I just acquired one of these, but with no manual.
It does have a card of tube settings, and about 40 sockets. All either octal, 7 pin or 9 pin.
Seems to work pretty good, but I don't know what they mean by the gas, GM or shorts test. All tubes light up 1 side of the neon bulb on the shorts test.
It has a 6AT6 and 83 tube inside.
The rear cover has 16 sockets, and a plate cap that reaches only to them. The main board has no plate caps, so I guess I can't test tubes like the 6GB6G etc.
Just wondering where I can find more info, schematic, and instructions, perhaps extra tube settings.
Maybe adapter sockets as well.
It does seem to work ok, tested several 6V6GT's for mutual conductance, 50L6, 50C5, 12BA6, etc, and the readings are in the ballpark.
Kind of clueless beyond that... :(

:I just acquired one of these, but with no manual.
:It does have a card of tube settings, and about 40 sockets. All either octal, 7 pin or 9 pin.
:Seems to work pretty good, but I don't know what they mean by the gas, GM or shorts test. All tubes light up 1 side of the neon bulb on the shorts test.
:It has a 6AT6 and 83 tube inside.
:The rear cover has 16 sockets, and a plate cap that reaches only to them. The main board has no plate caps, so I guess I can't test tubes like the 6GB6G etc.
:Just wondering where I can find more info, schematic, and instructions, perhaps extra tube settings.
:Maybe adapter sockets as well.
:It does seem to work ok, tested several 6V6GT's for mutual conductance, 50L6, 50C5, 12BA6, etc, and the readings are in the ballpark.
:Kind of clueless beyond that... :(

Try A.G. Tannenbaum at: http://www.agtannenbaum.com/

Frank:

I believe I have the same tester - a workhorse for me for many years. I do have some literature, and I would be glad to repro it and send it to you. PS I am the guy you are sending the 1B3 tubes to.

Lou

:I just acquired one of these, but with no manual.
:It does have a card of tube settings, and about 40 sockets. All either octal, 7 pin or 9 pin.
:Seems to work pretty good, but I don't know what they mean by the gas, GM or shorts test. All tubes light up 1 side of the neon bulb on the shorts test.
:It has a 6AT6 and 83 tube inside.
:The rear cover has 16 sockets, and a plate cap that reaches only to them. The main board has no plate caps, so I guess I can't test tubes like the 6GB6G etc.
:Just wondering where I can find more info, schematic, and instructions, perhaps extra tube settings.
:Maybe adapter sockets as well.
:It does seem to work ok, tested several 6V6GT's for mutual conductance, 50L6, 50C5, 12BA6, etc, and the readings are in the ballpark.
:Kind of clueless beyond that... :(

:I just acquired one of these, but with no manual.
:It does have a card of tube settings, and about 40 sockets. All either octal, 7 pin or 9 pin.
:Seems to work pretty good, but I don't know what they mean by the gas, GM or shorts test. All tubes light up 1 side of the neon bulb on the shorts test.
:It has a 6AT6 and 83 tube inside.
:The rear cover has 16 sockets, and a plate cap that reaches only to them. The main board has no plate caps, so I guess I can't test tubes like the 6GB6G etc.
:Just wondering where I can find more info, schematic, and instructions, perhaps extra tube settings.
:Maybe adapter sockets as well.
:It does seem to work ok, tested several 6V6GT's for mutual conductance, 50L6, 50C5, 12BA6, etc, and the readings are in the ballpark.
:Kind of clueless beyond that... :(

Frank,

Here it tiz pushed to March

Radiodoc

Thanks for fixing the thread, I couldn't read it until now... :)
Hi, Lou, the tubes are in the mail, 20 of them, about 12 1B3's, I had more but I did test some and threw out the bad ones, so I added a few other numbers, all HV diodes, and you're getting 20, all should be good. They're all in newspaper, packed good, be careful unrolling them from the paper, & good luck w/your TV projects.:)
Definitely would appreciate a xerox of what you have on the B&K 500 if you can do this. I do have the "card", but have no info on plate caps, adaptors etc.

