..Conn Strobe Tuner..

[Frank Cahill]

Don wrote:
> 
> Hi Bill,
> 
> Some confusion exists here about the Conn strobe tuner.
> 
> As Ken Burton mentioned the Strobe gets its calibration from the A.C. line.
> This means that the "A" level will vary with line frequency. As the line
> frequency is only 60 hertz and varies somewhat the "A" level tends to
> drift. Of course, you could measure a tuning fork and compensate that way.
> 
> 
Hi folks, 

Line frequency (60 Hz) does not vary much at all.  This is someting that
the power companies keep tight.  Line voltage does however, vary a lot!
So I wonder, how much the calibration changes on these strobotuners. Any
feedback?

 During warm summer months, when everyone has AC units on and brownouts
occur,  check the line voltage and it will be well below 120 Vac. 

If you plug in an electric iron, lights will dim every time it turns on.
This means that line voltage is dropping.

I suspect that one problem with the strobo-tuner is that the voltage
regulation inside the unit is not very good.  A voltage regulator will
keep the voltage applied to the tuner's circuitry fairly constant. If
the voltage is not constant, performance can be affected. 


Old technology may not provide modern performance. Also, since voltage
regulators were usually tubes in bygone days, a strobo tuner's voltage
regulator is probably not operating as it did when new.  In this age of
solid-state electronics, tubes are hard to get and expensive. 

Of course, there are probably some design faults also, this is just my
first thought.

In short, the electronic designs of the fifties sixties, in many cases,
do not compare to modern designs.  This is not a 100% correct statement,
but it holds true more often than not

The accu-tuner is modern. It has software, solid state electronics, and
is under constant design review.  There are some problems, however.  One
of my accu-tuners is very sensitive to electrostatic discharge.  On
several occasions I have destroyed the operational amplifier fed by the
microphone, rendering the unit unusable in the bass.  Paul Sanderson has
fixed it each time at NO CHARGE! Talk about good PR. 

So now, when humidity is low, I wear a wrist strap connected to the
piano's plate.  This prevents static charges from jumping from my hand,
down the thumb switch cable, and into the accutuner.

As far as the strobo-tuner...play with it!  You 'll have fun and learn
why tuners who use electonic devices had bad reps.  Then try the
accutuner and appreciate the improvements.

But keep on improving tuning skills with ears alone, I am. 
-- 

Frank Cahill
Associate Member
Northern Va


-- 

Frank Cahill
Associate Member
Northern Va