[MrFixr55]

Boy oh boy, you can't tell the players without a scorecard. Fisrt off, really nice job and a really nice radio, Peter.

Looking up a GE A-87, that is a GE-designed set with 2 6F6s, but a Canadian GE A-87 is the equivalent of an RCA T8-14 or in your case, a C8-15. Yeah, dunno why they used a 5Z3 but the power transformer looks big enough for it. Usually, you needed a 20watt or higher output stage to justify these tubes. Also don't know why the shield on the 5Z3 rectifier. RCA used shielded type 82 or 83 mercury vapor rectifiers in their high power consoles in 1933 / 1934 because they were mercury vapor and needed to shield the tube to prevent radiation of noise interference from the rectifier.

The term "Kenotron" was coined by GE to describe rectifier tubes that they were developing (See Tyne, Saga of the Vacuum Tube, pg141, 142). in late 1913 they coined the term "Kenotron", "Keno" being Greek for "empty" to describe diodes. For triodes, thy used the term "Pliotron", "Plio" being Greek for "more". I don't know when they dropped the term but possibly after the formation of RCA in 1919. In 1921 Westinghouse referred to their WD11 and WR21 tubes as Aeriotrons, as their new consumer receivers (other than the RA / DA or RC) were referred to as Aeriolas. By 1922, all GE and Westinghouse tubes sold through RCA were referred to as "Radiotrons" unless branded as Cunningham Radio Tubes. (ET Cunningham, a tube manufacturer, became a distributor of RCA tubes and eventually a division of RCA as part of lawsuits and countersuits).

It is possible that the RCA brand was not used in Canada until later. RCA was formed to receive the USA assets of Marconi, which did not occur in Canada. I have an RCA Victor R-28, ca 1933, but being that it is from Canada, it was branded "Victor Talking Machine Company". Canadian GE may have used the term "Kenotron" and Pliotron for longer periods of time in Canada than they did in the US.