mhardy6647
10-15-2008, 06:07 PM
Found a very cute little battery/AC Zenith tube radio on the swap pile at the town dump this AM. I figured it was a battery portable, so I was quite surprised to see an AC cord (albeit quite a dry-rotted one), too. Bunch of 1V Loktals and... what's this? A 117Z6. Ahh, I get it! For AC operation, it's a transformerless, series set... all the slack in that line voltage is eaten up by the rectifier's filament; of course the rectifier is unneeded when batteries are used! Pretty cool (if not exactly up to 21st Century safety standards)!
Never really thought about it before...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/mhardy6647/P1030362.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/mhardy6647/P1030361.jpg
A little mildewy on the outside, but surprisingly clean inside it is.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/mhardy6647/P1030358.jpg
No, the kitteh was not included, but the spare tube was...
batterymaker
10-16-2008, 08:46 AM
Those are pretty good radios. Fairly easy to restore--I'd watch for the dropping resistors underneath the chassis, they're usually pretty cooked by now. Rarely have I seen problems with the top-mounted candohm jobs.
The early Trans Oceanics use the 117Z6GT for their rectifiers. I think, starting with G500, Zenith dropped it in favor of a selenium job.
Those sets use a Z-675 battery, which I believe use 6v A, 75v B. And they have a really odd-shaped pin arrangement.
Bill
toxcrusadr
10-17-2008, 04:36 PM
That looks like an MR-500R which I have...although there were several similar looking models. You got a real nice Wavemagnet with that! Geez. How could someone throw that away?
similost
10-17-2008, 04:54 PM
Geez. How could someone throw that away?
I can tell you why. See the top handle missing? It's no longer portable.. :p:
That is a sweet radio. I Love that Wavemagnet too. Seriously great shape..
mhardy6647
10-17-2008, 06:35 PM
Not technically thrown away... it was on the swap pile. This is a Yankee dump tradition. Yankees are famously frugal. The latecomers to their little towns can be a little more careless, though.
wa2ise
10-17-2008, 07:12 PM
I can tell you why. See the top handle missing? It's no longer portable.. :p:
Yes, but this tape machine is portable. http://home.netcom.com/~aa5/radios/sonora-r2r.jpg
See the handle? More like "luggable".... :D
similost
10-17-2008, 07:15 PM
BTW mhardy.. is that by chance a Bengal, or just the color of one from the lighting?
radio63
10-17-2008, 07:27 PM
The inside is very clean! Cool Wavemagnet! Outside looks like it just needs a light cleaning. Those are neat sets. This one should restore very nicely. Great find!
Gilbert
mhardy6647
10-17-2008, 08:07 PM
Nope, it's just the Harpo the Kitteh from Heck. Regular viewers know we have two cats, Timmy and Zappa. Harpo is a Special Guest Kitteh. He belongs to our son's girlfriend. She is living someplace this year that prohibits cats, so we are boarding Harpo. No Bengal he. He is quite round of face and loud of mouth, though.
Yes the inside of the radio is astonishingly clean. The Wavemagnet is cool.