05-22-2014, 01:04 PM
I agree with K7Sparky's prioritized list.
I have the first four and can do just about anything I need to do in regards to tube radios with that equipment.
Again, even a cheap DMM is plenty accurate enough. A more expensive model will also have useful features for doing things like measuring capacitors, signal frequency, etc.
Get a decent soldering set up. I have found that older solder sometimes needs more heat than a little 15 watt soldering pencil will give you. Having a soldering iron with adjustable temperature control is ideal.
My oscilloscope cost $50 on Fleabay. It is an old 50 mHz dual-trace basic Tektronix. Some people freak out over all the knobs and dials, but they are actually pretty easy to use once you get it set up for what you're trying to do. If you ever have a dead receiver and no visibly roasted parts, it can make finding a bad component quite easy. Good in, bad out = problem found.
Even a cheapie signal generator is good enough to align an AM radio. I have an old Heathkit SG-8 sig gen that cost $35. I recapped and it works just fine. I actually didn't need to re-cap it to make it work, but I figured an ounce of prevention, etc. I tested it with a frequency counter, and it's close enough for government work.
I have the first four and can do just about anything I need to do in regards to tube radios with that equipment.
Again, even a cheap DMM is plenty accurate enough. A more expensive model will also have useful features for doing things like measuring capacitors, signal frequency, etc.
Get a decent soldering set up. I have found that older solder sometimes needs more heat than a little 15 watt soldering pencil will give you. Having a soldering iron with adjustable temperature control is ideal.
My oscilloscope cost $50 on Fleabay. It is an old 50 mHz dual-trace basic Tektronix. Some people freak out over all the knobs and dials, but they are actually pretty easy to use once you get it set up for what you're trying to do. If you ever have a dead receiver and no visibly roasted parts, it can make finding a bad component quite easy. Good in, bad out = problem found.
Even a cheapie signal generator is good enough to align an AM radio. I have an old Heathkit SG-8 sig gen that cost $35. I recapped and it works just fine. I actually didn't need to re-cap it to make it work, but I figured an ounce of prevention, etc. I tested it with a frequency counter, and it's close enough for government work.
It's not how bad you mess up, it's how well you can recover.
