Eico 260 - RMS Watt dB meter - modify or alternative ?

[thomasdf]

Hello

I am looking for a lab VU meter for various repair, sniffing, or calibration jobs. I have been given an antique Eico 260 (tubes) that is beautiful but needs some deep maintenance, and runs on 110V whereas I am in Europe.
My question is : should I try to modify that Eico meter and fit it with solid state / SMPS power supply and all, or should I look for another unit ?


I like the possibility of varying the load in order to measure 4/8/16 ohms, 600 ohms, 10K, and such. My Google searches brought no convincing result yet.

Needle display is a must, especially for tape recorder calibrations !

BNC / banana and XLR inputs would be great, so I guess it would need a debalancing stage ? Maybe a high Z BNC / banana output for scope hookup ?

Cheers & thanks

 

[Tubetec]

I have a 240:110v autoformer I use for US gear ,
https://www.fruugo.ie/200w300w500w-...-110v-120v-220v-240v6904/p-286518482-63912744 ,

 

[Tubetec]

As mentioned on the thread about Heathkit AC meter ,
One of these might be the simplest way to convert the Eico from 110 to 240 ,

 

[thomasdf]

Thanks for data ! Is it worth dropping approx. 60e worth of transformer + full recap and check up ? With the heatwave we are experiencing in Paris right now, I am thinking a solid state conversion or device might be better haha

 

[trobbins]

Are you saying you want the Eico for repair activities, but don't want to repair/restore/calibrate it, even when you have it on the bench now?

Having a simple mains step-down transformer - or variac - would seem a fairly basic item of gear for bench work, whether for the Eico or any other application.

I assume you have some other meters, given your aim of 'calibration jobs', and can confirm the 260's analog meter readings for rms, and the load resistance, and have a sinewave source ?

Often, repairing/servicing a bench instrument gives you much more insight into the instrument, its capabilities, and what other bench equipment is needed for testing - so it can be a great way to set up the bench with interconnections, and test loads, and related test equipment, to then simply do other measurements, and periodic checks that your existing equipment is still 'within cal' each year.

 

[thomasdf]

Thanks for chiming in ! I have lots of old lab tube equipment, saved from the trash.

What I am looking for is a semi-portable needle VU meter on which I can vary the load.

That Eico is very cute but would need a recap, for sure, and probably some other fixes. The needle display has faded a bit, and being in Europe it needs a stepdown transformer. I do have one, but it makes the whole setup a little bit cumbersome to carry around, say the A80 in the mix room, and then back to the bench etc.

I think I will build something from scratch, and will start thinking about a serious bench generator / monitor / meter setup