[nortonz]

Does anybody know anything about this tube tester. Is it good, or bad. I bought one off eBay today for $65. I have a lot of tubes to check, and with 4 radios I really need a tester.

[mikethedruid]

I have to be honest, it would not have been a tester I would have bought. Looking on eBay, I see a Radio City Products tester currently with no bids,  that I think would have been a better choice.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Radio-City-Prod...SwZTldo4~m

There is also a Supreme Instruments one.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Supreme...Sw7~RdjkZ4

A couple of Heathkit ones
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Heathkit-Model-...Sw3fFdpOsK

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-HEATHKI...Sw1pBdp8Ge


and a nice Precision Apparatus
https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-PRECISI...SwTNBdp2Iv

Any of these older units are going to need to have their paper and electrolytic condensers replaced before they can be used reliably, including the one you bought. I hope you got the manual with it. You'll need it to know the proper settings for each tube. From the pictures I have seen of this model online, I also don't know if it will test all the types of tubes you may encounter. All of the testers I have linked use a roller chart right in the tester, so you don't have to fiddle with a manual every time you need to set it for a different tube. I own a couple like them myself, and they work well.

[Eliot Ness]

If the Hickok Simplex model 36 tube tester is this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hickok-Simplex-...7675.l2557

Then I'd have to agree with Mike that it probably wasn't a very good choice.

My personal favorite tube tester is the last one on Mike's list, a Precision model 10-12.  My main likes are its ease of use and accuracy against tested known good and NOS tubes.  I recently went through a smaller Precision model 920 that belonged to a friend and it works very nicely also.

The problem with buying a tester from eBay is if you don't know the seller, and they don't know how to properly check to see if a tester works properly, you run the risk of getting a unit with a bad meter or other defects that might be hard to track down if you're new to all of this.

My preference for buying a tester is from a trusted friend, a hamfest or radio meet where you can plug it in to make sure at least the meter works.  I have a friend with an abundance of tube testers and he is slowly selling them off.  I'm not sure what your price range is but if you bought one from Terry he would guarantee that it works and he is quite honest.  What he has left might be out of your price range, but if interested shoot me a PM and I'll send you his email address.  Be ready to tell him your price range and what style tubes you want to be able to check.  Good luck!

[Ron Ramirez]

For what it's worth -

I use a Heathkit TT-1A mutual conductance tube tester. Mine didn't have the roller chart but has all of its manuals, so I have to use the manual to test tubes. But that isn't a big deal. I bought it at an auction of a former radio-TV repair shop in Beaver Dam, KY well over 30 years ago. Best $2 I ever spent.

Several years later, I recapped it to keep it in good working condition.

[Jake Blake]

   I'm looking at them.

[Ron Ramirez]

I just looked at them on the auction site as well. You certainly can't buy them for $2 anymore...but it isn't 1983 anymore either (the approximate year I bought mine)...

Mine also has the TTA-1-1 adapter.

[Jake Blake]

Yes Ron.  
And I have to watch my nickels, so not in a hurry.  I wanna be careful not to make a mistake.  I'm not expecting one to work ...I'm sure it will have to be re-capped, but  the one thing I've picked up on is being careful to spot both the 7 pin AND the 9 pin miniature sockets. I'll keep looking.