Hickok T-53 Tube Tester

[Reece]

This tester was my Uncle Cecil's. He was active in radio in the 1930's, learning it as a boy from a radioman down the street. Later in the army he told of climbing a really tall pole in a blizzard in West Virginia to string an antenna. His career led him to Jet Propulsion Labs in CA where he worked on the moon projects.

I cleaned the leatherette covering and used black shoe dye on it. The case hardware was rusty but I saw that originally it had been black enameled (or "Japanned") so I sanded and steel wooled it, masked and sprayed with primer and black lacquer. I gave it a new power cord. The handle was in bad shape so I need to order one for it.

The guts looked OK, the Raytheon 83 and metal 5W4 looked brand new. Brought it up on the variac and the transformer didn't complain. I tested several tubes with it and compared the results with a more modern tester; found them similar. The newest tubes this will take are octals and loctals.

[bandersen]

Sweet The graphics are really cool on the control panel. Looks like a little triode symbol on the left

I have a Hickok 121 that could use the same case treatment. What kind of primer and black enamel did you use ?

[Reece]

Yes, that's one of the older triode symbols, with the grid and plate not in line with the electron flow from the filament. I used some automotive gray rust resistant primer and black lacquer from the auto parts store. Masking is the "fun" part, but I found I could lay the tape sort of over the hardware piece and then cut through the tape lightly with a sharp utility knife following the edge of the hardware. Came out clean. BTW I have the schematic and updated tube chart that came with it, and a Raytheon tube price list from 1939.

I also have Cecil's Hickok signal generator from the same era that I have to rehab some day. That really has a neat deco panel.