[Jim Berg]

That ballast appears to be black on purpose. Could be loose cement in the base that is the rattle. I could look it up for pin out but I would guess you should have resistance between 3 of the tube pins. Do not check on a tube tester! If filaments in the set light and the dial lamp lights the ballast is good. If getting a universal replacement, beware that some of the socket pins on the tube socket could have been used as "Tie points" and may cause a problem with a different ballast.