I have finally finished my Sussex build and you guys have done a wonderful job with the documentation. The Manual made life so much easier by having all the information - theory, BOM, Schematic in one place. Well done.
Now that I have it built I have a few questions I need some clarification on. I went back and re-read the manual and the entire 60 pages of this thread but still am not clear.
- What is the process for testing rectifiers such as a GZ34? I assume I set the correct heater voltage, set the anode and screen voltages to 0, set to D1/D2, set to TEST and I should get a reading of 5ma anode current... pressing the 50ma diode button I should get a reading of something near 50 ma? I am a bit confused as you can probably tell. I have tested several different rectifiers and never get past 4 ma even with the 50 ma button pressed. Before I go troubleshooting I thought I should get the process confirmed.
- This exact question was asked in post 1042 but never answered, is the Gas Test done in the TEST position? I ask because in the commissioning steps it is done in the Leakage 1 position if you follow the steps.
- Finally, I notice in many of the photos of completed testers the Grid Voltage meter shows a '-' sign in front of the voltage reading which makes sense since the grid voltage is negative. My Grid meter does not. However, if you look at figure 13 in the manual, it shows the connection of the positive lead of the meter to the positive side of the 45v supply - which of course will NOT result in a negative reading on the meter as in my case. I know this is not a big deal but for some reason I am having difficulty with this negative supply concept as I initially wired LED's 2 and 4 in backwards so if someone could just confirm that so I don't have to worry that I have messed something else up.
Aside form those questions, I have been testing a bunch of tubes I have in my collection and the results are well within expectations. This was a really fun project.