Is this correct?
It would be faster to be able to lay the chassis on its side so the test points could be accessed easier but I don't want to screw something up just because I might be inconvenienced.
How do you test your radios?
Randy
Most of the "newer" tubes, octals, subminiature types and the duodecar and neonovar types can operate in any position. The RCA tube manuaul usually indicates this.
And therefore the chassis can be set on it's side- however when doing component replacement, make it upside-down, so any falling solder, or wire bits drop onto the chassis, and not cascading through several parts as they would if it were only on it's side.
If we are talking the older tubes, 4,5,6,7 pin types common prior to 1936: if the set has to be on, too many times the pins for the filaments do not line up correctly to operate it on it's side, so it has to upside-down. Here again, the RCA manual indicates the mounting positions for the tubes, and very very few of the older types can be operated in any position other than vertical or horizontal with heater pins vertical to each other.
So as you are currently doing it should be fine with just about any of the radio types, but if you need to get a voltage that is not able to be reached, flipping it over so tubes point down is the other option that will work safely as long as you can support the weight of the chassis on something other than tubes and IF cans.
:When debugging a radio and probing it for voltage levels, I have assumed that the chassis must be upright for the tubes to function properly.
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:Is this correct?
:
:It would be faster to be able to lay the chassis on its side so the test points could be accessed easier but I don't want to screw something up just because I might be inconvenienced.
:
:How do you test your radios?
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:Randy