Not exactly boatanchor but pretty old. I obtained a Hickok 890A transistor tester recently. I can find nothing whatever about it on the web. Does anyone have a handbook or know much about them? In particular I want to know what sort of battery was used. It has clips for five batteries, three are obviously for C cells but the other is evidently for a high voltage battery of some sort. Its nearly the size of a size-D cell but its not. I can get some action from the calibration adjustment from two 9V batteries in series. I think the original must have been either a 12.5 or perhaps 22.5 volt cell. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. I have posted to the test equipment list but my posts don't seem to show up there.
-- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles WB6KBL dickb...@ix.netcom.com
> Not exactly boatanchor but pretty old. I obtained a > Hickok 890A transistor tester recently. I can find nothing > whatever about it on the web. Does anyone have a handbook or > know much about them? In particular I want to know what sort > of battery was used. It has clips for five batteries, three > are obviously for C cells but the other is evidently for a > high voltage battery of some sort. Its nearly the size of a > size-D cell but its not. I can get some action from the > calibration adjustment from two 9V batteries in series. I > think the original must have been either a 12.5 or perhaps > 22.5 volt cell. If anyone can help it would be greatly > appreciated. I have posted to the test equipment list but my > posts don't seem to show up there.
> -- > Richard Knoppow > Los Angeles > WB6KBL > dickb...@ix.netcom.com
At one time, there were 9 volt batteries of about the "D" cell size and shape.
<dickb...@ix.netcom.com> wrote: > Not exactly boatanchor but pretty old. I obtained a > Hickok 890A transistor tester recently. I can find nothing > whatever about it on the web. Does anyone have a handbook > or > know much about them? In particular I want to know what > sort > of battery was used. It has clips for five batteries, > three > are obviously for C cells but the other is evidently for a > high voltage battery of some sort. Its nearly the size of > a > size-D cell but its not. I can get some action from the > calibration adjustment from two 9V batteries in series. I > think the original must have been either a 12.5 or perhaps > 22.5 volt cell. If anyone can help it would be greatly > appreciated. I have posted to the test equipment list but > my > posts don't seem to show up there.
> -- > Richard Knoppow > Los Angeles > WB6KBL > dickb...@ix.netcom.com
At one time, there were 9 volt batteries of about the "D" cell size and shape.
Paul
Thanks for the reply. It might be but I tried it with a single 9V battery and it did not seem to be enough. Two batteries in series allowed the cal adjustment to work but I don't want to just put 18V on it without knowing what the actual required voltage is. I found a manual at a pay-for site but its nearly as much as I payed for the tester.
-- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles WB6KBL dickb...@ix.netcom.com
In article <ib-dnWAgZv2hfS3RnZ2dnUVZ_sqdn...@earthlink.com>, "Richard Knoppow" <dickb...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the reply. It might be but I tried it with a > single 9V battery and it did not seem to be enough. Two > batteries in series allowed the cal adjustment to work but I > don't want to just put 18V on it without knowing what the > actual required voltage is. I found a manual at a pay-for > site but its nearly as much as I payed for the tester.
Richard-
There is a 22.5 volt battery about the size of an AA cell, except it is square instead of round. I used one to convert the flash in an old film camera from two AA Cells to one 22.5 volt battery plus a similar-size electrolytic capacitor, as a "BC" flash system. With AA cells, the flash was not reliable. With the BC system, it never failed to fire.
I'll look through my collection of manual links for the 890. The first one I checked had an 870, with about 30 pages scanned as individual GIF images:
In article <ib-dnWAgZv2hfS3RnZ2dnUVZ_sqdn...@earthlink.com>, "Richard Knoppow" <dickb...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> I found a manual at a pay-for > site but its nearly as much as I payed for the tester.
Richard-
I may have found one at EBAMAN.com. Downloading requires registration, which I assume to be free. It looks like 25 Megabytes if I read the discription correctly.
Richard Knoppow <dickb...@ix.netcom.com> wrote: > Not exactly boatanchor but pretty old. I obtained a >Hickok 890A transistor tester recently. I can find nothing >whatever about it on the web. Does anyone have a handbook or >know much about them? In particular I want to know what sort >of battery was used. It has clips for five batteries, three >are obviously for C cells but the other is evidently for a >high voltage battery of some sort. Its nearly the size of a >size-D cell but its not. I can get some action from the >calibration adjustment from two 9V batteries in series. I >think the original must have been either a 12.5 or perhaps >22.5 volt cell. If anyone can help it would be greatly >appreciated. I have posted to the test equipment list but my >posts don't seem to show up there.
