Mr Carlson's mod of the capacitor and grid stop resistor does seem like a sensible one, and can be applied to the Eico units in a similar manner as well. "Other" mods should be done, as the Heathkit has NO protection fusing whatsoever ( How did Mr Carlson miss that ??) , and the 5 Amp fuse in the 147/147A only protects the wattage measuring function, leaving the amplifier/eye tube circuitry's transformer with a direct line connection , which could damaged/smoke it if overloaded by a power supply cap or severe tube filament short on the secondary side ( basically, it needs a smaller primary fuse added/connected just before that transformer, about a 1/2A Slo-Blow) Also a 5 Watt, 1Kohm power resistor for the B+ voltage divider circuit (is wired directly below the 3 section original Electrolytic can, generating quite a bit of heat and will cause premature aging and failure if not moved and maybe upgraded to a 10W resistor of similar value. Enjoyable comparison and info on your video, thank you for sharing!
Hi, I really like Eico products, I have the Eico 377 audio generator, the 147A tracer and the one I still continue using in my shop the 324 signal generator, these were in the day great pieces of test gear....
I agree, EICO were some of my favorites, too. If you haven't already seen them you might like to look at TTT187, 189, and 193 where I restored some EICO equipment from the 60's.
Yes I agree , I’ve been an Eico buyer since nigh school in 1958. Originally the kit building was the attraction and then cost effectiveness. In my job I had access to professional equipment. My uncle ran a very successful Radio Tv repair shop using mostly EICO equipment that he built. As the family children grew up he employed us in his business. I worked fir 75 cents an hour kit building for him. Uncle took on tough job chassis that other tech shops could not fix. He handed down to us his skills and knowledge. Advancement depended on each cousin who worked for him.some kids were more interested in the admin end of business end less concerned with technical. Uncle Dave operated his shop employing 50 people servicing appliances , Radio and TV. My current bench today consists of several pieces he owned that I restored. The business grew and expanded into other endeavors like computers, calibration and selling equipment. I paid my way through college fixing color TV’s , stereo and VCR’s.
If you had a choice , would you choose to buy a signal tracer or a good oscilloscope? While a signal tracer fascinates me , i cant see the purpose of one as I use my scope as my eyes into circuitry. Is the signal tracer more for amateur troubleshooters who don’t wholly grasp electronics theory or is there s something about the device I am missing ?
Great video. It is rather hard to find an affordable signal tracer. It was actually way easier for me to find 2 working 5mhz oscilloscopes for under $40 each
I recently was able to get a Goldstar 40MHz 'scope on an auction site for $40, $19 for the scope itself and $21 for shipping. The time base is a little off, but both channels work fine. :-)
I found an EICO 145 at a great price to restore and evaluate. Once its restored ill give it a try. I t doesn’t work out its aBay bound. I was looking for something different to restore . Im tired of radio and record players. Test equipment always appealed to me as restoration projects.
I work on tube radio as a hobby. I don't have signal tracer. How do you know what pins on a tube to probe? Can someone ruin a tracer if they accidently touched the B+ of a non rectifier tube?
If they are built properly. NO you can connect a tracer to any voltage rated lower then the probe caps rated voltage. "normaly 600+v". If you connect something to the probe it will simply will POP. until u remove it. AS FOR A SCOPE.
Generally you trace a signal between the coupling capacitors of the stages of a tube radio. Then you can actually see which pins of a tube to test on. It would be best if you have a schematic diagram of a particular radio to follow the point to point wiring. First test the radios tube pin voltages with a good multi-meter. It would be lucky or smart to have a VTVM to do this . Mark them down on a sheet of paper or a copy of the schematic. This will greatly improve your inspection of what goes where to avoid non signal path wiring. Also see the UA-cam video , Shocking! Vintage Equipment Safety.
First of all, you need to understand how the tube works, tubes have a high impedance so touching the probe to say the grid where the signal input is located, touching the probe to there will not hurt the probe, stay off of the plates where the high voltage is, good luck in this hobby, I to restore vintage electronics and we need to keep this hobby alive and well.....
I can trace a siganl through modern boards much faster with a tracer then a scope any day. Unless I place a sniffer on the scope I guess then its aboutthe same speed.
