What am I looking for? CRT tester/rejuvenator and tube test?

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Anyone familiar with the matter, what is the best tube tester model ever made? I am looking for a device that will cover all tubes 30's to the 90's.

and I'm looking for a CRT tester with a rejuvenate function, with adapters, what models am I looking at? something that will cover vintage roundies 1958 up to 2005. black/w and color.
 
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i have used a b&k 467 the longest.
wont do electrostatic crt like 7jp4.
but will test/rejuve everything else.
i have a few extras and can let one go.
pm if interested.
as for testing receiving tubes my jackson 648s has done well.
watch and you might snag one around $100 working.
i even figured out how to test 811/572b transmitting triodes with mine.
 
I restore antique radios and tube amps. Eico and few others made decent tube testers. Hickok testers were the better ones because they could test transconductance and not just emission. They fetch a high price though, because they are desirable and scarce. If you look for one, look for the ones that have toggle switches to configure the socket pins as they tend to be more universal. I had one once that just had several identical sockets and you look up which socket to plug the tube in. It was not a good one, some tubes showed short circuits because the socket called out wasn't correct. I have an Eico 625 right now, it's decent and it was a fairly popular model.

Haven't dabbled in CRT rejuvenators though. I've repaired tube televisions but I don't like working on them.
 
The best tube tester for you is one that will do what you need it to do. I have several tube testers ranging from a basic EMC emission tester that I built back in the sixties to a Hickok 539 B which is at the top end of tube testers. My tester of choice for most things is my BK 707 or Hickok 600A. If you are planning on repairing really old equipment, then something like an Eico 625, Jackson 648 or Hickok 600A at the upper end and more expensive or something in the lower end like some of the Heathkit or Eico emission only testers will work. As far as a crt tester, I use a Heathkit that I built years ago, but companies such as BK, Sencore etc. built testers for the commercial market and are available at swapmeets or EBAY. The choice is yours on testers.
 
I have a collection of old tube and early transistor radios. I imagine to have about 150 of them. I repair them and add to my collection. I also worked at Motorola's consumer electronics division for 10 years before opening my own business until boredom set in at doing that. Each chassis had the same issues so depending on that, I already knew the problem. That is what I mean about boredom.
I remember having good sucess with a Sencore tester / rejuvenator and with the B&K as both.were good.














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I don't find tube testers to be very useful.

You can put a bunch of tubes on a tester and measure and group for gm, then put the same tubes in circuit and measure for distortion, or some other parameter, and find that they're all over the place. Put the tube in the circuit and measure the performance of the circuit; that's really the only reliable test.

I still have a TV-7/D because they have become so valuable, but I rarely use it - I gave my other testers away.
 
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