E-tracer Tube tester, Curve Tracer and more

Description

This is a new made digital tube tester by Chris Chang from Taiwan. This tester is a concept copy of Ronald Dekker's uTracer. A so called pulse tester, meaning it tests the tube with very short pulses. This keeps the power supply at much lower cost compared to full power testers, such as the Sofia, Roetest, and AT1000, and some others. So when a tube is tested at say 400V anode voltage, this is indeed present, but it is switched on only for 1/1000 of a second. The savings on the power supply will reflect of course on the price, the dimensions, and the complexity of the internals, which is all positive. The tester is purchased as a working Printed Circuit Board, and hardware along with it, but for the rest it is a kit. Optically it reminds me of the Sofia, with that difference that the Sofia is much larger size, inside and outside. Compare the two pictures, and you will see the deck of the e-tracer consist mainly of the tube sockets and banana plug, whereas with the Sofia this part looks the same, but fills only the middle part of the deck plate.

What is good about the E-tracer?

What is not good about the E-tracer?

I think it has almost no negative points, The latest versions are really master pieces.

Conclusion