Antique 4 Pin Tube Tester Here is an very early Montgomery Ward tube tester model 5156 that only tests 4 pin tubes from the 20s. (Let me know if you have any info on it) This tester plugs into the tube socket in the radio and the tube under test plugs into the tester. The meter can be moved from the "A" position to the "B" position to test the plate and the grid side of the tube. Picture (use your back button to return to this page) : Picture

Antique Eveready Radio Battery Meter This is a radio battery tester from the early 1900's. It is about the size and style of a pocket watch. It was used to check the current level (0-35 Amperes) in the batteries of 1920's radios. This meter is marked on the face with "EVEREADY" and a patent date of Aug. 9, 1910. It was manufactured by the American Ever Ready Co. This meter is in excellent working condition and makes a great addition to my radio collection. Picture (use your back button to return to this page)

Beede and Leader Radio "B" Battery Testers Beede measures 0-50 VDC Leader measures 0-15 A, 0-50 VDC. Both with boxes.

Antique DC Polarity-Indicator I never saw or heard of these until I found this one. It was patented in 1905 and shows polarity in a DC circuit using a liquid in a glass tube that when current is passed through it, the negative end "Glows". It has a patent date stamped on it of Oct. 25, 1905. It was available in two models, a model 3220 for battery circuits and a model 3221 for 50-600 volts. They use a liquid filled glass tube that is incased in a hard rubber type case with a connector on each end. Electrodes inside the glass tube attach to the connectors. The metal sleeve can be rotated to cover the glass windows when carried in your pocket. Manufactured by the Manhattan Electrical Supply Company (MESCO), Jersey City NJ. Pic 1 Pic 2 Models 3220 & 3221 (use your back button to return to this page) View Patent (Adobe pdf file) Manhattan Electrical Supply Catalog Ad

Antique Radio Battery Meter Like the DC Polarity-Indicator above, this meter is also manufactured by the Manhattan Electrical Supply Company. It was used by the radio operator to test the batteries used to operate the radios of the 1920's. It's about the size of a pocket watch. Note the nice lettering on the face. Picture (use your back button to return to this page)

Clarostat Tube Type Line Cord Resistor Tester Clarostat Tube Type Line Cord Resistor Tester - metal case with etched face plate.

Bear TE-400 Condenser Meter Bear Condenser Meter with original Raytheon B-H 4 pin tube

Antique Supreme 85C Tube Tester - Counter Model Here is the Great Granddaddy of all corner drug store tube testers. This was made for radio shops front counters. It's an early Supreme 85C Tube Tester designed to allow customers to test early radio vacuum tubes. It has brass pushbuttons and brass escutcheons behind the main selectors. The tube chart and operating instructions pull out on a wooden slide from the front bottom. See more Supreme items in my collection on my Supreme Instruments page. Pictures (use your back button to return to this page) : Pic 1 Pic 2       Need the Data Sheet?

Confidence Special Tube Tester When Supreme Instruments founder Jewell R. Williams left Supreme Instruments in the 1930's, he started the Apparatus Design Company in Little Rock Arkansas and manufactured these "Confidence" and other model tube testers. Find more information on the Apparatus Design Company and Confidence Tube Testers in my collection here.

Early Hickok Volt/Ohm/Capacity Meter This early Hickok meter is AC powered. There is no model number on the faceplate or the case. It has Model 47 printed on the face of one meter. It measurers resistance, capacitance, and voltage. It uses an original Sylvania SX-171-A Power Amplifier 4 pin vacuum tube. From the construction I'd place it in the late 1920's. Meter Face Meter in case Hickok Nameplate

Early Hickok Tube Tester - SG-4700 ? This early 5 meter Hickok tube tester is battery powered and requires both A and B batteries to perform tube testing. There is no model number on the faceplate or the case. It is similar to the reportedly first commercial Hickok tube tester, the five meter SG-4600 manufactured in the 1920s but this tester only has two tube sockets and a different faceplate layout. The SG-4600 testers I have seen have three tube sockets. Larger Photo Nameplate Photo

Hickok Signal Generator Model 10 Hickok Model 10 signal generator, 100 KC - 20 MC output. Right meter is frequency selector and left meter is output in Decibels. Larger Photo

Antique Triplett Tube Tester Here is an early Model 1310 Triplett tube tester that tests early 4 and 5 pin tubes from the 20s and 30s. This is a working Tester which uses an 01A tube. The tube settings are listed on the metal plates on each side of the face (Pic 4). Veiw my Triplett Test Equipment Collection Pictures (use your back button to return to this page): Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4 Catalog Listing       Need the Data Sheet?

