- 2024
- Nov
- 8
An Olson TE-198 C-R Analyzer
(It’s actually a TE-189 device…how did I miss that. Really wearing my stupid hat on this one!)
Olson was a Radio Shack type company from Akron, Ohio. Much like Radio Shack, Lafayette, and Allied/Knight, they sold electronics components, kits, geegaws, stereo equipment, and other related items. Changing fortunes finally did them in during the 1980s, leaving only the name Olson adorning much equipment, as well as some research facilities in Akron.
This particular piece is one of many similar devices from the 1960s, being that of a capacitor leakage tester. This one also does resistors, which is of limited value in an era when VTVMs would have been plentiful, and FET VOMs were just on the horizon. It came to me from the 2024 Findlay hamfest, in about the condition you see it in.
This device is slightly unusual in that it uses a 6E5 tube for the eye and features a meter for leakage. The 6E5 was largely obsolete by the time this device was made, the more common WWII 1629 (still somewhat plentiful today!) being used in other devices of this type. The fact that this came from Japan probably has something to do with it.
The case for this unit is extremely dirty, and appears to have some sort of oily dirt film on it. It’s almost like this unit was in a shop where shop air was being vented around all the time. This came off (mostly) with a good scrub with some dish soap and 409 cleaner. The handle was broken when the unit was received, being a cheap piece of top-grain leather.
The device does power up, the eye tube is acceptable, but the little neon pilot at the bottom didn’t light. The resistor for this is 50k and the bulb has a domed top, so it’s probably something like an A1C. While this isn’t supposed to be re-lampable, it can be. (Edit: This is relampable. I can’t locate the bulb type, unfortunately.)
It’s most certainly a Japanese unit, the Toshiba tube and those Mitsubishi-style resistors gives that away in a heartbeat. The big filter at the bottom even says “Japan” on it.
The filter at the bottom is coated with oil. At first, I thought this device was leaking, but further investigation leads me to believe this just collected oil from the air.
There’s not much going on with this device. 1 tube to provide DC and the 6E5 are the only tubes in the unit. There’s no amplification or buffering of any sort.
As this is a fairly interesting unit (to me) I’m thinking about putting it back into service. Some things will need to be cleaned up, of course - those old capacitors with high voltage on them will probably need replaced, as will those nasty across-the-line caps on the transformer. A new neon bulb can be fitted in, and a good alcohol washing of the components to get the oil off will need to be done. There’s also a lot of cleanup - I’m assuming this one was not a kit but had many intrusions over the years. Some things, like the resistor matrices on the switches are well soldered, but other thing, like the connections to the eye tube are simply a mess.
I don’t think it will take a whole lot to make it work again.
That includes removing the sewing pins from the inside!
Stay tuned!
Next part of this series: https://wereboar.com … t-should-we-replace/