31-10-2016, 01:15 PM
As Mike says, it's pretty obvious that traditional pass/fail can only give a crude and often erroneous indication of whether a given valve will work OK. Hence the need for something that can accurately characterise a valve. Obviously within limits, as neither traditional nor modern testers will explore the high power and high frequency aspects of a valve.
Been dithering on this for a long time. My need for a valve tester is driven more by curiosity than a pressing need to test valves. And possibly to weed out the duds in my stock. I happen to have a Taylor 45B that I've never used that could become the valve base panel for a uTester. Or might be better off selling it and building my own, espeically as I have a half built valve base panel inherited from a deceased friend.
Occasionally I've wondered about a fully patch and switch free valve tester with individual universal pin drivers. But it's lot to ask of a universal driver to do anything from a control grid to anode to wide range of heaters.
Been dithering on this for a long time. My need for a valve tester is driven more by curiosity than a pressing need to test valves. And possibly to weed out the duds in my stock. I happen to have a Taylor 45B that I've never used that could become the valve base panel for a uTester. Or might be better off selling it and building my own, espeically as I have a half built valve base panel inherited from a deceased friend.
Occasionally I've wondered about a fully patch and switch free valve tester with individual universal pin drivers. But it's lot to ask of a universal driver to do anything from a control grid to anode to wide range of heaters.
www.borinsky.co.uk Jeffrey Borinsky www.becg.tv
