Which were the best Vintage Test Equipment Kits

[o***@tubes.com]

I like the old tube test equipment and that is mostly all I use for
testing and repairing everything, except for some modern multimeters
(both Analog and Digital).

Back in the late 60's the guy who got me strated in electronics was a
Tv-Radio repairman and he mostly had Eico and Heathkit test gear.

Back then, what I saw most was three brands, Eico, Heathkit, and Knight.

I now own some of each, but Eico has always been my favorite. I also
have a Sencore O-scope, but I do not believe that was a kit.

Anyhow, last Spring I ran into a guy on Craigslist who was selling a
bunch of test equipment, but he lived a considerable distance from me.
Fortunately I have friends who live about 20 miles from him, and I
arranged for them to pickup the stuff after I agreed to buy all of it.
The prices were low enough that I just bought it sight unseen. I figured
that if any of it was not repairable, the tubes alone were worth the
price.

Anyhow, over the summer I met up with my friends and got that stuff. All
of it is in good condition, so I did good on this stuff.

One item was a Paco signal tracer. I had never heard of Paco before
this, and then I learned that Paco was also a kit. Googling them, showed
they had every normal test equipment as well as some stereos, tuners,
etc. From what I saw on the web, they were quite popular back then. Kind
of makes me wonder why I never heard of them till now.

One item was a Paco Z80 signal tracer. I love that thing, I plugged it
in and began using it without doing any work to it. Although I did
replace the power cord which had cracks in the insulation. Some day I'll
probably replace the filter caps, because there is a very slight hum in
it, but it works just fine.

Anyhow, I am posting this to ask which of these kit brands you favor, if
you use this old test gear? Was any brand considered to be the BEST?

Like I said, I have mostly Eico and like it. But I have never had any
real complaints about Heathkit or Knight either. This Paco signal tracer
is the first and only Paco device I have ever owned, and looking on
Ebay, there is little of it available.

I can not think of any other kit brands at the moment, were there
others?

[Foxs Mercantile]

Post by o***@tubes.com
I can not think of any other kit brands at the moment,
were there others?

Short answer. A lot.

Long answer: They are all next to worthless other than as
"Shelf queens" to show off in a collection.

I do this for a living.
I use predominately Hewlett Packard and Tektronix test
equipment.
I REALLY like the idea that what I want is what I get.

I have better things to do with my time than having to
question the accuracy or operation of the test equipment
I use.

[Michael A Terrell]

Post by Foxs Mercantile

Post by o***@tubes.com
I can not think of any other kit brands at the moment,
were there others?

Short answer. A lot.
Long answer: They are all next to worthless other than as
"Shelf queens" to show off in a collection.
I do this for a living.
I use predominately Hewlett Packard and Tektronix test
equipment.
I REALLY like the idea that what I want is what I get.
I have better things to do with my time than having to
question the accuracy or operation of the test equipment
I use.

I agree with Jeff. A workman is no better than his tools. I have a
Tektronix 2465A scope, a HP3325A, Boonton 4200A & 9200A meters, a Fluke
8920A, and I bought a working Sencore LC53 LCR meter at the Ocala
Hamfest last Saturday. I got it for $20, which is cheaper than the
uncased Chinese boards.

It was the first time in over five years that I was well enough to
go to a hamfest.

That old stuff is what killed off a lot of shops, as it became
unreliable, but they hung on to it because they were too cheap to buy
newer equipment as it became available. Thee last shop I worked at
didn't have an oscilloscope that could go to 5MHz without severe
rolloff, so they wasted countless hours on simple problems. Several of
their scopes were 100KHz, non triggered which were barely usable for audio.

BTW, may you and your wife have a Blessed Christmas, Jeff. :)

[o***@tubes.com]

On Wed, 6 Dec 2017 21:45:26 -0500, Michael A Terrell

Post by Michael A Terrell

Post by Foxs Mercantile

Post by o***@tubes.com
I can not think of any other kit brands at the moment,
were there others?

