B&K TC615 for free

[Mars Amp Repair]

Hello folks,
I have one of these B&K adaptors for one of their tube testers that I have no use for. I don't know if it is functional, as I do not have the accompanying tester. I did try a Compactron tube in that socket & it's tight like it's never been used. I do not have a 9pin tube to try in the other Compactron-like socket, but it also appears to possibly never have been used. The 9pin (with center pin) tube socket is tight with a 12AX7 tube. The selector switches both turn smoothly. Honestly, I'm fairly certain this has never been used.
Let me know thru the forum.
I believe USPS has standard size boxes that you can ship this in for relatively cheap. So whatever box that is, I'll just require a Call Tag and I'll supply the box. The dimensions of the B&K box are 13" x 4" x 4". Weight is below 10lbs, probably below 5LBS. I don't have a scale to weigh it.
Thanx, Glen

[Mars Amp Repair]

OOPS!
Forgot to supply the address to determine the shipping costs.
We just moved and are open, but the showroom isn't quite finished as of yet.
12th Fret Music
671 S. Capitol Blvd
Boise, ID 83706

[oemcar]

Hi Glen,
Is this still available?
Thanks,
Jim
ps. new member, as just saw this ad- had to join to respond

[Mars Amp Repair]

Hello Oemcar,
Yes, I still have the adaptor. You might want to private message me on the forum.
Glen

[g1]

Hello Oemcar,
Yes, I still have the adaptor. You might want to private message me on the forum.
Glen

I don't think he can PM as a new member (for awhile). But I think he can respond if you send one.

[Mars Amp Repair]

Yeah,
It looks like as a new member, he also cannot receive private messages. So Oemar, get me a call tag, & I'll be happy to send the B&K adaptor your way. I'm not actually sure how that all works, as I've only received them, not sent them.
My email is Glen@12thFretMusic.com
Thanx, Glen

[oemcar]

Glen,
I have a Fedex account, so will email shipping label to you- thx for providing approx dimensions of box. I'll schedule a pickup when you say package is ready.
I'm excited to add the 615 to my 610 adapter and B&K 550. Built new acrylic enclosure for the 550, since original was in tatters. 615 cable plugs into 9 pin socket of the 610. Rotary switch settings are given in B&K 550 manual.
If one of your associates tells you someone from Missouri called on Friday after you left- that would be me, lol. Good luck w/ your new location- I've moved my car audio repair biz 3 times over 28 yrs. Hard work, but rewarding.
Best, Jim

Roland Radio
1948-E S. Glenstone
Springfield, MO 65804

[Mars Amp Repair]

Hello Jim,
I haven't been on the forum for a bit and missed this message.
Nice job on the BK case! So glad the adapter will get some real usage.
I haven't done any car stereo since the 80's! It's sure different now. Would it be safe to say it's not the bulk of your business at this point, or is it the more vintage stuff you do these days?
I'd love to be training an apprentice given the fact that i won't be working forever, but there is no room for another bench and unfortunately, not enough work in Boise for 2 techs, as crazy as that sounds. How about you?
Glen

[oemcar]

Glen,
Car audio has evolved dramatically since I was a college kid in the mid 80's. I worked as a tech at GM and Ford radio warranty repair station back then. Electronics repair/ project construction was then and still is my primary hobby.
Used to be all you needed to bench test a car stereo was 12V and 4 speakers. These days, auto makers call them Infotainment Systems, which are much more computer than radio with their CAN bus and Fiber Optic networks. Navigation, Bluetooth, HVAC controls, and a plethora of apps accessible through touch screens have made OEM units in most newer vehicles impossible to substitute. So repair is the only option- choice of either dealer service dep't or my shop. I'm uncomfortably busy most the time- looking forward to retirement soon. A topic which terrifies my customers- lol.
I get what youre saying about not having staff to take on more functions. I've made my biz available to local Car Audio shops once I retire- but common theme is that they don't have, and probably couldn't hire qualified person to train.
Much has changed in the tech sector (not in a good way)
What IS fun to me is classic/ antique radio & amplifier repair/ refurb, and project construction. My latest project is a clone of the Frazier F106C Push-Pull 100W amp using a quad of 12GT5's- pic below. It's important to match the gain of these hi power output tubes in PP designs, which is why I needed the 615 for my 550. Later testers like my B&K 707 don't measure gain in the lower switch section, but the B&K 550 does. Pic below shows a 12GT5 being tested w/ TC 615.
The item is in great condition, and worked right out of the box :<))
Thanks again!
Best wishes,
Jim

[Mars Amp Repair]

Wow,
I guess it didn't occur to me that repair of the factory radios/audio units would be so integrated. You were fortunate to have worked for a GM-Ford repair station and could pick up all that repair info eg: what test programs & how to get it all to work for repair.
Interesting about the frazier clone amp. Amp I right to assue it's like a distribution amp of some sort with all the output windings? Ususally, those type amps have a 70volt line, but are ususallly for shitty ceiling speakers w/step-down or impedance matching transformers. I'll have to look that one up. I'm kinda steering away from really antique radio stuff anymore, as I really don't have the equipent to do decent alignments & I've never gotten into coil rewinding, as some of the older things tend to need. I'll go back to the 60's and some into the mid-later 50's, but not too much further back. Right now just happy to be partially retired in relatively stress-free job where I run my own little show. No douche bag under-pressure bosses like in the corp world (;- ).

