Hello all,
I have most equipment to service tube radios and hi fi gear but lately I've been thinking about getting a TV to overhaul. What some inexpensive gear to ad to my equipment to ease the service of Televisions?

Do you already have an oscilloscope? First thing to add to your radio gear, I think, is a simple source of a picture signal. This could be a dot/bar/crosshatch generator, or a cheap DVD player with a channel 3 output and a test pattern DVD; but a scope also is really helpful for the pulse-type circuits you find in TVs.

Do you already have an oscilloscope? First thing to add to your radio gear, I think, is a simple source of a picture signal. This could be a dot/bar/crosshatch generator, or a cheap DVD player with a channel 3 output and a test pattern DVD; but a scope also is really helpful for the pulse-type circuits you find in TVs.

Yes I have two solid state oscilloscopes. Both 100 Meg, a Tektronix 2335 and a inexpensive siglent digital. I have x100 probes for tube circuit measurement.

The DVD player with a test pattern DVD is simply brilliant! I don't think i have one with a modulated output but I do have a coouple of external channel 3 modulators. (picked them up in case I ever wanted a vintage tv)

perhaps i'm good to go? What about one of those all in one analyzers?

Steve

For me first if you dont have one is a combo
isolation/variac unit like the Sencor PR57 or it
equivalent. Indisposable for solid state work.
Very useful otherwise. The metering makes them super
useful. Also the lack of 2 units plus wires, meters & clutter
makes them a joy to work with. Bad side is that makes
them still pricey...

Next is an analyst. Again Sencore VA62 or equivelent.
Will drive any stage of a color TV. Also test yokes, FBT's.
Test patterns & a bias supply round things out. Does a crap
load more...... Be SURE its clean, has all the docs & leads.
Very reasonably priced IMHO.

HV probe. Useful but rarely essential especially on solid state
sets. Cheap....

CRT checker. Nice to have although you can check a CRT
with a meter & an operating set. Be SURE its modern.
Also that it has its set-up charts & adapters. You can
build a universal adapter easily and should. Rejuvenation
is why to keep things modern. Not just a brute force cook it
& zap it. Newer ones are gentile & can bring an old CRT
back to life for a long time.

enuf fer now
73 Zeno:smoke:

For me first if you dont have one is a combo
isolation/variac unit like the Sencor PR57 or it
equivalent. Indisposable for solid state work.
Very useful otherwise. The metering makes them super
useful. Also the lack of 2 units plus wires, meters & clutter
makes them a joy to work with. Bad side is that makes
them still pricey...

Next is an analyst. Again Sencore VA62 or equivelent.
Will drive any stage of a color TV. Also test yokes, FBT's.
Test patterns & a bias supply round things out. Does a crap
load more...... Be SURE its clean, has all the docs & leads.
Very reasonably priced IMHO.

HV probe. Useful but rarely essential especially on solid state
sets. Cheap....

CRT checker. Nice to have although you can check a CRT
with a meter & an operating set. Be SURE its modern.
Also that it has its set-up charts & adapters. You can
build a universal adapter easily and should. Rejuvenation
is why to keep things modern. Not just a brute force cook it
& zap it. Newer ones are gentile & can bring an old CRT
back to life for a long time.

enuf fer now
73 Zeno:smoke:

Thanks for the feedback! I have a pr57 and I agree its most useful. looks like all the former NTSC repair folks are dumping the Sencore VA62's on ebay as there are a tone of them on there. I'll definitely pick one of those up as they look pretty inexpensive compared to what they must have cost new.

Steve

At one point we had 3 crash carts with PR57, VA62, SC61
plus a few more to boot. All but one set was from shop buy outs
such as the W.T. Grants service center. Sold most it off over
a time & got back the $$ spent just in Sencore stuff.
Not always the highest quality but all made to be 10 times
more useful so they sold LOTS of them.
Most failures were cold joints & be sure to keep the RF
output TIGHT or it will break a special diode.
CRT checkers went through cables ever 3-4 years & PR57's
sockets wore out.

73 Zeno:smoke:


Thanks for the feedback! I have a pr57 and I agree its most useful. looks like all the former NTSC repair folks are dumping the Sencore VA62's on ebay as there are a tone of them on there. I'll definitely pick one of those up as they look pretty inexpensive compared to what they must have cost new.

Steve