The Precise 9071 VTVM, Part 2: A donor unit, or the rebuild candidate?
Friday, August 21, 2026 at 07:29:35
This unit was purchased alongside the unit shown in the first part of the series because, at first glance, it appeared to be in somewhat worse condition than the other device and had the potential to be a donor in case something was wrong.
The face on this one is somewhat different, with the legend being areas where paint is not, instead of the other way around.
This one has all the correct knobs and input jacks, unlike the other unit. The face is also free of scratches, and has a nice black-framed meter instead of the later, clear meter the other unit has.
The back shows some scars, however. Lots of rust.
Since the whole side isn’t rot, I assume it just received some damage at some point and then sat in a wet environment.
The top is similarly rusty, and is missing it’s handle. Well…there was a small piece of leather left, but that’s it.
Of note here is the cabinet is not the same as the other one. This unit has a simple rim that creates a dish the face sits in, not a rolled out area like the other one.
Inside, we have the same rat’s nest as the other unit, with the same amount of ‘lectric sketti. That must have been provided by Precise, as these were sold as kits. Some of it is good, some of it is quite nasty and sticky.
Instead of an old RCA battery, this one has a lovely early 70s vintage Radio Shack battery. Probably dates the last use of this device to the mid 1970s, and it was probably replaced with a FET or early digital unit, assuming the owner had use of a meter.
The cordset was in excellent condition, of course:
It was removed and stored in the trash can.
Jay Hooks makes his appearance in this unit as well, so this may have been something needed because of the lead length. But those old blue carbon film resistors aren’t present, this one has slender red ones instead.
The tube side is the same as the other unit. The meter body itself is quite rusty, so this thing sat in someone’s damp basement for years.
Of note is the filament burnoff on the 6X5, just like the other unit. Either these are hard on that tube, or they were just on all the time. Who knows?
Does it work?
Again, sort of.
This one also had a good filter, so I cut off the remaining cord stubs and used my death cheater to power it up. It comes up, and is more stable and accurate than the previous unit. That’s not saying much, it’s still in need of major repair.
I’m not sure where these will go, which one (or both!) will get rebuilt. Stay tuned!
Next part of this series: Coming soon.
Previous part of this series: https://wereboar.com … part-1-observations/