UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Powered By Google Custom Search Vintage Radio and TV Service Data

Go Back   UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum > Specific Vintage Equipment > Vintage Test Gear and Workshop Equipment

Notices

Vintage Test Gear and Workshop Equipment For discussions about vintage test gear and workshop equipment such as coil winders.

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 15th Jun 2021, 6:25 pm   #1
Stockden
Heptode
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, UK.
Posts: 647
Default Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

I was looking at a picture of a Hickock 800 valve tester recently and was surprised to see that one of the variable controls is marked "ENGLISH". According to one on-line source the purpose of this control is as follows:

"The meter bridge balance is determined by the relative positions of the upper and lower halves of the ENGLISH control. The ENGLISH control is designed so that the two halves form the two legs of a balanced bridge circuit. As the control is turned clockwise the two halves decrease in resistance by the same amount thereby decreasing the sensitivity of the bridge so that higher transconductance readings are displayed without over scaling the meter."

That's all pretty clear but why on earth call it "english"? Is this a particular foible of Hickock and was it confined to this tester? The Hickock 750, for instance, has an apparently similar control marked "RANGE".

Hugh
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	english.JPG
Views:	145
Size:	13.1 KB
ID:	235956  
Stockden is offline  
Old 15th Jun 2021, 7:39 pm   #2
paulsherwin
Moderator
 
paulsherwin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 27,784
Default Re: Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

The Americans do have a tradition of calling various things 'English' for no obvious reason. Maybe somebody on a US forum can explain what it means.
paulsherwin is online now  
Old 15th Jun 2021, 7:44 pm   #3
ms660
Dekatron
 
ms660's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 13,454
Default Re: Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

The meter scale in question is written in English, I don't think it goes any further than that:

https://bama.edebris.com/download/hi...al_retyped.pdf

https://tubedatabase.co/testers/hickok-600a

Lawrence.

Last edited by ms660; 15th Jun 2021 at 7:47 pm. Reason: link added
ms660 is offline  
Old 16th Jun 2021, 8:36 am   #4
Guest
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

Wasn't that a term for a bit of side on a ball for some sport or another? An offset?
 
Old 16th Jun 2021, 10:03 am   #5
ms660
Dekatron
 
ms660's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 13,454
Default Re: Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

The Replace ? Good scale is written in English.....no surprise there.

The English dial is marked 0 to 100 and also marked at three specific points corresponding to the three u mhos scales.

The valve chart gives the settings for the English dial, the indication when under test being taken from the English scale (Replace ? Good).

The chart also gives a u mhos figure for the valve, to read that on the meter the u mhos range is set by the English dial (to one of the three specific points that are marked) and the appropriate meter scale is read.

Lawrence.
ms660 is offline  
Old 16th Jun 2021, 10:46 am   #6
Stockden
Heptode
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, UK.
Posts: 647
Default Re: Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

Lawrence is absolutely right.

Having carried out a search on the antiqueradios.com forum it seems that Hickok's use of the term "english" causes surprise on both sides of the Atlantic but the explanation is:

"Simply English-language. You can read the results in English: "good" or "bad." Nothing deeper."

That still doesn't explain why they used the term on only some of their testers. On others it seems to be called "Range" or sometimes "Shunt" (or have I misunderstood?).

Anyway my question is answered, though I still feel it would have been better to use a term like "Rating" or "Good/Bad". Perhaps they changed to Range/Shunt at some point.

Finally, I seem to have misspelt "Hickok" in the title and text of my initial post. Mods please feel free to correct that to aid future searches.

Regards,
Hugh
Stockden is offline  
Old 16th Jun 2021, 11:54 am   #7
Uncle Bulgaria
Nonode
 
Uncle Bulgaria's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 2,314
Default Re: Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

Some e-mails I get I wish I could turn up the 'English' knob, as parsing them makes my brain hurt!
Uncle Bulgaria is offline  
Old 16th Jun 2021, 3:44 pm   #8
high_vacuum_house
Octode
 
high_vacuum_house's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Belper Derbyshire
Posts: 1,906
Smile Re: Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

Good afternoon,
I don’t suppose it could mean “English” as in switching the device to display imperial measurements as opposed to metric measurements. Though I have never seen imperial measurements for electrical subjects.

Christopher Capener
__________________
Interests in the collection and restoration of Tefifon players and 405 line television
high_vacuum_house is online now  
Old 19th Jun 2021, 2:01 pm   #9
Outposter30
Triode
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Posts: 22
Default Re: Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

The term "English" is meant to indicate a particular "spin" imparted to a billiard ball to cause it to curve or react in an unusual fashion.

On a tube tester, the term implies adding or subtracting a "factor" which allows the Good/Bad quality of a tube to be quantified and displayed on the meter.

Think of it as a type of Bias control for quick Good.Bad testing of a tube...

YMMV of course...!!! 73...Jordan VE6ZT
Outposter30 is offline  
Old 24th Jun 2021, 4:59 am   #10
FrankB
Heptode
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Olympia, Washington, USA.
Posts: 663
Default Re: Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

As a Yank, we always used the term "English" as a term of force applied to an object.
As in:
"You need to put more "English" on that wrench to loosen that bolt up."

Yeah- We speak funny here.
FrankB is offline  
Old 24th Jun 2021, 7:09 am   #11
Radio Wrangler
Moderator
 
Radio Wrangler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,799
Default Re: Hickok Valve Tester - "English" control

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stockden View Post
Finally, I seem to have misspelt "Hickok" in the title and text of my initial post. Mods please feel free to correct that to aid future searches.
Spelling twiddled!

Best regards to a Stockden from a Stockton! (somewhat amusing, given the context)

David
__________________
Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done
Radio Wrangler is online now  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools



All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:40 pm.


All information and advice on this forum is subject to the WARNING AND DISCLAIMER located at https://www.vintage-radio.net/rules.html.
Failure to heed this warning may result in death or serious injury to yourself and/or others.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2002 - 2023, Paul Stenning.