Short answer. A lot.
Long answer: They are all next to worthless other than as
"Shelf queens" to show off in a collection.
I do this for a living.
I use predominately Hewlett Packard and Tektronix test
equipment.
I REALLY like the idea that what I want is what I get.
I have better things to do with my time than having to
question the accuracy or operation of the test equipment
I use.

I agree with Jeff. A workman is no better than his tools. I have a
Tektronix 2465A scope, a HP3325A, Boonton 4200A & 9200A meters, a Fluke
8920A, and I bought a working Sencore LC53 LCR meter at the Ocala
Hamfest last Saturday. I got it for $20, which is cheaper than the
uncased Chinese boards.
It was the first time in over five years that I was well enough to
go to a hamfest.
That old stuff is what killed off a lot of shops, as it became
unreliable, but they hung on to it because they were too cheap to buy
newer equipment as it became available. Thee last shop I worked at
didn't have an oscilloscope that could go to 5MHz without severe
rolloff, so they wasted countless hours on simple problems. Several of
their scopes were 100KHz, non triggered which were barely usable for audio.
BTW, may you and your wife have a Blessed Christmas, Jeff. :)

Thanks for the blessed Christmas wishes. Same to you!

Anyhow, this is just a hobby of mine and I am retired and cant afford
new stuff. Not to mention that my eyesite is poor and getting worse, so
I probably wont be doing this too much longer.

Also, most of the stuff I work on, is from the same era that the test
equipment was made, so it's suitable.I mostly just work on tube stuff,
unless it's something of my own that needs repair.

I did fix a commercial preamp made in the 90's and it's all
semiconductors and used that Paco signal tracer very nicely. Of course a
signal tracer is mostly just an amplifier anyhow, but I do like the eye
tube and it has features that I like. Not to mention that using a signal
tracer made from transistors on tube gear would likely burn up the
circuit because of the high voltages.

There are other pieces of test gear that cant be replaced with modern
stuff, especially tube testers. My old Sylvania 200 t.t. still works
well, but I also know that tube testers had their limitations too.
Sometimes the circuit the tube came from is the best tester too.

Anyhow, I only posted this to see what others people who use or used
that old test gear considered to be the best? Just curious!

[John-Del]

Post by Michael A Terrell

Post by Foxs Mercantile

Post by o***@tubes.com
I can not think of any other kit brands at the moment,
were there others?

Short answer. A lot.
Long answer: They are all next to worthless other than as
"Shelf queens" to show off in a collection.
I do this for a living.
I use predominately Hewlett Packard and Tektronix test
equipment.
I REALLY like the idea that what I want is what I get.
I have better things to do with my time than having to
question the accuracy or operation of the test equipment
I use.

I agree with Jeff. A workman is no better than his tools. I have a
Tektronix 2465A scope, a HP3325A, Boonton 4200A & 9200A meters, a Fluke
8920A, and I bought a working Sencore LC53 LCR meter at the Ocala
Hamfest last Saturday.

$20 bucks is a steal for that LC53. I have the LC75 that I bought brand new in 1985. Amazing device that gets used just about every day. The LC75 does ESR as well.

I use very little day to day: Tek 7603 mainframe scope, Fluke handheld meters and the Sencore LC75 are the most used. I also have a Tek THS720A handheld digital scope that I bought off ebay many years ago to bring on the road to service large screen TVs that were too difficult to move.

For tube hobby stuff, I have a couple of Eico tube testers (666 and 667), three Sencore Mighty Mites and a mutual conductance tester whose name I can't recall right now, Precision and Heathkit signal gennys, and some other obscure stuff I can't recall right now.

Post by Michael A Terrell
That old stuff is what killed off a lot of shops, as it became
unreliable, but they hung on to it because they were too cheap to buy
newer equipment as it became available.

Hehe... I remember when HD first came out, and the field service reps were chiding us to get expensive HD generators to work on them. Being the cheap bastard that I am, I lived up to my reputation and figured I'd wait until I really needed one as the prices were dropping all the time. Well, I've never needed to use the generator, not once. Today, any $40 bluray player will generate 1080P signals.

