Huntron Tracker 2000

[Dangie17]

Hi everyone!
I am brand new to this Forum! I am not an electronics person and I am seeking your help and guidance!
I have a Huntron Tracker 2000 that I acquired from an estate sale. It looks to be in perfect condition with no cracks scratches etc. All of the lights light but that’s all I know. It does not have the tests leads or the power cord. I used the power cord from my printer to turn it on. It does come with the manual.
From looking on EBay, it looks to be worth several hundred dollars.
Can anyone tell me what the value of this is? Or how to test it? And should I?

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance you can provide!

Dennis

 

[kellys_eye]

Value? Whatever anyone who has a use for it would be willing to pay.

Personally I'd give you $10 for it - and scrap it for the parts.

Very limited use, very restricted market, useless for 99.999% of amateur use. You'd be VERY hard pressed to find a buyer.

One of those pieces of kit that the uninformed 'thinks' could be worth a few $$$ but in reality has scrap value only.

 

[hevans1944]

For an instrument that is seventeen years old, yet shows little indication of use or wear, that should be a red flag concerning its utility for electronics troubleshooting. This is nothing more than a crude "curve tracer" with self-excited "test" probes providing pseudo-constant-current sinusoidal test signals, with the voltage across the component being displayed as a horizontal deflection, while the current delivered to the component is displayed as a vertical deflection. The manufacturer's list price and eBay asking price is "over the top" in terms of cost-to-value ratio. Given the crudeness of the technology and the age of the equipment, this instrument only has value as a museum display piece, and then only if you charge an admission fee to see it. I think @kellys_eye is being generous in claiming it may have some scrap value.

 

[kellys_eye]

this instrument only has value as a museum display piece, and then only if you charge an admission fee to see it.

LOL

 

[Wireaddict]

I've used one numerous times in the electronics shop at an automotive plant for in-circuit testing of solid-state devices & also capacitors. I found it somewhat easier than trying to locate all the necessary test points on a PC board's artwork so I could trace a signal through it from input to output. Bottom line: I think it's a matter of preference. Welcome to the gang, Dangie, good luck with it.

 

[hevans1944]

Bottom line: I think it's a matter of preference.

Exactly right. Whatever gets the job done at an affordable cost is the method to use. It is just my personal opinion that this "test instrument" is waaay overpriced for what it does. Your mileage (or kilometers) may differ.

 

[Wireaddict]

While more or less on the subject, I built an oscilloscope accessory for the home shop that does the same thing with a TV antenna rotor transformer & a few dollars worth of resistors & trimpots.

 

[kds9591]

Hi Dennis,

Hopefully you still have the Huntron 2000A and didn't listen to the bad advice on here about it's worth. I not only have a lot of experience in using Huntron Trackers I own 2. A Huntron 2000 I bought new I believe in 1990 or 91 and a Huntron 2700 I bought used.

These are specialty instruments and people who are unfamiliar with them often think of them as just some over priced curve tracer or component tester and used them in that way only. That is not their real strength and what they are primarily designed and to be used for. They are designed and to be used for comparison analysis. Comparing a known good board to a bad or defective board with the power off. As such mostly electronic manufacturers or a industrial type service company would buy and use them as they would be able to do comparison analysis between a good board and bad board. They are especially usefully if schematic is not available.
A electronics repair shop most likely would not have a second known good unit for comparison analysis unless they limit their service just a few models of certain brand of a product. So a Huntron Tracker would be of no real use or value to them.

As far as testing the unit, get a owners manual online and use a diode, capacitor and resistor to test it going thru all the ranges and frequencies.

With selling electronic test equipment someone either needs it or they don't. It is NOT a impulse item.

To get the best price you have to wait and be patient. If you sell it on ebay DO NOT use a open auction, use a fixed price auction with a best offer option in the Business and Industrial section. If the unit works I would price it at $1250 or best offer. Sooner or later depending on what other Huntrons are for sale some company will need one and inquire, buy or make a best offer on yours. It may take months, just keep renewing the listing, If you sell to a used equipment company like Value Electronics they might pay you $300-$400 for it.

Good luck with it.

 

[hevans1944]

@kds9591 Well, if it floats your boat, it's worth something to you.

The Huntron does appear to have some utility as an A-B comparison "measurement" between a "known good" production board (a Gold Standard if you will) and a possibly defective board, whether pulled from a current production run or returned for "repair" by a customer. I see no indication that it is capable of determining whether a component is actually performing within its specified tolerance range. In other words, what number can you place on the results presented by the Huntron to compare with the number the Huntron presents for a Gold Standard component? Oh, it doesn't provide any numbers for comparison?

“When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarely, in your thoughts advanced to the stage of science.”-- William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (Lord Kelvin)

Note, also, that Electronics Point is mainly a hobbyist forum, not a manufacturing discussion group. I maintain that for hobbyist use, the Huntron is a lame and not very precise troubleshooting tool. If I am doing a comparison between a "good" component and an allegedly "bad" component, I would like to know how the two actually differ. I think my hobbyist test equipment dollars are better applied to (1) a good multimeter, (2) a decent oscilloscope, (3) an arbitrary function generator, (4) an accurate LC or LCR meter, plus (as a radio amateur hobbyist) (5) a digital frequency counter, (6) a digital "grid dip" meter, (7) a high-quality vector network analyzer, (8) an RF power meter, (9) an RF generator with calibrated attenuator 50Ω output and perhaps (10) an antenna analyzer (which is a form of one-port VNA).

