Hickok 799. Or B&K 667 tube Checker.

[KA5ROW]

Hickok 799. Or B&K 667 tube Checker:

I have found that the Hickok 799 tube checker was made in 1965 so it should check most tubes. I have not found anything on production dates of the B & K. I assume early 70’s.
I don’t think any or very few new type tube designs were made past 1965. But the Hickok should test some of the older type tubes than the B & K. so what is your opinion, if you had access to either one and bought one of them. What would you buy?

[W5INC]

Hickok 799. Or B&K 667 tube Checker:

I have found that the Hickok 799 tube checker was made in 1965 so it should check most tubes. I have not found anything on production dates of the B & K. I assume early 70’s.
I don’t think any or very few new type tube designs were made past 1965. But the Hickok should test some of the older type tubes than the B & K. so what is your opinion, if you had access to either one and bought one of them. What would you buy?

I did some checking a while back and the best Hickok units were the 539 A, B, and C models along with the 752, 752A guys. I didn't find out much about the B&K units. I ran across a TV-7 A/U model and very happy with this unit. Compact easy to use and very accurate it looks like. These testers can be upgraded with aftermarket parts to test PA tubes like the 6146s or sweep tubes. I will not be getting rid of my TV-7 unit anytime soon.

[KB3PXR]

Some enthusists have found that you will sometimes need two tube testers to test all types and depending on what you are working on actually three testers. The idea behind this is if you work among equipment of a wide age range and types. One type tester is usually an older model that is used to test older tubes such as those used prior to Octal sockets and early octal tubes. The second type is usally for modern tubes such as post WWII octal, Minature, as well as Nuvistor and Compactatron tubes. The last tester is a specialty type designed to test CRTs. A dedicated CRT tester will likely have restoration functions to restore emission to an otherwise junk tube as well as some short clearing capability. There may be other types out there for transmitter tubes, but I don't know of any.

There are some testers that can cover most tubes. The Hickok CardMatic tester is usually limited to the cards that you have. With the proper set of cards you can test tubes from the 1920s on up. This is also easy to use as the settings are set by a Punched Card inserted into the tester.

[W5INC]

Some links to information about the TV-7 series of tube testers. The 1st guy is a history of the military test gear. The 2nd is a rather bad You tube video that doesn't win any awards but in the latter 1/2 of the video it does show the electronics in the unit. The stacked ceramic switches are a thing of beauty and shows how well America built things here in this country in the past. Scroll it up to the 4:20 mark to skip all of the BS in the video. I have a A/U unit which has no information out there to which company actually made this unit for the military. Does any Forum member know which company made the A/U units for Uncle Sam?

It would appear that Supreme made the original series (TV-7/U) while the TV-7B/U was made by Hickok, the C model by Stark in Canada, and most D's by Forway Industries

http://padgett.performanceresearch.u.../militaryh.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s_Eyhx-Hvw

[AJ4CU]

I own several Hickok tube testers and other pieces of their test gear but my favorite is my 539C it so far has never let me down by not being able to test what I need tested, The 799 is a decent tester but if you can find a 539C for a good price buy it!
B&K equipment is ok stuff but I would not class it with Hickok...This of course being from personal experience...