[Tubejunke]

Just to finalize this thread I thought I would add that what I was working on was an old Hickok 209 with the legendary HUGE meter. I bought it on Ebay and the movement was open. I found that I could circumvent the small coil that had gone open and make the needle move via voltage applied through the diode selection of my DVOM. That gave me false hope that perhaps I could again circumvent the coil and replace it with a resistor. No good.

Now, if you had replacement parts, patience and eyes like the Six Million Dollar Man (that's an old TV show for the younger members) then you CAN indeed fix a meter movement. The next logical question would be WHY? Why take the time when they make perfectly good digital meters that sell for $20 or so. Well, it was a labor of love like fixing a 60 year old radio or TV. You just do it and may not have a real reason other than you like it. I like old over-engineered Hickok test equipment as I like the same in DuMont television.

It's just mind blowing the craftsmanship and sheer electronic knowledge knowledge that went into a lot of the old stuff. I knew that if I could come up with a movement that I would have a wonderful piece of test equipment. I learned that unless I could come up with a meter movement assembly from 1949 on some other occasion that I would be forced to part it out. It's not something that I would pursue again to the level of repair that I attempted.