Howard and RCA Radios Awaiting Restoration

While I was in the shop this morning taking a quick picture of the Piedrita phaser before work, I also grabbed a couple of radios off the "to-do" shelf and took pictures.  These are part of the "awaiting restoration" queue that has been at a standstill for a couple of years.  Maybe these will get me motivated to work on them.

This one is a Howard Model 68, from 1937.  This is a 3-band set, with two shortwave bands in addition to the broadcast (MW) band.

It uses a 6B5 twin triode in the output stage.   One triode is the driver, and is directly connected to the second triode, which is the output.

The cabinet is in good shape.  It does need some regluing of a couple of panels, and it needs to be grain filled and finished.  Fortunately all the knobs are present also.

The main attraction is the huge dial.  Fortunately it's in good shape as well.

The radio also has a tuning "eye" tube. 

The bad news is that the power transformer is kaput.  I opened it up when I first got it and discovered that the PT leads are melted.  Someone had replaced the filter caps, and from the appearance of things, put them in backward, overstressed the transformer and that was that.

The good news is that I have two donor sets with power transformers that should substitute into this one.

Here's another set.  This one is an RCA T62 from the early 1940s.  Broadcast and one shortwave band, plus an eye tube.  Note the pushbuttons to save six favorite stations - very common on sets from this time frame.

Under the controls is a decal that says "Designed for TELEVISION Connection."  Quite a few sets of this era had an auxiliary input to connect a phonograph to - and manufacturers, anticipating the oncoming advent of television, advertised them as a TV input.  Pretty much a marketing gimmick, I think.  Did they think TVs wouldn't have their own built-in speakers?

I don't think I will need to refinish the cabinet.  It has some dings, but the original finish is in very nice shape, and the original grill cloth is in excellent condition.

This one is in decent shape electronically - it just needs to be recapped and aligned.

The downside is that one of the pushbuttons is missing.  I may take a shot at casting one on my own.