 

[kds9591]

@kds9591 Well, if it floats your boat, it's worth something to you.

The Huntron does appear to have some utility as an A-B comparison "measurement" between a "known good" production board (a Gold Standard if you will) and a possibly defective board, whether pulled from a current production run or returned for "repair" by a customer. I see no indication that it is capable of determining whether a component is actually performing within its specified tolerance range. In other words, what number can you place on the results presented by the Huntron to compare with the number the Huntron presents for a Gold Standard component? Oh, it doesn't provide any numbers for comparison?


Note, also, that Electronics Point is mainly a hobbyist forum, not a manufacturing discussion group. I maintain that for hobbyist use, the Huntron is a lame and not very precise troubleshooting tool. If I am doing a comparison between a "good" component and an allegedly "bad" component, I would like to know how the two actually differ. I think my hobbyist test equipment dollars are better applied to (1) a good multimeter, (2) a decent oscilloscope, (3) an arbitrary function generator, (4) an accurate LC or LCR meter, plus (as a radio amateur hobbyist) (5) a digital frequency counter, (6) a digital "grid dip" meter, (7) a high-quality vector network analyzer, (8) an RF power meter, (9) an RF generator with calibrated attenuator 50Ω output and perhaps (10) an antenna analyzer (which is a form of one-port VNA).

 

[kds9591]

Hi,

The Huntron trackers give a signature analysis of all the parameters at once (resistance, inductance, capacitance, P/N junction) giving you a visual representation at a given test point. You can't do all that at once with a single meter, let alone switching between two boards at the same time at different voltages as well. They are a troubleshooting tool not a precise measurement or precise testing of a component or board. Besides most electronics use 5% tolerance components as well. A technician can tell from 2 different signatures what is lacking, missing or more of capacitance, inductance, p/n junction and resistance between a good board and a bad board. For example if a transistor is open or one leg is not soldered he could instantly tell that. Same with resistance and capacitance inductance.

Also when a different signature is found it is local, electrically in the same circuit. In other words if you have a known good board and a bad board the signatures are going to pretty much match until you actually probe the problem area which is a huge advantage.

I agree these instruments are way overkill for use at a home shop or most electronic repair businesses.

But they are a specialized instrument and are very valuable to any company who does or needs to do comparison analysis. The original poster, if the Huntron works and he is willing to wait out for the right buyer could easily get $1000 or more for the instrument.

Go to Huntrons website to learn more and to get a better idea of the Huntron Trackers and how they are used. They even sell robotic ones that automatically probe hundreds of test points rapidly for mass production.boards. They have been in business since the 1970's. If the Huntron Trackers were nothing more than a overpriced novelty instrument as some people think they are would have folded and been out of business decades ago.

Scott

 

[kellys_eye]

I'd think that the Huntron might be useful for legacy test/repair purposes but modern arrangements would use the pin-bed method and automated test sequencing.

There is a REASON why these are appearing on the used market - companies are moving on and they are becoming redundant. Given the amount of them you see for sale I don't think any company that was in 'dire need' for one couldn't get hold of one very easily (and cheaply if they wanted to get two sellers to 'fight it out') but to imagine these might be profitable to a reseller is plain guesswork for the most part.

 

[kds9591]

While Huntron does sell testing systems the Huntron Trackers are not. The Huntrons mostly for sale on Ebay are the older Trackers models, a troubleshooting tool, no different than a oscilloscope or multi-meter but for a more specialized use, comparison analysis. They are not a testing system. You would not go through a board, probe some points, find no differences and declare the board tested. Just like how you use a scope and mult-meter to look at signals and measure voltages to pinpoint the problem circuit and defective component, short or open you use a Huntron Tracker and do comparison analysis between a good board and bad board to do the same thing.

Thousands of Huntron Trackers were sold and while the newer models can detect more problems they can still be used today. Analog oscilloscopes can be still be used but the newer digital ones can do more. And just like companies want to upgrade analog oscilloscopes to digital ones the same holds true for the Huntron Trackers. A lot of analog scopes for sale cheap but still can be used, same goes for the older Huntron Tracker models.

Huntron trackers are especially useful for troubleshooting a board where no schematic is available but a known good board is. Many commercial/industrial board repair companies use them. I have a friend that used to work at a very large board repair company Radwell International in NJ for several years and he just left last year. Guess what was on almost every technicians bench? A Huntron tracker. Why? Main reason, no schematics for many of the boards sent in for repair. While the company will have the ability to test lets say a servo drive board for example time wise paying a technician to troubleshoot it without a schematic is a money losing proposal if a Huntron Tracker is not used.

As I said before to the right buyer the original OP will get a good price for his Huntron Tracker. It's a specialized instrument and has such has a limited market so time and patience is the key to getting a good price for it.

 

[Somesessions123]

Anyone who says the Huntron tracker is worthless has not worked on a stereo amplifier with one. I use it for comparison of the known good channel to the bad channel and it works like a charm. I have a small audio repair shop.