Jewell Pattern 209 Radio Tube Tester This is a bakelite Jewell Tube Tester (Pattern 209) from 1932. It tested 21 different early 4 pin and 5 pin radio vacuum tubes. Tube settings are molded on the face. This tester was AC powered. Pictures (use your back button to return to this page) : Larger Photo

Jewell Pattern 409 Radio Set Analyzer This is a Jewell Radio Set Analyzer (Pattern 409) from the 1920s. It was able to make most measurements the radio repair man of the day needed to troubleshoot radio circuits. This tested early 4 pin and early 5 pin radio vacuum tubes. Unit had cord that pluged into the radio's tube socket and tube was then inserted into the analyzer. Pictures (use your back button to return to this page) : Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4

Leader Battery Volt Meter Used to check 1920's radio batteries. 0-50 volts

Hoyt Battery Meter with box. Used to check 1920's radio batteries.

Sterling R-402 Vacuum Tube Tester Early battery powered Sterling model R-402 tube tester. Larger Photo

Sterling R-403 Vacuum Tube Reactivator with instructions (and the original box) for making those old 4 pin tubes "Like New" again. This filament rejuvenation or "flashing" on weaker tubes was successful to some degree on a few older tubes like the 01As with Thorated Tungsten filaments.

Weston Model 519 Radio Set Tester (1928) Weston 4 pin vacuum tube tester and voltmeter. Tested tubes in and out of the radio circuit. Needed both A and B batteries to test tubes out of the radio. Has instructions for testing battery sets, AC sets, and Battery Eliminators. Larger Photo 1928 Catalog Ad

Weston Model 533 Tube Tester Weston 4 & 5 pin vacuum tube tester. (1929 or 1930) Used to test tubes out of the radio. This model is AC powered. Has a control and meter to adjust for line voltage and a control to adjust to the tube filament voltage. Uses push buttons to test the tube and a milliamp meter to read the results. This tester was owned and used by the DeForest Radio Company. It has a DeForest inventory number of 189. Larger Photo

Weston 664, 665, 666 combination Set Tester This Weston test set (1931-1934) contains a Weston Model 664 Capacity Meter, a Weston Model 665 Selective Analyzer, and several free point sockets and adapters to test radio circuits using the tube socket pins. The tube socket adapter is a model 666 "Socket Selector Unit" that is used as a free point adapter that plugs into the top of each meter for taking direct readings from the tube socket. Larger Photo Model 664 Model 665 Adapters 1934 Weston Catalog Listing

Weston 774 Type A Tube Tester/Analyzer This Weston Analyzer was built for the US Army Signal Core and has several free point sockets and adapters to test radio circuits using the tube socket pins. It has a built in tube test point adapter similar to the model 666 "Socket Selector Unit" above and is used as a free point adapter. Larger Photo 774 Manual

Leeds & Northrup Decade Resistance Box Has 4 range selectors 1 ohm, 10, ohms, 100 ohms, and 1000 ohms. Tested, very acruate. Nice wood case.

Deforest's Training Inc. 100B Meter Tests AC/DC Volts and Milliamps. Uses a Simpson model 85 meter. Larger Photo

Wright-DeCoster Inc. Multi-Test Speaker This is designed for the 1930's radio test bench. Has selectable field coil resistance, transformer taps, and speaker impedance. Larger Photo

SECO Electronics Model 1000/3000 RCA Drug Store Tube Tester I can remember going down to the local drug store with dad to test radio and TV tubes. This has 77 sockets and tested tubes, batteries, fuses, and lamps. It has a nice illuminated RCA Tubes sign on the front and rear above the flip down tube charts. 28" high x 22¾" wide x 22" deep Larger Photo Panel Photo Rear of RCA illuminated sign

Tube Pin Straighteners I told my wife I was going to put up a picture of my "Tube Pin Straightener" collection but she said that's going off the deep end. Oh well, here they are. Vacuum Tube Pin Straighteners

My Workbench Someone asked me what test equipment and tools I use to work on old radios so here is a picture and list of my electronics bench. Picture and list

More of my collection:

• Supreme Instruments Corp., Greenwood Mississippi
• Apparatus Design Company, Little Rock Arkansas
• Triplett Meter Company, Bluffton Ohio
• My Antique Radio Collection

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