I recently bought a 1935 and a 1959 General Radio equipment catalog. I
am absolutely fascinated by the old test equipment, and want to learn
how it is used, and what it is used for. I have found inexpensive
versions of an impedence bridge and signal tracer to practice on, but
need to start somewhere. Is there a recommended text that can help a
non-engineer get up to speed on these? Something like a technicians
text book that steps through the theory and practice from a pretty
basic level, without going deep into the theory by itself?

All replies appreciated. Thanks.

(Eventually I want to have a radio and electronics hobby workshop, and
get my license.)

If I recall, there was a book on the basic use of test equipment of the
ilk you're talking about. It may have been a TAB(TM)series book. They
went into scopes, signal generators, tracers, grid-dip meters, and the
like, at a very basic level. If no-joy with that, HP had/has a series of
technical notes that discuss what you're looking for, albeit at maybe a
bit higher level. The HP issuances contain general/generic information,
but as you'd imagine, do reference appropriate HP test sets. Also,
there are books on basic troubleshooting. I'm sure they reference the
required support equipment, too.

zeitguy wrote:
I recently bought a 1935 and a 1959 General Radio equipment catalog. I
am absolutely fascinated by the old test equipment, and want to learn
how it is used, and what it is used for. I have found inexpensive
versions of an impedence bridge and signal tracer to practice on, but
need to start somewhere. Is there a recommended text that can help a
non-engineer get up to speed on these? Something like a technicians
text book that steps through the theory and practice from a pretty
basic level, without going deep into the theory by itself?

All replies appreciated. Thanks.

(Eventually I want to have a radio and electronics hobby workshop, and
get my license.)

There are also books which cover individual peices of test equipment - such
as Oscilloscopes. They can be found on E-Bay for various prices and also at
hamgest and some flea-markets - often for as little as a dime to as much as
say $1 each. Titles such as "101 ways to use an Oscilloscope", 101 ways to
use a Signal Generator", "101 ways to use a VOM"..... there may be one for
the VTVM also, but you'll get the idea........ They give many instances of
use.
I've got a few of them in my reference library from years back. I'm not sure
how deep you want to get into electronics, but an understanding of it would
certainly be a boost. Sad to say - even with a license, today - that isn't
much help. WHY? Because the license manuals today give you the answers to
questions - most people tend to just memorize the answers. The answers given
in the text are often not enough to explain the concept. They don't go into
enough detail to really be of any help. A good electronics text would serve
you better. Just my two cents - and I am an examiner for both Amateur and
Commercial exams.
You've taken a good first step asking here for advice. You'll get lots of
it, but in the end, you'll come away with a vast knowledge of things
compared to what you may have now. Good luck.

clf


"K3HVG" wrote in message
...
If I recall, there was a book on the basic use of test equipment of the
ilk you're talking about. It may have been a TAB(TM)series book. They
went into scopes, signal generators, tracers, grid-dip meters, and the
like, at a very basic level. If no-joy with that, HP had/has a series of
technical notes that discuss what you're looking for, albeit at maybe a
bit higher level. The HP issuances contain general/generic information,
but as you'd imagine, do reference appropriate HP test sets. Also, there
are books on basic troubleshooting. I'm sure they reference the required
support equipment, too.

zeitguy wrote:
I recently bought a 1935 and a 1959 General Radio equipment catalog. I
am absolutely fascinated by the old test equipment, and want to learn
how it is used, and what it is used for. I have found inexpensive
versions of an impedence bridge and signal tracer to practice on, but
need to start somewhere. Is there a recommended text that can help a
non-engineer get up to speed on these? Something like a technicians
text book that steps through the theory and practice from a pretty
basic level, without going deep into the theory by itself?

All replies appreciated. Thanks.

(Eventually I want to have a radio and electronics hobby workshop, and
get my license.)

Hi,

You should search out a copy of "Basic Electronic Test Instruments:
Their Operation and Use" by Rufus P. Turner (Rinehart books, 1953)

Turner was a wonderful technical writer and this book is a gem.
It consists of discussions of basic categories of test equipment,
followed by build-it-yourself projects illustrating the concepts.
Many early Heathkit test instruments are also described,
with complete schematics. The test equipment described
runs the gamut from d.c. voltmeters to a build-it-yourself Q meter
for testing coils. His chapter on bridges is especially good.

I have a 1930's vintage General Radio type 650A impedance bridge,
in its sloping wooden cabinet - a thing of beauty.

The "ARRL Radio Amateur's Handbook", published annually, is a good
place to start your studies. Any edition from the early 1950's
will have plenty of information on vintage test equipment
and methods. These ARRL Handbooks are available cheap on eBay.

