02-13-2015, 12:25 AM
I see it's a Canadian built version of the one in the gallery, which they decided to call the 212, it should be listed in the Radio College manuals or RCC. Now things to watch for, one important one would be deteriorating rubber/gutta percha covered wire, particularly on the IF transformer leads and the battery cables, there should not be much under the chassis other then that. This set looks like it uses a pair of 1A5 tubes connected in push pull by using Philco's infamous screen grid inversion trick, it's a cheap way to gain more audio output without using a phase inverter tube or an audio interstage transformer, better then a single ended output stage but not as good as a proper push pull output stage. Personally I would rather have an extra RF amplifier stage, tuned or untuned, or an extra If amplifier, but that was something that Rogers or Electrohome would be more inclined to do.
You can test the set by running it off of batteries, it may even still work as the capacitors don't degrade as fast in a battery set as they do in an AC one due to the lack of tube heat. The tube filaments run on 1.5 vdc, which can be supplied by about two or three "D" cells wired in parallel, the plate or "B" voltage can be supplied by a set of ten 9 volt batteries connected in series, connect the 1.5 volt side first to see if the tubes light, then figure out the "B" side. If the battery cable is in good shape you can connect the batteries directly to the plugs with alligator clip leads, if the cable is in any way crumbling do not try this before replacing the cable or disconnecting it from the chassis. Keep in mind though that it may not work as the wires sometimes break internally near the battery plugs, or the solder joints in the pins go bad. These farm battery sets typically work quite well, but the audio power won't exactly deafen you.
Regards
Arran
You can test the set by running it off of batteries, it may even still work as the capacitors don't degrade as fast in a battery set as they do in an AC one due to the lack of tube heat. The tube filaments run on 1.5 vdc, which can be supplied by about two or three "D" cells wired in parallel, the plate or "B" voltage can be supplied by a set of ten 9 volt batteries connected in series, connect the 1.5 volt side first to see if the tubes light, then figure out the "B" side. If the battery cable is in good shape you can connect the batteries directly to the plugs with alligator clip leads, if the cable is in any way crumbling do not try this before replacing the cable or disconnecting it from the chassis. Keep in mind though that it may not work as the wires sometimes break internally near the battery plugs, or the solder joints in the pins go bad. These farm battery sets typically work quite well, but the audio power won't exactly deafen you.
Regards
Arran