Post by Michael A Terrell
It was the first time in over five years that I was well enough to
go to a hamfest.

Well, we all certainly hope your health does nothing but improve Michael.


John
Wolcott, CT

[Michael A Terrell]

Post by John-Del

Post by Michael A Terrell

Post by Foxs Mercantile

Post by o***@tubes.com
I can not think of any other kit brands at the moment,
were there others?

Short answer. A lot.
Long answer: They are all next to worthless other than as
"Shelf queens" to show off in a collection.
I do this for a living.
I use predominately Hewlett Packard and Tektronix test
equipment.
I REALLY like the idea that what I want is what I get.
I have better things to do with my time than having to
question the accuracy or operation of the test equipment
I use.

I agree with Jeff. A workman is no better than his tools. I have a
Tektronix 2465A scope, a HP3325A, Boonton 4200A & 9200A meters, a Fluke
8920A, and I bought a working Sencore LC53 LCR meter at the Ocala
Hamfest last Saturday.

$20 bucks is a steal for that LC53. I have the LC75 that I bought brand new in 1985. Amazing device that gets used just about every day. The LC75 does ESR as well.

I have to make the test cable. It is 3.5 feet of RG62, with a BNC
connector. The other end is a short stub of RG174, and some hookup wire
to a pair of grabbers. I have several digital ESR meters.

Post by John-Del
I use very little day to day: Tek 7603 mainframe scope, Fluke handheld meters and the Sencore LC75 are the most used. I also have a Tek THS720A handheld digital scope that I bought off ebay many years ago to bring on the road to service large screen TVs that were too difficult to move.
For tube hobby stuff, I have a couple of Eico tube testers (666 and 667), three Sencore Mighty Mites and a mutual conductance tester whose name I can't recall right now, Precision and Heathkit signal gennys, and some other obscure stuff I can't recall right now.

I saw a Precision 666 at that hamfest. I have three or four Precsion
E200 series signal generators, and three tube testers that I haven't
used in almost 20 years.

Post by John-Del

Post by Michael A Terrell
That old stuff is what killed off a lot of shops, as it became
unreliable, but they hung on to it because they were too cheap to
buy newer equipment as it became available.

Hehe... I remember when HD first came out, and the field service reps were chiding us to get expensive HD generators to work on them. Being the cheap bastard that I am, I lived up to my reputation and figured I'd wait until I really needed one as the prices were dropping all the time. Well, I've never needed to use the generator, not once. Today, any $40 bluray player will generate 1080P signals.

I remember TV shops in the late '60s that wouldn't touch a color TV,
because they had no test equipment for it.

Post by John-Del

Post by Michael A Terrell
It was the first time in over five years that I was well enough
to go to a hamfest.

Well, we all certainly hope your health does nothing but improve Michael.

Thank you, John.

<http://home.earthlink.net/~mike.terrell/Projects.html> is most of my
test equipment. It is mostly listed as untested because it hasn't been
used in several years.

[o***@tubes.com]

On Thu, 7 Dec 2017 16:27:59 -0500, Michael A Terrell

Post by Michael A Terrell
<http://home.earthlink.net/~mike.terrell/Projects.html> is most of my
test equipment. It is mostly listed as untested because it hasn't been
used in several years.

That's quite a collection.....
But you're collection is not complete. You lack a Paco Z80 :)

But I guess we're even, because you have one thing I lack and would like
to find. The Eico 667 tube tester. That was considered one of the best
testers as far as Dynamic Conductance testing. I hear there were some
other brands that compared, but most tube testers were merely emission
testers. (Or those almost worthless filament ONLY testers).

I've had a Sylvania 219 tube tester since around 1970. It's not top of
the line, but it's been useful over all these years. The only bad thing
about my Sylvania 219, is the paper roll is starting to get bad, and
likes to jam up. I wish I could find it in PDF or DJVU or any format
that I could print and put in a spiral notebook.