I'm really happy you followed up on the use of the BK adaptor. Nice to know it was badly needed & getting good use.
I'm not a younger guy (could ya guess). I'm almost 72, and as you imagine, I started with tube tv's/audio in the 70's. I pretty much selected audio exclusively in the mid 70's, as I really had little interest in repairing TV's. Audio was fun & end users were more personally invested in their audio equipment, than a frickin' TV to keep their kids out of their hair (;- ). As you know, audio was absolutely HOT HOT HOT from the mid 70's to about the early 90's. The shit that as availale to consumers was unbeliveable. At the same time, came nearly 20yrs of VCR's and camcorders unitl about mid 90's. Folks in those days were also personally dedicated to their VCR/Camcorder equipment, because it cost so much, before they became a $75.00 throw-away crap. So, for a while, that stuff was fun, too esp before it got so freaking small it was impossible to work on w/o a super expensive jumper cable kit.

Then for about 10yrs in the 2000's, I worked doing nothing at all related to repair. I worked for ATT doing something called switch translations on what was called the DMS switch. A complete desk/in-office job. It as interesting & fun, until ATT started automating the process & started laying people off in about 2005. If you've ever seen the 1927 movie 'Metropolis', maintaining the DMS central office swith took hundreds of people from the translators to the technicians that acutally maintaine the physical central offices. It was what maintaining the machine that the writer of 'Metropolis' imagined it would take to maintain the 'metropolis' machine. ANYWAY, I'm meandering as we tend to do at this stage in life!!
SO with the layoff being imminent, I preemptively opened my own Musician's Amp Repair brick & mortar biz and left ATT. All those great benefits were getting slashed, too.

AND, it was back to electronics that folks actually had a personally connection to. My favorite folks to work for. Had that biz for abt 10yrs & then back into the corp world of electronics, which sucks, but has it's perks.

Anyway, long story short (RIGHT!), I'm about the only tech in the Boise area now doing this work somewhere other than their mom's basement for a music store called 12th Fret Music, which I see I've already mentioned!
Say 'Goodnight Gracy'.
'Good night!
Thanx again, I hope you get on the forum from time to time. We need more folks to stay connected.
glen

[oemcar]

Glen-
To your points-
I'm also glad that I dont have to succumb to the usual corporate bumpers...as I am soon to retire also. Per the trafo windings- I've done that... not by choice-
When the Chinese sent an ordered piece that ended up for 220v mains, even tho ordered for 120V- so either I scrap it- since too costly to send back.. or rewind it for 120V usage, I chose the latter.
So I did up a hand crank spinning station and rewound what was worthless here (unless I wanted to plug into my dryer outlet-lol) into something useable- live and learn-
Yes,
The Frazier is a PA amp as designed- but when I proto the design, I'll analyze the spectrum freq to see how it can be widened for expanded use w/ minimum distortion.
To your next point- TV tube use is pointless to chase- the motherlode is w/ guitar- late model amplifier use. Its industry recognized that Hi End ($5-10K monoblocks) are the current rage..to be clear- they are Hybrids- tube front ends w/ solid state finals.
Seems there is listening approval per panels of human evaluation that small amount of 2nd order distortion is pleasing to the human ear.. displacing the '80's and 90's race of Hi End manufacturers all solid state to 0.0% distortion..
ergo these designs sounded 'raspy' and didn't sell.
To your point about 'corp world' has its advantages-
When I graduated 1989 w/ Bachelors in Auto Electronics- went to work for Dayco, stationed in Detroit, MI. Enjoyed good pay, 401K, and cheap Health Insurance...I was 28 then.. now 60-

Annnnyway, before I get caught up in more of the past-
Here are pics of recent B&K 550 w/ mounted expansion modules- including the 615..
Thanks again Good Sir, It has a good home..pics below
Best,
Jim
Roland Radio

[Mars Amp Repair]

Well,
I never made it to an engineer type position, quit trade school @ 18yrs old &amp; about 2yrs of electronics college, but feel fortunate for the most part of my career to have done something that I enjoy. Even the stint at ATT, where I did no hands on repair at all for 8yrs.
Glad you've made it to retirement &amp; are doing what you enjoy.
The tube tester case (w/the adaptor) looks beautiful. Nice job. Again, I'm really glad the adaptor is getting it's due use. Have fun with the Frasier amps.
As an aside, the meter on my Hickok 6000A is a bit wonky. It kinda sticks in a weird way. Not like the pivots are binding, but the return coil springs are tarnished like they're silver coated or something and have lost their tensile strength.
I'm not going to try to take it apart any further, as I really don't see a successful way to replace those coils. I see where there is a dude online who mods the Simpson movements for about $250.00, but the resistance of his meters is wayyy different than the movement in my Hickok but hundreds of ohms.
I have just been tapping the meter case to get the needle to settle somewhere in between.
Since the tube comparisons I make can be +- 5 units (MHO), It hasn't been an issue as I'm usually making sure power tubes are matched and +-5units on any scale is sufficiently acceptable for Music equipment.
I do plug in an octal adaptor that houses a 1ohm cathode resistor, so I can also measure the current draw, which IMO is more important to be close than the GM.
BUT, I'd sure like to make it right as the tester is in excellent shape otherwise.
I also have a Hickok 600A that is pretty beat up, but functions fine for the older tubes, as I do not have the other socket assy for the 6000A.
Anyway, thanx for the responses!
Keep on truckin'.
Glen

[mozz]

Antique radio forum has a lot on meter movements. I think you just loosen the bearings as tiny as possible will often cure it. I do have a 600a with the same problem, tapping usually gets me the correct reading. There are also digital replacements that were made at one time but the guy retired?

[g1]

I have had meter movements that act wonky just because of static buildup in the plastic cover.

[Mars Amp Repair]

I have had meter movements that act wonky just because of static buildup in the plastic cover.

Yep...seen that static issue, too but more when I lived in a really dry place like Denver, CO. As I mentioned, the pivot is free it just appears the return springs have lost their umph and are actually impeding the return...maybe one is good & the other is the issue.
When I had it out of the meter case, I could move the pivot a bit & see that it wasn't binding. It's weird.