yesterday's free find: General Electric 250 Portable Radio
A vendor at Thriftapalooza was wanting to just be done with everything so offered a bunch of books and this 1946 General Electric 250 radio to a good home. The sucker is heavy to carry around. I was told it works but couldn't be tuned in; my observation is that the electrical relay hums fairly loud but the five vacuum tubes inside do not light up.
I think the culprit is this:
There is a lead-acid wet cell inside!! Radio Museum says that it has to be functional for the AC power to work(!) because it passively regulates voltage and filtering... hmm, unsure if I have the moxie to fix that, but will add water (and see if it needs some sulfuric acid) just in case. Also, replacing the tubes might be in order.