This year I boiught a SICO TW11 tube tester, including about 10 misc
tubes, and a small but decent sounding guitar amp for $35 (for
everything). (Craigslist). It all worked. I dont think that tube tester
is much more than an emission tester, but for th price I could not pass.
That guitar amp alone was worth the price.

[Foxs Mercantile]

Post by o***@tubes.com
I wish I could find it in PDF or DJVU or any format
that I could print and put in a spiral notebook.

Your inability to find anything never fails to amaze me.
<http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/sylvania/220>

[Hank]

Post by Foxs Mercantile

Post by o***@tubes.com
I can not think of any other kit brands at the moment,
were there others?

Short answer. A lot.
Long answer: They are all next to worthless other than as
"Shelf queens" to show off in a collection.
I do this for a living.
I use predominately Hewlett Packard and Tektronix test
equipment.
I REALLY like the idea that what I want is what I get.
I have better things to do with my time than having to
question the accuracy or operation of the test equipment
I use.

Well, I don't do anything "for a living" these days, but enjoy working
on old tube iron from time to time. Currently, some of my test
equipment is:

Multimeters: Triplett 630-NA and Simpson 260-8 + clamp-on ammeter.
Best signal generators: Measurements 65-B, HP 200CD.
Grid dips: Measurements Megacycle meter, a couple of Millens, and an
Eico.
Q-meters: I have two Boonton 260-A's plus a set of standard coils.
RX-meter: Boonton 250-A.
VTVM's: HP-412A, 400H, Ballantine 300, four RCA WV97A, one WV98C.
Scopes: Tek 533A, two 310's, 575 transistor curve tracer.
LRC Bridge: GR 650 with oscillator pack.
Telephone resistance Bridge: Taffett ZM-4B/U
Crystal standards: Measurements 111-B, Bliley.
WWV receiver: Hallicrafters S-38

That's "for starters," and most of that isn't what radio/TV shops used
back "in the day." Going back to ca. 1950, I had an RCA-158 scope, a
Heath VTVM, a couple of multimeters, and a Precision signal generator,
plus a Browning 35 as a WWV receiver.

I built a Heath Q meter in the 60's, but sold it when I got the first 260-A
(from Presper Eckert's estate sale). Got it working, but the cosmetics
were horrible, so I picked up the second 260-A with a clean cabinet as
"junk" (open thermocouple). Turned out the thermocouple was "open"
because of a bad solder joint, so both are now working units.

I learned about oscilloscopes very early on, when the radio repairers
were trying to fix things with signal tracers and Rider Chanalysts. I
picked up some steady work with "jonahs" that the "pros" couldn't get
working right.

Hank

[Foxs Mercantile]

On 12/8/2017 2:19 AM, Hank wrote:

[ nice list of goodies ]

Post by Hank
I learned about oscilloscopes very early on, when
the radio repairers were trying to fix things with
signal tracers and Rider Chanalysts. I picked up
some steady work with "jonahs" that the "pros"
couldn't get working right.
Hank

As I said, "proper tools" make all the difference in
the world.

I never used a VTVM on an AVC line to align radios. I
always use a DC coupled scope. That green line moving
down and up is a whole lot easier to see.
And the scope along with a calibrated sweep generator,
like the HP 3325B, makes alignment "spot on."
No guess work or "Well it kind of sounds ok" for me.

[Peter Wieck]

Fluke True RMS DVM
B&K LCR Meter
Tektronix Scope - But a little Arctic Tern told me that Santa is bringing a digital scope in his bag.
Hickok 539B Tube Tester
AnaTek ESR Meter
Heath Transistor Tester - can match.
Peak-Atlas Transistor Tester
R/S Go/NoGo transistor checker - works on many in-circuit conditions
Leader SS Signal generator - FM Sweep Generator
Heath full-voltage capacitor tester (up to 450V)
Heath IP5220 Iso-Variac

And a few other bits and pieces accumulated in the many years of dabbling in the hobby. It -is- a hobby, not a business, so I am willing to accept equipment that may take a bit of extra time or a bit of fiddling to use, as long as the results are accurate and repeatable.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Carter]

Post by o***@tubes.com
One item was a Paco signal tracer. I had never heard of Paco before
this...

