version was one color and the
FINISHED ones were the other color? (Just a guess).