I didn't know that they made these? I designed and built my own! But I added an isolation transformer and went with volt and amp meters. My bulbs are on top ! My unit is very similar to this one, a little bigger though,,,
5:56 You can find plugs for these sockets still. They sell them new if you know how to search for them but if in doubt you can always find them on ebay. I thought they were rare but they are not. They go for a range of prices so you may need to be a little judicious in your selection but on the other hand most of those on ebay look like they were made at the same factory.
No problem, happy to share a look at the thing! And yeah I hear ya on the price. I was extremely lucky to get the one that went for $356 - and this was the nicest of the 3 that show in recent eBay completed auctions. Even that was a bit higher than I felt the thing was worth, but too cool and useful to pass up.
7:33 I would leave it as it is. It will only take one slip and you will be regretting you ever did it. Nothing easier than blowing up an analogue meter--I know because I have done it. They don't make them anymore so if you blow them, it will be quite an ordeal to fix it and it most likely never be the same as before. Why mess with a perfect instrument? Besides, this set up you could easily replicate with cheap modern components if you wanted--a lot of people build their own for a portion of what this is worth.
For sure. since I made this vid, I decided I’ll never mod it. I actually found a NOS meter but when it showed up it was dead, so definitely don’t want to ruin it.
@@philsanalogbasement Glad to hear that. Tektronix instruments can be very addictive though so be warned in case you get infected. I would imagine that broken meters can be repaired (e.g. a watch technician would be able to repair the spring) but it is a question of time, cost and value of the object.
Oh I’m already too far gone. My basement is half full of tektronix stuff. I can’t help it. lol. My most recent acquisitions were two 576 curve tracers (the second was a parts unit which I already fully repaired so now I no longer have a parts unit), and the ultra rare 570 vacuum tube curve tracer which I paid out the ass for. But I sure am happy to have it!
Check this guys blog posts out. His had the spring removed but had fuses installed for each range paulcarbone.com/blog/variac-on-steroids-tektronix-tu-75b/
@@philsanalogbasement Oh, if you have the 570 you're already in a very exclusive club. The 576 is in another league of course. That is quite a task repairing one of those. I have an 575 which I was very lucky to find and which is awesome and is also a constant reminder that I don't have a 570 which would be its significant other. By the way, be advised that the aluminium foil air filters on the back of the 57x instruments is definitely a repairable and infinitely re-usable item and probably very easily repairable too. So don't throw it away if it is full of muck like many owners do. You don't have to take it apart either, like I did, which will take the best part of 1-2 days to put it back together in a half-assed way. I reckon the best way to deal with it is to let it soak in some solvent (e.g. car petrol) for a couple of days, then shake and rinse with clean solvent, then repeat. If you must, you could try putting it in an ultrasonic cleaner. Don't use anything that could react with aluminium, like acidic or basic substances as that would ruin it. The filter consists of progressively finer meshes of aluminium foil going from its exterior to its centre and then again to its exterior on the other side. Each of these meshes is made from just a square foil piece with slots along many parallel lines (i.e. slotted lines) that you pull apart, thus forming a mesh the same way as those scisor-shaped party decorations made of paper.
I didn't know that they made these? I designed and built my own! But I added an isolation transformer and went with volt and amp meters. My bulbs are on top ! My unit is very similar to this one, a little bigger though,,,
They didn't sell them. They built them for in-house use only.
I worked at Tek long ago, and managed to pick one up from their "company store" for $10!
That unit is MINT! Good for you - you're a lucky fella. Enjoy that jem.
This is awesome. I never knew these existed.
5:56 You can find plugs for these sockets still. They sell them new if you know how to search for them but if in doubt you can always find them on ebay. I thought they were rare but they are not. They go for a range of prices so you may need to be a little judicious in your selection but on the other hand most of those on ebay look like they were made at the same factory.
Thank you for making the video! Was watching the one on ebay recently and someone bought it for 600$ lol that was way out of my price range
No problem, happy to share a look at the thing! And yeah I hear ya on the price. I was extremely lucky to get the one that went for $356 - and this was the nicest of the 3 that show in recent eBay completed auctions. Even that was a bit higher than I felt the thing was worth, but too cool and useful to pass up.
@pac1085 that's not bad I would definitely buy one for that price. I feel people are asking a lot for them because they are pretty rare it seems.
Don’t forget about it’s predecessor, the 75A
True luxury
Super jealous
7:33 I would leave it as it is. It will only take one slip and you will be regretting you ever did it. Nothing easier than blowing up an analogue meter--I know because I have done it. They don't make them anymore so if you blow them, it will be quite an ordeal to fix it and it most likely never be the same as before. Why mess with a perfect instrument? Besides, this set up you could easily replicate with cheap modern components if you wanted--a lot of people build their own for a portion of what this is worth.
For sure. since I made this vid, I decided I’ll never mod it. I actually found a NOS meter but when it showed up it was dead, so definitely don’t want to ruin it.
@@philsanalogbasement Glad to hear that. Tektronix instruments can be very addictive though so be warned in case you get infected. I would imagine that broken meters can be repaired (e.g. a watch technician would be able to repair the spring) but it is a question of time, cost and value of the object.
Oh I’m already too far gone. My basement is half full of tektronix stuff. I can’t help it. lol. My most recent acquisitions were two 576 curve tracers (the second was a parts unit which I already fully repaired so now I no longer have a parts unit), and the ultra rare 570 vacuum tube curve tracer which I paid out the ass for. But I sure am happy to have it!
Check this guys blog posts out. His had the spring removed but had fuses installed for each range paulcarbone.com/blog/variac-on-steroids-tektronix-tu-75b/
@@philsanalogbasement Oh, if you have the 570 you're already in a very exclusive club. The 576 is in another league of course. That is quite a task repairing one of those. I have an 575 which I was very lucky to find and which is awesome and is also a constant reminder that I don't have a 570 which would be its significant other.
By the way, be advised that the aluminium foil air filters on the back of the 57x instruments is definitely a repairable and infinitely re-usable item and probably very easily repairable too. So don't throw it away if it is full of muck like many owners do. You don't have to take it apart either, like I did, which will take the best part of 1-2 days to put it back together in a half-assed way. I reckon the best way to deal with it is to let it soak in some solvent (e.g. car petrol) for a couple of days, then shake and rinse with clean solvent, then repeat. If you must, you could try putting it in an ultrasonic cleaner. Don't use anything that could react with aluminium, like acidic or basic substances as that would ruin it.
The filter consists of progressively finer meshes of aluminium foil going from its exterior to its centre and then again to its exterior on the other side. Each of these meshes is made from just a square foil piece with slots along many parallel lines (i.e. slotted lines) that you pull apart, thus forming a mesh the same way as those scisor-shaped party decorations made of paper.