It's most probably a mercury battery, either the 8.4 or 12.something variety. As such, it's probably used as a voltage reference and replacing it with an unregulated alkaline battery will be bad. --scott
-- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
> Richard Knoppow <dickb...@ix.netcom.com> wrote: >> Not exactly boatanchor but pretty old. I obtained a >>Hickok 890A transistor tester recently. I can find nothing >>whatever about it on the web. Does anyone have a handbook >>or >>know much about them? In particular I want to know what >>sort >>of battery was used. It has clips for five batteries, >>three >>are obviously for C cells but the other is evidently for a >>high voltage battery of some sort. Its nearly the size of >>a >>size-D cell but its not. I can get some action from the >>calibration adjustment from two 9V batteries in series. I >>think the original must have been either a 12.5 or perhaps >>22.5 volt cell. If anyone can help it would be greatly >>appreciated. I have posted to the test equipment list but >>my >>posts don't seem to show up there.
> It's most probably a mercury battery, either the 8.4 or > 12.something > variety. As such, it's probably used as a voltage > reference and replacing > it with an unregulated alkaline battery will be bad. > --scott
> -- > "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
That's possible but there is a "beta calibration" adjustment on the front panel which is evidently for compensating the voltage.
-- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles WB6KBL dickb...@ix.netcom.com
> In article > <ib-dnWAgZv2hfS3RnZ2dnUVZ_sqdn...@earthlink.com>, > "Richard Knoppow" <dickb...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>> Thanks for the reply. It might be but I tried it with a >> single 9V battery and it did not seem to be enough. Two >> batteries in series allowed the cal adjustment to work >> but I >> don't want to just put 18V on it without knowing what the >> actual required voltage is. I found a manual at a pay-for >> site but its nearly as much as I payed for the tester.
> Richard-
> There is a 22.5 volt battery about the size of an AA cell, > except it is > square instead of round. I used one to convert the flash > in an old film > camera from two AA Cells to one 22.5 volt battery plus a > similar-size > electrolytic capacitor, as a "BC" flash system. With AA > cells, the > flash was not reliable. With the BC system, it never > failed to fire.
> I'll look through my collection of manual links for the > 890. The first > one I checked had an 870, with about 30 pages scanned as > individual GIF > images:
I am familiar with the battery you mean. The clip in the tester is for something close to the size of a D cell although just a little shorter. I checked with a variable power supply and it seems to require around 18 volts to work so I can use a couple of 9 volt batteries in series but I would like to know what is supposed to be there. Anything you can come up with will be welcome. The 870 is a much more elaborate set, not much similar to what I have.
-- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles WB6KBL dickb...@ix.netcom.com
> In article > <ib-dnWAgZv2hfS3RnZ2dnUVZ_sqdn...@earthlink.com>, > "Richard Knoppow" <dickb...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>> I found a manual at a pay-for >> site but its nearly as much as I payed for the tester.
> Richard-
> I may have found one at EBAMAN.com. Downloading requires > registration, > which I assume to be free. It looks like 25 Megabytes if > I read the > discription correctly.
> In article > <ib-dnWAgZv2hfS3RnZ2dnUVZ_sqdn...@earthlink.com>, > "Richard Knoppow" <dickb...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>> I found a manual at a pay-for >> site but its nearly as much as I payed for the tester.
> Richard-
> I may have found one at EBAMAN.com. Downloading requires > registration, > which I assume to be free. It looks like 25 Megabytes if > I read the > discription correctly.
Thank you very much Fred, this turns out to be it. While I have an A version it appears to be essentially identical. The mysterious battery is a 22.5 volt one so I think a couple of 9 volt batteries in series will work OK. Its also, of course, useful to know how its supposed to be used. While individual transistors are considered obsolete now I still work on quite a bit of gear that has them and sometimes something more than a DMM is desirable for trouble shooting them.
-- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles WB6KBL dickb...@ix.netcom.com
