Hi all,
Very much a beginner here still. Starting to get my sea legs a little but only a fraction. Still excited to learn so much more. I found these older testing units for next to nothing from a local seller and decided to pick them all up in one go.
Are any of these worth keeping or can modern equipment handle all of this already? I was going to upload pictures of these but it doesn’t seem like that’s possible so the info is below.
NOTE – My current equipment setup is:
- Triplett Model 630 VOM
- Tektronix 2246 100 MHz Oscilloscope
- BK Precision 4003A Function Generator
- BK Precision 1653 AC Power Supply (w/ built in isolation transformer)
- DER EE DE-5000 LCR Meter
- Fluke 115
- Heathkit – IT-11 – Capacitor Checker
Stuff I picked up this past weekend:
- Bell System – KS-14510-L5 – Volt-Ohm Meter (I actually already have an analog VOM, Triplett Model 630, so I’ll probably just sell this one)
- Sencore Model TDC22 – Transistor Crystal Diode Checker w/ original instruction booklet
- Eico 955 – Capacitor Checker
- Eico 378 – Audio Generator
- GE Ammeter – Not sure if there is a model on this one
- Accurate Instrument Co., Inc – Model 153 – Signal Generator & Tracer
- Simpson – Model 383-A – Capacohmeter (this one was modified by one of the previous owners. Looks like the original dial broke and they put in some sort of replacement dial)
- Three of these: GW (Instek) – GDM-8135 – Digital Multimeters
@larry_n7luf Great idea. Here’s a link to an album I created. These are certainly fun to look at. Quite clean from what I can tell.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1en48V3AMqiqe6ND8
If they work or need work they are quite useful. Every one of them.
@roc-rizzo thanks! I’m more wondering if they do things that the tools I already have already do. I don’t want to keep equipment that I don’t need.
@amrench well as far as I’m concerned, you can’t have too many multimeters, and the Eico cap checker is a great tool, and should be serviceable. I remember when they sold everything as kits, and I lived around the corner from the factory in Brooklyn, but I babble. Everything that Eico made was good, and serviceable.
A few thoughts:
The IT-11 is a somewhat sought after piece, I just got an IT-28 (similar model) for restoration. They go for $200-$300 on eBay and are generally more popular than other Heathkit models. They aren’t super accurate for measuring R, L and C values, but they do a decent job of testing for leakage (if you haven’t built Mr. C’s leakage tester yet). They also have a toggle switch that remains on for the leakage test that some people swear by for reforming old capacitors, and measure at higher voltages than the older units. Mr. C has one, and did a vid on it, extolling its virtues.
Analog meters can be useful for looking at varying voltages/currents and setting a max or min, digital meters are harder to read for this.
In general, a sine wave is still a sine wave, so if you don’t have a sine wave generator already these old units can generate nice signals, although the calibration might be off and they won’t be as accurate as a modern digital synthesized generator.
Decent analog oscilloscopes can still be very useful, and an older scope might have higher bandwidth than you can reasonably afford new. The storage/digital scopes that started appearing in the 90s are really good these days but were a little ropey to start off with – I just got a new Rigol DHO814 but I’m still in the market for a restored calibrated Tek 2465B to cover both bases.
Hope this helps!
That is a amazing list of stuff check the batteries of course
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