IIRC PACO = Precision Apparatus Company

Also, for kits of any type (not just test equipment), my favorite was,
by far, Heath. In my opinion others were just pretenders to the throne.

[Terry S]

I have the Z80 signal tracer and I find it useful as well.
Also have some vintage Eico and Heath gear. Some Knight kits also.

I did upgrade my scope to a 90's vintage digital Tektronix 300 MHz unit recently, disposed of a Hitachi 15 MHz scope that was not that great.

I happen to like vintage gear because I find it interesting, like radios. I also like and own more modern test equipment.

Mike, you are right that TV shops were the last places to ever buy decent gear. The margins were too slim and the repair business was floundering. That didn't stop the salesmen from trying to sell us gear.... but truthfully, the good repairmen could fix 75% of the issues without ever hooking up a piece of equipment. And quickly, too, and that was what mattered. Get it in and out.

Terry

[Michael A Terrell]

Post by Terry S
I have the Z80 signal tracer and I find it useful as well.
Also have some vintage Eico and Heath gear. Some Knight kits also.
I did upgrade my scope to a 90's vintage digital Tektronix 300 MHz unit recently, disposed of a Hitachi 15 MHz scope that was not that great.
I happen to like vintage gear because I find it interesting, like radios. I also like and own more modern test equipment.

I have some shelf queens, but I became so used to high end equipment
working on business radios, military radios and Telemetry equipment for
the aerospace industry that it has become second nature to reach for the
modern equipment.

Post by Terry S
Mike, you are right that TV shops were the last places to ever buy decent gear. The margins were too slim and the repair business was floundering. That didn't stop the salesmen from trying to sell us gear.... but truthfully, the good repairmen could fix 75% of the issues without ever hooking up a piece of equipment. And quickly, too, and that was what mattered. Get it in and out.

That depended on the shop. A lot of our work was TVs that other
shops couldn't repair. That meant that we had the original problem,
along with whatever was caused by another shop.


Not only were TV shops bad about having decent equipment, a lot of
what they had was defective and they wouldn't attempt to repair anything
other than a bad power cord or test lead. They would look at you like
you were insane for suggesting they repair it.

[o***@tubes.com]

On Thu, 7 Dec 2017 10:34:03 -0500, Michael A Terrell

Post by Terry S
I have the Z80 signal tracer and I find it useful as well.
Also have some vintage Eico and Heath gear. Some Knight kits also.
I did upgrade my scope to a 90's vintage digital Tektronix 300 MHz unit recently, disposed of a Hitachi 15 MHz scope that was not that great.
I happen to like vintage gear because I find it interesting, like radios. I also like and own more modern test equipment.

I mostly work on tube and some of the older transistorized audio gear.
And I do have my share of old tube radios too. That Z80 is real useful
for tracing anplifiers and preamps. I also have a small transistorized
Radio Shack signal tracer, but it needs batteries, and I always fear
blowing it up on tube gear because of the high voltages. I like the Z80
a lot more and dont have to buy batteries for it either.

I have a lot of Eico gear and some Heathkits. I have the entire set of
eico probes that are color coded. I always thought they had a great idea
color coding them like that. I have a Lodestar audio generator, which
gets used quite a bit on amps too.

My scope is quite a bit newer, it's a Sencore PS163, but I dont use
scopes all that much. If I,m tracing a piece of audio gear, I can hear
the signal while keeping my eyes on the piece of equipment, thus not
shorting something out by putting my probe in the wrong spot, while
looking at a scope.

I too have a fascination with that old test gear. Then again, I live on
a farm and if I was younger, I'd be farming with horses, like they did
in the old days, rather than gasoline engines. But I dont do much
farming anymore at my age. About all I do now is bale some hay for my
horses and other animals.