It seems to work fine, of course it only does 7 / 9 / and octals.
I did find a "free" copy of the B&K 747 info, of course that's a whole different unit altogether, but if anyone needs this it's at:

ftp://bama.sbc.edu/downloads/b%26k/747/
(and you need a djvu file format reader)

So I'd really appreciate some info on the 500.
From what I gather, you run the tube test from bottom to top of the switch, "short, Gm, life & gas"
All tubes for me make one side of the neon bulb light up dimly for the shorts test. The Gm and & Life give similar readings, they say the life test runs the tube at lower filament voltage and higher screen current, so if the reading are close it's a good thing.
Since the transconductance meter only goes up to 6000, there are some tubes that run off the scale & pin the meter, as some listings on the chart say they should be 8000-10,000 or so. If I turn the sensitivity on the selector down, it's not quite linear, maybe it's logarithmic. And I wonder what the numbers in red mean on the chart for the second number sometimes.
In the "gas" position, they all read slightly in the red.
But anyway it seems to work fine, most good tubes are in the ballpark of what they say the figure should be, and at least I hope to be able to "match" tubes for push-pull amps with this by pairing the ones which are closest to each other out of a batch of several.

Frank:

I have used this tester for many many years. It kept my Mothers Zenith Color TV in good running shape for a long time.I really appreciated the wide range of sockets the unit has.

I'll take a look at the literature I have. If any of it is good, I'll send you a copy.

Thanks for the Tubes!!!
Lou

:Thanks for fixing the thread, I couldn't read it until now... :)
:Hi, Lou, the tubes are in the mail, 20 of them, about 12 1B3's, I had more but I did test some and threw out the bad ones, so I added a few other numbers, all HV diodes, and you're getting 20, all should be good. They're all in newspaper, packed good, be careful unrolling them from the paper, & good luck w/your TV projects.:)
:Definitely would appreciate a xerox of what you have on the B&K 500 if you can do this. I do have the "card", but have no info on plate caps, adaptors etc.
:
:It seems to work fine, of course it only does 7 / 9 / and octals.
:I did find a "free" copy of the B&K 747 info, of course that's a whole different unit altogether, but if anyone needs this it's at:
:
:ftp://bama.sbc.edu/downloads/b%26k/747/
:(and you need a djvu file format reader)
:
:So I'd really appreciate some info on the 500.
:From what I gather, you run the tube test from bottom to top of the switch, "short, Gm, life & gas"
:All tubes for me make one side of the neon bulb light up dimly for the shorts test. The Gm and & Life give similar readings, they say the life test runs the tube at lower filament voltage and higher screen current, so if the reading are close it's a good thing.
:Since the transconductance meter only goes up to 6000, there are some tubes that run off the scale & pin the meter, as some listings on the chart say they should be 8000-10,000 or so. If I turn the sensitivity on the selector down, it's not quite linear, maybe it's logarithmic. And I wonder what the numbers in red mean on the chart for the second number sometimes.
:In the "gas" position, they all read slightly in the red.
:But anyway it seems to work fine, most good tubes are in the ballpark of what they say the figure should be, and at least I hope to be able to "match" tubes for push-pull amps with this by pairing the ones which are closest to each other out of a batch of several.
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Frank:

I checked my tester. I am sorry but I have a B & K model 700. And all it has in it is the tube cards. Sorry about that - I guess I have to recheck mymemory sometimes!!

Thanks - I got the tubes.

If I can I will ask around and see if anyone else has B & K 500 data.

