Hello, list. Picked up an older Heathkit IT-11 capacitor checker at a tailgate swap yesterday for $10. I've been shopping 'round for something more sophisticated, like an old Sprague Tel-Ohm-Ike analyzer, but hey, for $10, who cares?
Gotta tell ya, this unit is way more capable than I thought it was going to be. The leakage test can be conducted at any voltage from 3 to 600 volts, which should cover most anything we are likely to come in contact with in our boatanchors. And the capacitance bridge is reasonably accurate, too. Additionally, it can be used to determine transformer turns ratios. If you find one of these, know that apparently the older version of the IT-11 used paper capacitors in the bridge circuit, which I had to replace with polyesters before the thing would work properly. The old wax-covered paper capacitors leaked like sieves. The IT-28 is apparently the same design, just in the newer tan-colored Heathkit paint scheme. The only drawback that I can think of is that these testers use a 6E5 eye tube, which is hard to come by. The later version of the IT-11 and, I imagine, all of the IT-28s have a dual-voltage power transformer. Mine is 117 VAC only. -- regards, Mahlon - K4OQ Icom IC-756 / IC-765 / IC-821 / IC-W32A Drake R-4C / T4-XC / TR-4C / MN-2000 Gonset GSB-100 Johnson Viking Ranger / Viking Valiant Heathkit Apache / Mohawk / Shawnee Alpha 91b / B&W PT-2500A National NC-303 / NCX-3 R-390A Open Line of Credit with Gulf Power