I guess using old test gear is similar to farming with horses. It's
slower, but it gets the job done in a lot more relaxing manner. After
all, this is a hobby, and I am not making money from it. I spent too
much of my life rushing around in the fast lane, not I like just taking
my time and enjoying the end result. I have rebuilt several of this old
test gear, just like I do the audio gear and old radios.

[C.Copperpot]

Post by o***@tubes.com
I like the old tube test equipment and that is mostly all I use for
testing and repairing everything, except for some modern multimeters
(both Analog and Digital).
Back in the late 60's the guy who got me strated in electronics was a
Tv-Radio repairman and he mostly had Eico and Heathkit test gear.
Back then, what I saw most was three brands, Eico, Heathkit, and Knight.
I now own some of each, but Eico has always been my favorite. I also
have a Sencore O-scope, but I do not believe that was a kit.
Anyhow, last Spring I ran into a guy on Craigslist who was selling a
bunch of test equipment, but he lived a considerable distance from me.
Fortunately I have friends who live about 20 miles from him, and I
arranged for them to pickup the stuff after I agreed to buy all of it.
The prices were low enough that I just bought it sight unseen. I figured
that if any of it was not repairable, the tubes alone were worth the
price.
Anyhow, over the summer I met up with my friends and got that stuff. All
of it is in good condition, so I did good on this stuff.
One item was a Paco signal tracer. I had never heard of Paco before
this, and then I learned that Paco was also a kit. Googling them, showed
they had every normal test equipment as well as some stereos, tuners,
etc. From what I saw on the web, they were quite popular back then. Kind
of makes me wonder why I never heard of them till now.
One item was a Paco Z80 signal tracer. I love that thing, I plugged it
in and began using it without doing any work to it. Although I did
replace the power cord which had cracks in the insulation. Some day I'll
probably replace the filter caps, because there is a very slight hum in
it, but it works just fine.
Anyhow, I am posting this to ask which of these kit brands you favor, if
you use this old test gear? Was any brand considered to be the BEST?
Like I said, I have mostly Eico and like it. But I have never had any
real complaints about Heathkit or Knight either. This Paco signal tracer
is the first and only Paco device I have ever owned, and looking on
Ebay, there is little of it available.
I can not think of any other kit brands at the moment, were there
others?

PACO is Precision Apparatus Company. I picked up one of those Z-80's
about a month ago. I don't think I'll ever use it but it was cheap and
has an eye tube. The manual is available on the BAMA website.

[Terry S]

I'm amazed by how often I meet guys who have never used a signal tracer. It makes troubleshooting radios so intuitive. Sure you can get in there and start measuring voltages -- but the signal tracer will get you to the right stage so quickly!

Yeah, it's not precise, it's not really an engineering approach, but it works and it's fast and it makes sense.

It's really the same divide and conquer technique we were all taught back in the day.

[Michael A Terrell]

Post by Terry S
I'm amazed by how often I meet guys who have never used a signal tracer. It makes troubleshooting radios so intuitive. Sure you can get in there and start measuring voltages -- but the signal tracer will get you to the right stage so quickly!
Yeah, it's not precise, it's not really an engineering approach, but it works and it's fast and it makes sense.
It's really the same divide and conquer technique we were all taught back in the day.

I used them, before I had a decent scope. That was back in the '60s
and '70s. The scope has the advantage of showing the DC bias, along with
the actual signal level so it would help find bad tubes or transistors.
When I was servicing a lot of Delco AM SS radios, bad transistors were
common. Inject a little too much noise, and it would heal, and start
working so the best way to troubleshoot a dead radio was with a VTVM,
and check the collector voltage on the transistors. 0V = a bad
transistor, or an open coil in the front end. The signal trace on that
bench had a detector tube in the probe, and the high input capacitance
was enough to cause problems with bad transistors.

I could change any of the small metal cased transistors with a
curved Hemostat, without removing the circuit board. I could fix most of
them in under five minutes, including the paperwork.