Lou

:Thanks for fixing the thread, I couldn't read it until now... :)
:Hi, Lou, the tubes are in the mail, 20 of them, about 12 1B3's, I had more but I did test some and threw out the bad ones, so I added a few other numbers, all HV diodes, and you're getting 20, all should be good. They're all in newspaper, packed good, be careful unrolling them from the paper, & good luck w/your TV projects.:)
:Definitely would appreciate a xerox of what you have on the B&K 500 if you can do this. I do have the "card", but have no info on plate caps, adaptors etc.
:
:It seems to work fine, of course it only does 7 / 9 / and octals.
:I did find a "free" copy of the B&K 747 info, of course that's a whole different unit altogether, but if anyone needs this it's at:
:
:ftp://bama.sbc.edu/downloads/b%26k/747/
:(and you need a djvu file format reader)
:
:So I'd really appreciate some info on the 500.
:From what I gather, you run the tube test from bottom to top of the switch, "short, Gm, life & gas"
:All tubes for me make one side of the neon bulb light up dimly for the shorts test. The Gm and & Life give similar readings, they say the life test runs the tube at lower filament voltage and higher screen current, so if the reading are close it's a good thing.
:Since the transconductance meter only goes up to 6000, there are some tubes that run off the scale & pin the meter, as some listings on the chart say they should be 8000-10,000 or so. If I turn the sensitivity on the selector down, it's not quite linear, maybe it's logarithmic. And I wonder what the numbers in red mean on the chart for the second number sometimes.
:In the "gas" position, they all read slightly in the red.
:But anyway it seems to work fine, most good tubes are in the ballpark of what they say the figure should be, and at least I hope to be able to "match" tubes for push-pull amps with this by pairing the ones which are closest to each other out of a batch of several.
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Thanks for checking Lou, and glad the tubes arrived safely, got your email too.
I'm checking a few sources for the tube tester info, so no problem for now.

:Thanks for checking Lou, and glad the tubes arrived safely, got your email too.
:I'm checking a few sources for the tube tester info, so no problem for now.

i`ve a photocopied manual and some later tube charts for the b&k model 500,if you like i`ll scan to a file and give the address of my little bit of webspace where you can find it....let me know,mick

::Thanks for checking Lou, and glad the tubes arrived safely, got your email too.
::I'm checking a few sources for the tube tester info, so no problem for now.
:
:i`ve a photocopied manual and some later tube charts for the b&k model 500,if you like i`ll scan to a file and give the address of my little bit of webspace where you can find it....let me know,mick

or go here....http://tone-lizard.com/B%26K500_manual.htm

Wow, thanks Mick. I did find the site you mentioned and will print that out. If anything is lacking will post back, but this is a great start. Much appreciated.
Frank

:Wow, thanks Mick. I did find the site you mentioned and will print that out. If anything is lacking will post back, but this is a great start. Much appreciated.
:Frank

heres the manual,mostly the same as the tonelizard site,plus the tube charts i have,which are jpegs no.11-16,good luck,mick

::Wow, thanks Mick. I did find the site you mentioned and will print that out. If anything is lacking will post back, but this is a great start. Much appreciated.
::Frank
:
:heres the manual,mostly the same as the tonelizard site,plus the tube charts i have,which are jpegs no.11-16,good luck,mick

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/m.hatley/dyna%20quik%20500/

Great, got it all printed out. Nice scans. That does fill me in on some of the questions I've for sure, like "why the red numbers",etc.
Much appreciated, I owe you one...

I just tested it out with my new knowledge, but one thing I find is the the Gm readings are a bit lower than they should be. I tested some 6AQ5's and 6V6's.
For the 6V6's I'm getting just under 3000 for a reading, for both good old and a brand new JJ "known perfect" tube, where it should be just above 4000.
There are two adjustment pots under the tube tester on the chassis, presumably R-19 and R-3, which both seem to be voltage balance (not "increase/decrease") controls going to the meter. Should I try messing with these?
The only other thing would be to try replacing the 6AT6 inside, and the electrolytic caps as well, I have a capaci-tester they all test good for "open", but also fail "short", but they do have resistors in parallel so they are probably ok. Hard to tell without removing a lead.
The only other issue is that according to the manual, the gas test is supposed to put the meter to zero, but on mine it always goes to around 1500, near the "diodes ok" bar, for every tube I've tried. Any thoughts?