Got me a 1948 RCA 8BX6...

[Sandy G]

...Its a 6 tube portable that has bakelite end pieces & aluminum body. Vaguely resembles yr dad's lunchpail. Cord is rotten, will need replacing, & I'm sure the caps are toast, too.. Turns on by opening this little cover that hides the dial & volume knob. Interesting little set, the Antique Store I got it from has an early-60s RCA roundie w/a bad cataract that is "Not for Sale". But the store is closing for good in Feb., I told the guy who ran it NOT to let 'em toss the roundie. I told him what the problem was w/it, then said, "OTOH, tell the guy who owns it that its absolutely NO DAMN GOOD at all, I'd like to make a Fish Tank outta it..." He grinned & winked at me...Hehehehehehe...

[Tony V]

Hi Sandy,
You'll like that radio when you get it going. I have several and they all play well for portables. They have a nice full bodied sound like their big brothers.. not tinny sounding like you would expect from a portable. They pull in the stations well too. The power switches are a little flakey though since they are hooked to the cover. In one of mine the switch was bad so i built one into the volume control pot since i couldnt find a proper replacement. Its not a very complicated set and has plenty of room so it should be an easy resto for ya. Good luck!
-Tony

[Ultra-Hog]

Well looky here what Google turned up! Tonight I pulled out an old radio that my son-in-law found for me at an estate sale last year to give it a once-over. So I decided to do a little research on this thing and guess who pops up? It's an old thread from none other than our good old uncle Sandy! (For those of you that don't frequent AudioKarma, I roam the halls there quite a bit and Sandy is one of my favorite people there -- just don't tell him I said so!)

I was feeling like it might be worth a chance to power up slowly with a variac so I gave it a shot -- and son of a gun if it doesn't work! It obviously needs some work but it pulled in a couple of stations nice and clear and there isn't even any hum. It is otherwise in great condition. I am looking forward to seeing what it will look like after I clean it up. The aluminum is in surprisingly good condition. There are a few small scratches that I think will come out with a little bit of work although I am a bit concerned about removing the scratch and leaving a bigger blemish behind. The fine brushed aluminum finish seems pretty delicate. If anyone has some good ideas or a direction to point me in about that I sure will apppreciate it.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the radio as it was found.











By the way, what is that little spring-return switch to the right of the filter cap? If that is the AC/Battery switch, how is it used? I don't see any way to activate it unless I am missing some piece that gets inserted into the slot.

Edit: never mind, I figured it out. It's the AC plug itself. Clever rascals back then, eh?

[Nick_the_'Nole]

That's a neat little radio. It's surprisingly modern looking, from the outside at least... All it's missing is a few blindingly bright blue LEDs, and it really wouldn't look out of place on the shelves in an electronics store today.

[dieseljeep]

There's several different variations of that model. They were built for four model years. The first run used a 3Q4 instead of a 3V4 and a 1S5 instead of a 1U5. The latest model used a selenium rectifier instead of a 117Z3. I have all three models.

[Einar72]

I have one of those, too. Or do I? Haven't seen it since my divorce. Uh-oh...