06-18-2025, 11:17 PM
Arran this set is mechanically identical to the US RCA Victor T8-14 and C8-15, and yes, they chose the 5Z3 rather than an 80. It should actually have had a 5Z4 but it appears that Radiotron could not get enough of those produced to supply both US GE’s and RCA Victor’s needs.
When RCA Victor first rolled out its 1936 line it had four metal tube chassis in it - this one, the 10/11 tube chassis, the 13 tube chassis and the 15 tube chassis. The line had no midrange volume-model radios until just before Christmas, just high end sets and cheap glass-tube midgets and farm sets. I remember hearing somewhere that this was because of the poor production yield for 6A8 tubes. Anyway, since the bigger chassis all required a 5Z3 (hidden in a black metal can so that nobody saw glass in what was supposed to be an all-metal-tube set), it seems apparent that they just kept it the same in the 8-tube chassis for ease of manufacturing.
When RCA Victor first rolled out its 1936 line it had four metal tube chassis in it - this one, the 10/11 tube chassis, the 13 tube chassis and the 15 tube chassis. The line had no midrange volume-model radios until just before Christmas, just high end sets and cheap glass-tube midgets and farm sets. I remember hearing somewhere that this was because of the poor production yield for 6A8 tubes. Anyway, since the bigger chassis all required a 5Z3 (hidden in a black metal can so that nobody saw glass in what was supposed to be an all-metal-tube set), it seems apparent that they just kept it the same in the 8-tube chassis for ease of manufacturing.
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