[o***@tubes.com]

On Thu, 07 Dec 2017 06:05:37 -0800, C.Copperpot

Post by C.Copperpot
PACO is Precision Apparatus Company. I picked up one of those Z-80's
about a month ago. I don't think I'll ever use it but it was cheap and
has an eye tube. The manual is available on the BAMA website.

Yep, after getting this Z80, I read up on the company as well as
downloading a schematic/manual for it. I hope you dont destroy yours,
before trying it and finding out how useful it is. I dont know how old
mine is, but I was very surprised to plug it in and it worked right
away. I thought it would at least need new filter caps. Like I said, it
does have a slight hum, so I plan to replace the filter caps, but that's
no priority since that hum is very minimal. I will likely replace all
the caps in it sooner or later and restore it entirely. But it seems
like it's always being used for something so I'd be lost without it. I
guess I'll have to rebuild it fast....

There are a few pieces of Paco audio gear on Ebay, but they are not
cheap. I would not mind getting my hands on some of that stuff just to
check it out.... if the price was right!

[C.Copperpot]

Post by o***@tubes.com
On Thu, 07 Dec 2017 06:05:37 -0800, C.Copperpot

Post by C.Copperpot
PACO is Precision Apparatus Company. I picked up one of those Z-80's
about a month ago. I don't think I'll ever use it but it was cheap and
has an eye tube. The manual is available on the BAMA website.

Yep, after getting this Z80, I read up on the company as well as
downloading a schematic/manual for it. I hope you dont destroy yours,
before trying it and finding out how useful it is. I dont know how old
mine is, but I was very surprised to plug it in and it worked right
away. I thought it would at least need new filter caps. Like I said, it
does have a slight hum, so I plan to replace the filter caps, but that's
no priority since that hum is very minimal. I will likely replace all
the caps in it sooner or later and restore it entirely. But it seems
like it's always being used for something so I'd be lost without it. I
guess I'll have to rebuild it fast....
There are a few pieces of Paco audio gear on Ebay, but they are not
cheap. I would not mind getting my hands on some of that stuff just to
check it out.... if the price was right!

Oh, I'm not going to destroy it. It's in almost new condition.

[o***@tubes.com]

On Thu, 07 Dec 2017 13:42:09 -0800, C.Copperpot

Post by C.Copperpot

Post by o***@tubes.com
On Thu, 07 Dec 2017 06:05:37 -0800, C.Copperpot

Post by C.Copperpot
PACO is Precision Apparatus Company. I picked up one of those Z-80's
about a month ago. I don't think I'll ever use it but it was cheap and
has an eye tube. The manual is available on the BAMA website.

Yep, after getting this Z80, I read up on the company as well as
downloading a schematic/manual for it. I hope you dont destroy yours,
before trying it and finding out how useful it is. I dont know how old
mine is, but I was very surprised to plug it in and it worked right
away. I thought it would at least need new filter caps. Like I said, it
does have a slight hum, so I plan to replace the filter caps, but that's
no priority since that hum is very minimal. I will likely replace all
the caps in it sooner or later and restore it entirely. But it seems
like it's always being used for something so I'd be lost without it. I
guess I'll have to rebuild it fast....
There are a few pieces of Paco audio gear on Ebay, but they are not
cheap. I would not mind getting my hands on some of that stuff just to
check it out.... if the price was right!

Oh, I'm not going to destroy it. It's in almost new condition.

Thats good to hear. I sort of thought you only wanted the eye tube out
of it from what you said.... I was almost ready to make you an offer for
it. Not that I need two of them......
But that is probably my most used piece of test gear, next to my
multimeters....

[Frank]

Post by o***@tubes.com
I can not think of any other kit brands at the moment, were there
others?

RCA sold a kit version of their Senior VoltOhmyst. If you want a kit
built VTVM, I suppose that's the top of the heap.

There were proprietary trade school (NRI, DeVry, etc) test equipment
items which were kits although they weren't sold to the general public.
Most of that stuff looks pretty low end.

RCA may have supplied kits to a trade school or two back in the day. I'm
almost certain Heathkit did.