I am real excited as I finally bought a Hickok 539B tube tester. It did not arrive to my house yet but should be here by Monday. Not like I need another tube tester but I always wanted this one. Here is a photo of it. The case needs a little cleaning and TLC but the tube tester itself is in excellent condition. I will update this post when it arrives!

Regards,
Sal Brisindi

http://www.tuberadios.com/temp/hickoktesting.jpg

Wow, congratulations! That is certainly one of the testers on my shortlist of testers that I'd love to own.

I've got a Bell System "KS" marked 539C. The 539 series is so flexible and easy to use you will certainly enjoy yours. There is only one bit of hinkiness to be aware of and that is the lightbulb marked "FUSE". Once in awhile the contacts get dirty and the tester will wig out.

One of the cool features are those binding posts up at the top. The roll chart will show (2) test settings, (1) for the internal test parameters, and (1) that uses the binding posts where you can substitute precision resistors for self-bias measurement. On mine there is a decade box fitted to the top left compartment. Yours looks to be in near perfect condition. Congratulations!

Thanks for the tip about the fuse light. I have 2 other testers that have a fuse light (Hickok 600a and Signal Corps I-177-A) and on the I-177-A it burned out, I was worried I had a short in the tester but when I replaced it, the tube tester worked fine. I will remove the bulb and clean the contacts when the tester arrives.

Regards,
Sal

Very nice!! :thmbsp:

Today my Hickok 539B was delivered via FedEx. I didn't realize how heavy this tube tester is. Works nice. I want to compare it to my friends 539B to see how the calibration is. I might just open her up and calibrate it per Hickoks directions.

Sal

Yep, they are good sized, heavy too. :D
Nice you got it in one piece.


Carl

Congrats. That looks pristine on the inside. What I can see of the outside looks like it needs remedial help though.
My 539B isn't as nice on the inside but still serviceable. I want to get the outside recovered as I plan on keeping this one.
Congratulations again on a nice find.

Thanks! I tested 4, 7, 8 and 9 pin tubes with it and it works great. The tester itself is in almost mint condition as you can see, the case needs a real good cleaning, the hardware wire brushed and I might spray the case with automobile vinyl interior paint as the the vinyl on the case is really not bad. My son used that paint on the interior of his car with good results.

Regards,
Sal

AudioXpress has an article on calibrating a 539C that you may find helpful. Thanks for the headsup on the auto vinyl paint.