Hickok 600A tube tester in good, but not excellent, condition. Original manual included. Roll chart is installed and works OK. I recently tested some 6146's, 2E26's and 6L6's, and it seemed to work just fine. I have owned this tester for about two years.
I bought it from a local ham. I just don't use it anymore since I have acquired a better WE/Hickok tester. This tester is considered one of their better consumer testers. I would suppose that it might need calibration to bring it up to specs.
$150 plus shipping. Thanks for looking.
Hickok revised and changed the 600 and 600A several times during the manufacturing life of the instrument. Some deviation is to be expected from unit to unit depending on the year of manufacture. These calibration guidelines serve as a model for a general outline on calibration. Feb 02, 2014 I am going to take the plunge and purchase a tube tester. I am definitely going Hickok, but am a bit torn as to which is best for me. The models I am considering, in lowest to highest price order are: least expensive ($300 or so) Hickok 600 & 600a. Hickok 800, 800a & 800k. Hickok 6000, 6000a. Hickok 539a, b or c.
I'm finding myself interested in NOS and used vintage tubes. Of course, I will use them in my amps, but I think the search for great tubes is fun. Plucking some off of eBay has been interesting. But I've had to trust the sellers claims about the condition of the tubes and how they test. There is also a difference in testing numbers that is a bit confusing.So.
I find myself on the verge of a new hobby and am wondering about different types of testers. I've looked at the Maximatcher, which appears able to test and match output tubes. I've also seen the more traditional testers (like the Hickoks). If one is going to do a complete tube test, what is needed? Does it make sense to have both? Click to expand.Yes, the Bias Rite will work fine.You're starting with a great amp for tone, but not necessarily for testing tubes. The ODS30 is cathode biased and won't need bias adjustment.
(I'd need to check but I think Andy used separate cathode resistors.) You can read the relative currents of 6V6's or 6L6's but you'd be better off with a fixed bias amp for matching IMHO.You need to define your goals a bit more into what you want to test most. For that amp, I'd just get a nice quad or two of matched 6V6's and focus on trying different preamp tubes.For the money, a Hickok and bias meter will get you further than any of the other options you mentioned and you can always continue to use both, even if you do get the other tools. Yes, the Bias Rite will work fine.You're starting with a great amp for tone, but not necessarily for testing tubes. The ODS30 is cathode biased and won't need bias adjustment.
(I'd need to check but I think Andy used separate cathode resistors.) You can read the relative currents of 6V6's or 6L6's but you'd be better off with a fixed bias amp for matching IMHO.You need to define your goals a bit more into what you want to test most. For that amp, I'd just get a nice quad or two of matched 6V6's and focus on trying different preamp tubes.For the money, a Hickok and bias meter will get you further than any of the other options you mentioned and you can always continue to use both, even if you do get the other tools. Click to expand.I've picked up a quad of Marconi Canada 5871 (these are RCA made greyglass blackplate 6V6GTs), a quad of Bendix 5992 (currently in the amp, installed and set-up by Andy), a quad of RCA greyglass blackplates from 1953, and a quad of JAN Sylvania 6V6GTs from 1979. Plus, Andy is sending the JJs that would have gone in the amp if I hadn't sent him the 5992s. I guess I've got more than I know what to do with.
The Marconis are matched, the Sylvanias are NOS, and the 5992 are matched. Don't know about the rest.I also have about a dozen preamp tubes to play around with.
I just don't have any way to verify any of these tubes. So I have to trust what the people that sold them to me said and just try them out to see how they sound. Being able to testthem would be fun and informative and educational. Not aware of any Tube Testers built after about 1968, which I date my Hickock to. (Westone is 1953 and ETA is early 60's, but it is the last 'public tube tester I'm aware of'.)I've rebuilt them and calibrated them to the best of my ability and all 3 seem to be true indicators of a tubes condition.Reallly like the Hickock 800 as the manual gives indications of what's-leaking-to-what.
This allows my to bitch at maker/distributor with '3M cathode to filament leakage and none of the others do this' or some such.-Jon. I developed the same interest and over time acquired several different testers, off ebay and flea markets.
Using a Hickok 600A and a digital bias meter with a couple amps that took the common tubes, I could test most personal use tubes for guitar amps just fine. But that's not audiophile testing, e.g. Like Kevin Deal does at Upscale Audio.
65amps has a VTV tester for preamp tubes, and it's very nice. I guess it depends on what you mean by a 'complete tube test', since a number of the possible tests have little import for tube typically used in guitar amps.