[AMRadio] testing transmitter tubes

[Mel Farrer]

Well, this old ham does it a little differently.  First off, I don't like to let the smoke out.  Second there is a better way to check out an unknown tube without all of the stress.  If you don't mind, here goes.

1.  Use an ohm meter and check for any obvious shorts that should not be there.
2.  Gently tip the tube over and lightly, lightly I said, tap it with a pencil and look for any parts that should be attached to something.
3.  Use the reactivation method of checking the tube out as a diode and compare it to a known good one.
4.  If you pass all of the above, plug it in and try it, at the lowest power level and then work your way up.  Please give it some time to degas any accumulated bad stuff without HV on.

This method has the least amount of stress on both the tube and the operator, hi.

Hope I didn't bore anyone too much.

Mel, K6KBE

--- On Mon, 5/7/12, Bernie Doran <qedconsultants at embarqmail.com> wrote:

From: Bernie Doran <qedconsultants at embarqmail.com>
Subject: Re: [AMRadio] testing transmitter tubes
To: "Discussion of AM Radio in the Amateur Service" <amradio at mailman.qth.net>
Date: Monday, May 7, 2012, 2:54 PM

this seemed pretty worthless, just plug it in and use reduced and current 
limited plate voltage.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nick England" <navy.radio at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of AM Radio in the Amateur Service" 
<amradio at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 4:50 PM
Subject: [AMRadio] testing transmitter tubes


> Howdy gang - I just came across an interesting publication - one
> chapter of the GE SSB book is all about how to test transmitting tubes
> (other than sticking them in your rig and watching for smoke...)
> http://n4trb.com/AmateurRadio/GE_HamNews/Sideband_Handbook/Sideband_Handbook_09.pdf
>
> Thanks to N4TRB, the rest of the GE book (and much more) is at
> http://n4trb.com/AmateurRadio/HamDocs.htm
>
> cheers,
> Nick K4NYW
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