In the Christmas Present thread Jamie Kerr mentioned a Chromatic Tuner.
I’ve used an electronic tuner for highland pipes. Can someone tell me about chromatic tuners and UPs? Thanks.
I quit using a tuner as all I have ever tried want to go crazy just as you hit proper tuning and it stops responding.
I now use a tuning fork. I use a D tuning fork for my concert set and a C tuning fork to tune my C set. An extra plus is the battery is never dead in a tuning fork…
For the pipes, you can’t beat the Peterson VSAM:
http://www.petersontuners.com/products/modelvsam/index.cfm
Probably massive overkill for most people, but the following two features can be extremely useful in making all kinds of intonation adjustments and related investigations:
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Very quick and ultra-accurate strobe-style tuning with the ability to select just intonation using any root for the scale along with fractional-cent offsets.
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Tone generator that tracks the intonation settings
Yep, you can do everything required by listening to beats against the tenor drone, but sometimes a couple of hundred dollars of electronics sure can be handy… 
Michael
I would buy this Korg Digital chromatic tuner CA-30 as it does the job for me as its saves me tuning my C full set, B and D chanters my ear.
If you search using www.google.com for the above tuner you sould be able to get one in your area.
If you’re going to use a tuner a lot for the pipes, if possible, you want a tuner that can switch to just intonation with the proper scale root… or at least has a manual cents offset.
Otherwise, only rely on the tuner for the bottom and back D and tune the rest by listening for consonance with the tenor drone…
Cheers,
Michael
Lotsa different models of tuners. I use a Seiko ST-909 Chromatic Tuner because it has a physical needle. I find this easier to read than those LCD images of a needle, and it doesn’t fade or jump about as FancyP notes.
On the issue of tuning forks - they go out of tune. That’s why most people stopped using them. Any quartz-based electronic tuner is bound to be more accurate. When you have the option of a transformer vs a battery, use the transformer. A weak battery can mess up an electronic device where accuracy is required.
djm
When is a tuning fork going to go out of tune? In a handful of eons? When you spill some superglue on it?
I’ve a metronome with an A pitch pipe note, and nothing else. It’s nothing more than a little tenor drone in a box; well, the fifth of a tenor drone. Same effect. A box with a D would be even handier. Y’All should throw all these tuners in the dumpster and learn to hear if you’re in tune, if you don’t already.
I have a Zen-On Chromatina 331 chromatic automatic tuner that has a physical needle, but it still acts crazy when you are in tune. I can check my tuning fork to see if it goes out of tune. 
I remember listening in on a session at Willie Week several years ago. Peadar O Loughlin was heading it up.
Before anyone was allowed to play Peadar blew his little pitch pipe and everyone, and I mean everyone tuned to it. If you were out of tune or couldn’t tune your instrument you’d soon get the message that you were most definitely not welcome. I’d never been happier to just sit back and listen in Great music though.
Patrick.
For the pipes, you can’t beat the Peterson VSAM:
I will second that, and add that for ANY tuning job “Nessie” is unbeatable. The Wee tuning monster in the Blue Bonnet. 
I got the origional VS1 when it fist hit the streets. I tested the Peterson and CA30 against a tuning fork.. the CA-30 was 6 cents (1.5hz) off.
My initial feedback to Bob Norris, reads rather like the features list on the VSAM… Programable Temperament, adjustable root note, more A reference adjustment.
One nice thing about a Peterson is that you can “see” the beats. It is an excellent teaching tool. It provides an intuative graphic display, that directly correlates to what you hear. The Beats slow down as you get closer, the strobe slows down. The beats get faster, the strobes goes faster. For a beginer that cannot discern the beats very well.. they can at least SEE them. Once you see what is happening, it becomes easier to hear what is happening.
It can also be used to monitor steady blowing. Much easier than rigging up a manometer, or watching a jumpy needle.
I think Kevin’s got it nailed here folks. The absolute best tuner in the world is your ears. If you don’t happen to be blessed with perfect pitch (like me and am I ever greatful for that as a piper 
) all you should strive to need is a reference tone and the rest is on the ol’ auditory nerves. Excllent “relative pitch” is a skill that can be learned.
Incidentally, I carry a CA-20 (for trombone, guitars, and other musicians) in my gig bag along with a metronome that has the A=440 pitchpipe deal. The metronome is much easier to tune pipes to. I pretty much tune my A to the tone and the rest of my chanter falls into place. To be sure, I check against other reference tones… while the A is running on the metronome, I check Hard D, back d and e, then I get my drones going against my chanter’s A. Then recheck against other reference notes.
Against the drones, The A, Hard D, back d and F# should all ring well.
With that much all tied together sonorously, ther rest all sounds good. 
Scott McCallister
SEE! TOLD YOU GUYS! Scott looks like quite the pro in his avatar, too.
Is there an electronic pitch pipe out there with lots of bells and whistles? Selectable pitch, tonic and dominant, all that? There are Korg tuners that offer this to some extent - the CA-30 I think is one, you can cue up any note and calibrate it. There’s a pro model with more bells and whistles, too. $120 or something.
Is there an electronic pitch pipe out there with lots of bells and whistles? Selectable pitch, tonic and dominant, all that?
The Peterson VS1, VS2, and V-SAM have all the bells and whistles that exist. As Scott said, your ear is the best tuner. In the case of K### tuners your ear is like 5 cents more accurate.
The V-SAM has 1/10th cent accuracy and you can calibrate by 1/10ths of a cent. But generally, one calibrates in whole numbered cents. (there are 4 cents to 1 hz). It has 2 user programable temperaments, it has an audio tuner with onboard speaker (for old timey pitch matching by ear), a programable metronome (it can be programmed to STOP after a few bars), you can shift the root note of a temperament, (example shift the Just temp root note to D) it also has a special Temperament for Guitar which comes in handy.
Peterson Tuners are not for everyone, but many places that sell them like Woodwind Brasswind have a 30 day money back garauntee. After using a Peterson for few weeks, I smashed my CA-30 with “Nessie”. Its quite a sturdy unit..
Kevin, tuning forks do go out of tune. The more they get banged and dinged the more they go out of true in time. This is well-known. That and their price is what has largely relegated them as historical foot-notes. The physical characteristics of charge-induced quartz, plus the very low price, is what has made it the defacto standard for electronic measurement devices like time-pieces and tuners.
djm
Folks, thanks for all the opinions and advice. A great thread to underscore the quality of people and advice on the forum. Now all I need is a consultant to sort it all out. Many thanks.