Mr Carlson's mod of the capacitor and grid stop resistor does seem like a sensible one, and can be applied to the Eico units in a similar manner as well. "Other" mods should be done, as the Heathkit has NO protection fusing whatsoever ( How did Mr Carlson miss that ??) , and the 5 Amp fuse in the 147/147A only protects the wattage measuring function, leaving the amplifier/eye tube circuitry's transformer with a direct line connection , which could damaged/smoke it if overloaded by a power supply cap or severe tube filament short on the secondary side ( basically, it needs a smaller primary fuse added/connected just before that transformer, about a 1/2A Slo-Blow) Also a 5 Watt, 1Kohm power resistor for the B+ voltage divider circuit (is wired directly below the 3 section original Electrolytic can, generating quite a bit of heat and will cause premature aging and failure if not moved and maybe upgraded to a 10W resistor of similar value. Enjoyable comparison and info on your video, thank you for sharing!
Hi, I really like Eico products, I have the Eico 377 audio generator, the 147A tracer and the one I still continue using in my shop the 324 signal generator, these were in the day great pieces of test gear....
I agree, EICO were some of my favorites, too. If you haven't already seen them you might like to look at TTT187, 189, and 193 where I restored some EICO equipment from the 60's.
Yes I agree , I’ve been an Eico buyer since nigh school in 1958. Originally the kit building was the attraction and then cost effectiveness. In my job I had access to professional equipment. My uncle ran a very successful Radio Tv repair shop using mostly EICO equipment that he built. As the family children grew up he employed us in his business. I worked fir 75 cents an hour kit building for him. Uncle took on tough job chassis that other tech shops could not fix. He handed down to us his skills and knowledge. Advancement depended on each cousin who worked for him.some kids were more interested in the admin end of business end less concerned with technical. Uncle Dave operated his shop employing 50 people servicing appliances , Radio and TV. My current bench today consists of several pieces he owned that I restored. The business grew and expanded into other endeavors like computers, calibration and selling equipment. I paid my way through college fixing color TV’s , stereo and VCR’s.
thx another old timer that we all can learn from.
If you had a choice , would you choose to buy a signal tracer or a good oscilloscope? While a signal tracer fascinates me , i cant see the purpose of one as I use my scope as my eyes into circuitry. Is the signal tracer more for amateur troubleshooters who don’t wholly grasp electronics theory or is there s something about the device I am missing ?
Great video. It is rather hard to find an affordable signal tracer. It was actually way easier for me to find 2 working 5mhz oscilloscopes for under $40 each
I recently was able to get a Goldstar 40MHz 'scope on an auction site for $40, $19 for the scope itself and $21 for shipping. The time base is a little off, but both channels work fine. :-)
I found an EICO 145 at a great price to restore and evaluate. Once its restored ill give it a try. I t doesn’t work out its aBay bound. I was looking for something different to restore . Im tired of radio and record players. Test equipment always appealed to me as restoration projects.
Nice video!
I work on tube radio as a hobby. I don't have signal tracer. How do you know what pins on a tube to probe? Can someone ruin a tracer if they accidently touched the B+ of a non rectifier tube?
If they are built properly. NO you can connect a tracer to any voltage rated lower then the probe caps rated voltage. "normaly 600+v".
If you connect something to the probe it will simply will POP. until u remove it.
AS FOR A SCOPE.
Generally you trace a signal between the coupling capacitors of the stages of a tube radio. Then you can actually see which pins of a tube to test on.
It would be best if you have a schematic diagram of a particular radio to follow the point to point wiring. First test the radios tube pin voltages with a good
multi-meter. It would be lucky or smart to have a VTVM to do this . Mark them down on a sheet of paper or a copy of the schematic. This will greatly improve your inspection of what goes where to avoid non signal path wiring. Also see the UA-cam video , Shocking! Vintage Equipment Safety.
@@hestheMaster Thank you!
First of all, you need to understand how the tube works, tubes have a high impedance so touching the probe to say the grid where the signal input is located, touching the probe to there will not hurt the probe, stay off of the plates where the high voltage is, good luck in this hobby, I to restore vintage electronics and we need to keep this hobby alive and well.....
Ebay is getting ridiculous high in price's! People are getting greatly!
I can trace a siganl through modern boards much faster with a tracer then a scope any day. Unless I place a sniffer on the scope I guess then its aboutthe same speed.
Get a scope!
Why?
A 'third' one? - A 'Signal-Tracer' will be a good extension for the shack/repair-shop! -