Regards,
Ed Knobloch

zeitguy wrote:
I recently bought a 1935 and a 1959 General Radio equipment catalog. I
am absolutely fascinated by the old test equipment, and want to learn
how it is used, and what it is used for. I have found inexpensive
versions of an impedence bridge and signal tracer to practice on, but
need to start somewhere. Is there a recommended text that can help a
non-engineer get up to speed on these? Something like a technicians
text book that steps through the theory and practice from a pretty
basic level, without going deep into the theory by itself?

All replies appreciated. Thanks.

(Eventually I want to have a radio and electronics hobby workshop, and
get my license.)

I found Turner's book on ABE and ordered it yesterday, after choosing
among several other possible texts. Turner seems the best chance,
although I got a 1940 or 43 edition, I think I will still have plenty
of grist for the mill, as it were.

The GR 650A was the first GR product I saw on Ebay, and even though I
don't really know what it does, it lured me into this whole fascinating
area. I had to settle for a nice Heathkit '50s Impedance Bridge, and a
Superior Instruments Signal Tracer and CR Bridge, as my first
inexpensive tools, since the GR items were bidding up over $100 apiece,
which is too steep for a whim.

I will look for the vintage ARRL, also. That is also a great tip,
thanks.

I found a recent Tektronix book on the A-Z of Oscilloscopes which was
written at the appropriate level, but it talked mostly about the new
digital technology. I have HP documents on the digital VOM I found,
which are almost incomprehensible to me. So I know what you mean. I
also have found a lot of value in the older TAB series.

The items I am interested in are pre-IC, for the most part. I want to
see the pieces of the toy I am playing with. The oscilloscope I found
is a Tektronix 585a, with 78 tubes and every single component is hand
soldered on ceramic strips. It seems to work, after I cleaned it up a
bit and learned enough to jump the Cal Out to the input on the dual
trace module to watch the square wave. But it also seems to drop out
or not respond consistently, and I don't know any where near enough to
go beyond watching the cal out trace at the moment. I can't wait to
probe my first radio circuit when I am reasonably sure I know enough to
not get electrocuted.

Thanks for the reply.

Thanks for the tip. I have a note about a power supply mod that might
need to be made, too. Is deoxit the same as contact cleaner? I bought
a can of that two years ago for the old synthesizer I am trying to get
working again. I am going to go through and clean all the tube
contacts this weekend. I even found an old tube-remover tool, it looks
like a kitchen tongs with rubberized tips. Hope to be able to afford a
tube tester soon, but they seem to be over $50 if they are any good at
all, and the prices are rising on ebay by the week.

What do you look for in a tube tester for this era of equipment?

I have a paperback copy of this on my shelf:

"How to Test Almost Everything Electronic," by Delton Horn.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/083...lance&n=283155

It won't delve into obscure mysteries of vintage tube equipment, but it does
give an overview of how to use many test instruments.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

My 2 cents on tube testers is that they are marginally useful for everyday
work unless you are heavily into restoration. I have restored many tube
radios, and a dozen or so tube TVs. I own several tube testers, basically
because I like old test equipment. But in the everyday world, they are only
used to quickly test for dud/very weak tubes when I get in a new item.

You can test for duds by measuring continuity between the tube's filament
pins with an ohmmeter. If you don't have a tube manual, you can look up the
tube's basing diagram (i.e., pinout) at http://www.nostalgiaair.org/Tubes/ .

For many consumer radios, a tube that tests "maybe" on even a cheap
emission-type tester will still work just fine. Why? Because those radios
were made with wide design tolerances, and many of them weren't that
demanding in the first place. If you replace that "maybe" tube with a
brand-new one that tests "A-1" on a $1000 tester, the radio may work exactly
the same as before. The only difference is that you have wasted money buying
a tube you didn't need.

Some circuits in TVs and complex boatanchors will be more fussy about a
tube's performance, but it sounds like you're not at the level of worrying
about such things.

The best test for any tube is to try it in an actual working circuit doing
the job for which it was designed. If you have some working restored radios
in the house, and one of them happens to use tube type whatever,
substitute your suspect tube type whatever in the right socket and turn on
the radio. If the radio works, the tube is good.

Conversely, if you have a stock of known-good tubes, you can pop a type
whatever tube into the right socket in your suspect device and see whether
anything changes. If it magically improves, then your old whatever tube
was a major problem. (This won't reveal other/multiple problems, of course.)

If you want to spend several hundred $$ for a top-end tube tester, it's your
money. Keep in mind that old test equipment will always need restoration
(recapping, cleaning controls, etc.), like everything else of that vintage.
Plus, it may require calibration and expertise beyond simple parts
replacement. If you don't already have a lot of equipment and experience,
that could put you in a chicken-and-egg situation. Uh-oh, I need to buy
another (reliable) tester to test things on the (probably unreliable) tester
.. . . .

Have fun.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

I am getting the message...

Tube testing is down the list of priorities. Simply getting the old
stuff cleaned up and understanding what is working and what isn't is
going to take a while.