- 2024
- Nov
- 2
The Aerovox Model 97 LC-Checker
This interesting piece came from the 2024 Cleveland Hamfest for $5. The vendor was selling an estate - that seems to be happening a lot lately - and was just looking to return some cash to the estate itself. He knew nothing about the unit, but I took a chance and picked it up.
Aerovox, of course, is a name you’ll probably see on capacitors in older devices. The name Aerovox is still out there, but it seems to be more of an industrial player instead of a consumer devices company.
The device seems to be fairly standard at first glance, with your normal ranges and dial to tune to the unit under test.
Nothing special about the case.
The back does have a nice cord wrap area, and the cord seems to be still soft.
The probe is the most unusual part of this device, and is a deal-breaker for using the thing.
Its an inductive probe - there was another piece that went inside this loop of copper, so you could make a part connection without actually connecting the electronics of the tester to the part itself. This is kind of cool because it avoids hitting a live or charged device, but it’s also missing the business end of the probe, so the device can’t read anything. I’m sure it could be modified to work, but I have enough checkers already…
The inside is pretty sparse. A big selenium stack, some capacitors, and the oscillator section for actually checking parts. The big banana slicer in the middle dominates everything.
The device does come alive, and switching things makes the eye open and close.
But…that’s about it. Without the probe, it’s nothing more than a shelf queen - or parts. Fortunately, I have someone who would like a display piece, so it goes to them instead of the parts bin.