Trouble is, its not usually the mechanical "telephone dial" mechanism for RV2 which goes wrong. Its the x3 linear resistance segmentation which gets phooked.Further trouble is - exorbitant mercenary prices being asked for genuine AVO replacements for RV2 & the 30uA meter. Cough up £600 for a CT160, get it home & either both are phooked, or some exitable wally phooks them - then the cost rises to £1K. Just not worth it. Better building a Sussex or a homebrew DC Tester. Far cheaper & more reliable than AVO's range of 1950's VCM's(60 - 70 years old !).
I'm lucky in having carried out repair & maintainance on RAF CT160's, back in the 60's/70's. I also know that several Forum folk have similar work experiences back in their younger years. And, there are two or three Forum/BVWS folk who are highly recommendable for repair & calibration(down south) of AVO's complete range.
CT160's, are to me, like working Labrador gun dogs - the owners need to learn from the dog, rather than the other way round.
Regards, David
Quote:
Originally Posted by woodchips
I don't really understand the comments about how expensive and risky these CT160's are being bought from auction.
They are stone age technology, if the meter is toast then it is now a trivial problem to replace with an amplified less sensitive meter, similarly the setting pot, it is a mechanical thing after all. It is far more dangerous to buy a signal generator or spectrum analyser because if they are toast then can't fix it at all. Anything Chinese and you take your life into your hands, there are no service manuals or any information. In fact other than the large manufacturers like Philips anything made by European manufacturers never comes with any servicing info. Anything by HP etc in the last 30 years has lots of custom chips, try and buy spares for them.
An auction is for regulars, not one off purchasers looking for a bargain. If you continually buy from auction then the good and the bad average out. In my experience the stuff is ok, but you do need to know your auctioneers to know if they can be trusted, also their little foibles. As anyone who tried to use Equipnet last year will know only too well.
If Jacmusic are selling MkIV testers for, I think, 1500 euro, then £600 looks a bargain for something pretty similar.
And, no, they are not mine, I am not bidding, not interested. Got my CT160 from Ramco 10-15 years ago, can't remember. My guess is that these are from someone like me who has been slowly buying from Ramco over the years and is now cashing in.
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