The tube you saw lighting (the rectifier tube for AC operation) is the only tube you should be able to see lighting unless you are in a completely dark room. Battery radio tubes have very small very dim filaments to maximize battery life. Tube era electronics should always have the electrolytic and paper dielectric capacitors changed (they age like milk), and usually should NOT be plugged in before that...If you want to plug unrestored tube electronics in, then you need a dim bulb tester and or metered variac to minimize risk of the caps taking out other much harder to find parts. The "rocket cone" is basically a screw driver guide for that trimmer capacitor screw adjustment...The trimmer capacitor is for optimizing antenna coupling during alignment. Alignment should not be messed with until the caps are changed and basic operation is achieved.
Thanks for the information about the glow I expected to see in the tubes. Thanks also for explaining the 'rocket cone'! At least I had a clue that it was for adjustment and I guess I should have figured from its location that it was related to the antenna.
