aha... now I understand what those 117V filament rectifier tubes were for!

[mhardy6647]

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...




A little mildewy on the outside, but surprisingly clean inside it is.



No, the kitteh was not included, but the spare tube was...