[fenbach]

keefer,
i attached a diagram of the vibrator i made and one of the tester for the AAR vibrator. i don't know a simple way to test the one i made other than to try it in the radio. if the AAR vibrator is good, the bulb will light up but be dim.
the 101 ohm resistors are 1 watt, altho i don't remember if you need that much wattage. the 47 ohm are probably just 1/4 watt. of course, you can experiment. i think you can use MJ2955 transistors in place of the TIP 36Cs. or any PNP that's rated at 15 amps.
curiously [to me], you absolutely have to remove the buffer capacitor to use my vibrator. and i'm guessing that you don't need it with any solid state vibrator. another curious feature of my vibrator is that it cycles at about 55 Hz, not 115 like the original and the AAR. even so, the radio works just fine.
for what it's worth, i fried an AAR vibrator once. there is another one out there, called aurora design, which is bullet proof. you have to solder it onto a 4-pin tube base or solder it into the radio.
i hope you'll let us know if the AAR vibrator is good and what you end up doing. good luck.