Test Equipment

Test Equipment

From vacuum-tube testers to spectrum analyzers and everything in between — owned, in service, on the bench. Deep-dive volumes coming as instruments work their way through the queue.

Multimeters

Simpson 260 Series 8 The Simpson 260 is the iconic American analog VOM — in continuous production from 1936 (the original 260) through the early 2000s (Series 8 …
Owned · Active deep-dive target Vintage VOM (Series 8 is the late-production revision of Simpson's 260 line — produced from the 1980s into the early 2000s; the 260 itself dates to 1936) Deep dive coming

Power supplies

Heathkit IP-32 HV Power Supply The IP-32 is Heathkit's late-1960s regulated tube-circuit lab supply: simultaneous 0–400 V B+ (~100 mA), 6.3 V AC filament (4 A), and –100 V…
Owned · Active deep-dive target Vintage Heathkit (~1968 — solid-state regulated HV bench supply, replaced the earlier IP-17) Deep dive coming
Heathkit SP-2717A HVPS Heathkit SP-2717A is the higher-current sibling of the [IP-32](../Heathkit%20IP-32%20HV%20Power%20Supply/CLAUDE.md): same architecture (seri…
Owned · Active deep-dive target Vintage Heathkit (~1970s — higher-current variant of the IP-32 family) Deep dive coming

Signal tracers

PACO Z-80 Audio-RF Signal Tracer PACO's Z-80 is a classic audio + RF signal tracer for tube-era radio and TV servicing. Two probes — an RF/IF demodulator probe and an audio …
Owned · Active deep-dive target Vintage (~1950s–60s — Precision Apparatus Co. / PACO branded signal tracer for radio/TV service) Deep dive coming

Specialty test gear

Radio Shack 43-114 Telephone Tester The Radio Shack 43-114 is a budget POTS line tester for 2-wire analog phone lines. Useful for: verifying tip/ring polarity at a jack, confir…
Owned · Active deep-dive target Late vintage / consumer-tier (1980s–90s — POTS / 2-wire analog telephone line tester) Deep dive coming

Tube testers

Heathkit TT-1 Tube Tester The Heathkit TT-1 is Heathkit's flagship dynamic tube tester — a true mutual-conductance (Gm) tester rather than the simpler emission-style …
Owned · Active deep-dive target Vintage Heathkit (~1957–1965 — Heathkit's top-of-line mutual-conductance tube tester) Deep dive coming
Supreme Instruments 385 Automatic Tester The Supreme Instruments **Model 385 Automatic** is a 1930s-era emission tube tester from the Supreme Instruments Corp of Greenwood, Mississi…
Owned · Active deep-dive target Vintage (mid-1930s — pre-WWII tube tester, emission-style, with the famous Supreme 'Automatic' switch setup) Deep dive coming

Tube testers / curve tracers

eTracer The **eTracer** is Ronald Dekker's earlier DIY tube curve tracer — the design that evolved into the [uTracer3/6](../uTracer6/CLAUDE.md). It …
Owned · Active deep-dive target Modern DIY (2010s — original Dekker design; Dekker's later refinement is the [uTracer6](../uTracer6/CLAUDE.md)) Deep dive coming
uTracer6 The **uTracer6** is the current generation of Ronald Dekker's DIY tube curve tracer (the refined successor to the [eTracer](../eTracer/CLAUD…
Owned · Active deep-dive target Modern DIY (2020s — current generation of Dekker's tracer; the '6' suffix denotes the latest revision with extended Vp envelope and faster sampling) Deep dive coming

Variacs / autotransformers (bench infrastructure for tube and mains-powered work)

B&K 1653A Variac The B&K 1653A is the bench Variac used to **safely re-energize vintage tube gear** after long storage. 0–150 Vac output at up to 2 A, with b…
Owned · Active deep-dive target Modern (B&K's still-current 0–150 Vac, 2 A bench Variac with isolation transformer, GFCI, fused output, and analog metering) Deep dive coming

Voltmeters

B&K Dynamic 375 VTVM B&K's 375 is part of the 'Dynamic' VTVM line that succeeded the earlier all-tube 177 / 277. It provides the ~10 MΩ DC input impedance that t…
Owned · Active deep-dive target Vintage (1960s–70s solid-state VTVM era — bridging from true tube VTVMs into early FET-input designs) Deep dive coming
Simpson Model 311-2 VTVM Simpson's 311-2 is the bench VTVM counterpart to the [B&K 375](../B%26K%20Dynamic%20375%20VTVM/CLAUDE.md). Same role: ~11 MΩ DC input for tu…
Owned · Active deep-dive target Vintage VTVM (1960s — late-production all-tube or hybrid VTVM) Deep dive coming