[Ron Ramirez]

Seeing Mike the Druid working on his RCA T8-18 made me want to get started on my T8-14. Only thing was, I wasn't quite finished with my Hammarlund HQ-129-X at the time. That project now having been completed, it is time to dive into my other Radiofest 2019 acquisition - my T8-14.

   
As it looked when I brought it home from Radiofest (with a side trip to Clear Lake, Iowa).

   
Partial rear view of the set. Notice the Rating B on the rubber stamped rectangle on the back of the chassis. Also notice the oversized power transformer. More about that later.It has a tag attached to the speaker wiring...

   
Good to know it was OK for shipment from the RCA factory to the RCA dealer...and then from the dealer to the original owner...and from there to knows how many subsequent owners...and, ultimately, to me.

   
A look at the tag inside the cabinet showing the tube layout. While Mike's T8-18 has a tuning eye, my T8-14 has a separate oscillator tube. The entire front end of the T8-14 is laid out sort of like a junior version of a "Magic Brain" chassis. In addition to this, the ratings are explained. Rating "B" indicates it was built to operate on 25 to 60 cycle AC. This is why the transformer seems oversized - it is a 25 cycle transformer.

more...