99 What about signal tracers/analyzers. You mentioned these. What do they do?
Description
This article is from the Antique Radios And Phonographs FAQ, by Hank van Cleef vancleef@netcom with numerous contributions by others.
99 What about signal tracers/analyzers. You mentioned these. What do they do?
These came in several configurations. The fanciest ones were the
RCA "Rider Chanalyst" and Meissner Chanalyst. Essentially, what they
are is a substitute radio receiver, in sections, that you can use to
duplicate the functions in a receiver under test. The simpler units
had only a crystal video receiver (i.e., an untuned detector and an
audio amplifier). The RCA Rider Chanalyst has a built-in signal
generator and VTVM.
The trouble-shooting methodology for using one of these boxes
effectively is to start at the receiver front end, and use the probe to
listen for signal. Simply trace forward with the probe until you find
where the signal disappears or becomes garbled, and you've found the
area that is faulty. Instead of reading meters or scope traces, your
ears tell you what's going on.
The RCA Rider Chanalyst was in a self-contained box that could be tossed
in the back of a car, taken out to a customer's home for a house call to
visit a sick Philco Chairside. Probes, power cord, and even the
instruction manual clipped inside the front cover. Armed with a tube
caddy, a soldering iron, and an assortment of resistors and caps, the
set could be brought back to life in short order. Needless to say, the
customer could watch all this, be impressed by the "doctor's" widget box
and bedside manner---and hear for himself (or herself) the walkthrough
that located the trouble. The smaller units, like the Philco, Sprague,
and McMurdo Silver units, were not all-in-one boxes, but worked with a
signal generator and multimeter alongside.
Continue to:
My Books
