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1942 Zenith 12H696 Tube Amp?

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It's probably all one chassis- i.e, the radio and amp all in the same frame.

PP 6V6, though. Can't be bad, IMHO!

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Its not going to make a good stand-alone amp. You're much better off running that old guy for what it is, a fairly nice AM/shortwave radio. It would almost certainly be all on one chassis, and use a field coil speaker. Frequency response is also likely somewhat limited.
 
Appreciate the responses. I think im going to pass. Im looking for a good stand-alone tube amp from an old console unit that will be inexpensive to buy. Any recommendations?
 
dorsett33 said:
Appreciate the responses. I think im going to pass. Im looking for a good stand-alone tube amp from an old console unit that will be inexpensive to buy. Any recommendations?
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I would purchase it. It is worth 20 dollars just for the tube set. Zenith consoles have considerable collector's value even if you don't use the chassis you can make you 20 bucks back and then some. A trick for a electro-mechanical speakers with a bad cone is to wire through a matching transformer a conventional speaker this will get you sound until you can re-cone the original. The field coil is part of the power supply on these old rigs so that must be in circuit.
 
Leave it for real collectors. It is likely old enough to be considered antique piece. When properly restored (should be fully functional and cosmetically perfect) it can fetch few thousand.
 
Hadn't noticed it was an FM set. That makes it more rare, and being made in 1942 also is something of a rarity. Basically all production of consumer goods stopped very shortly after Pearl Harbor.
 
(FM) close to Heart & Home

It is Amazing, and a pleasure to frequently see and to know some history
about the Alpine, N.J. FM transmitting antenna (considered to be the first
type of commercial FM broadcasting facility, being home to several stations)
which is located atop the highest point of the Palisades cliffs, which Itself
towers way above the hudson river. This Tower is less than ten miles from my
home town, and very close to where one of my residences is now. The tower
has been a crucial aviation landmark in the north east corridor since It's
contruction. For some more nut cracking tidbits of fascinating info and trivia,
you can check out this website.(http://www.fybush.com/sites/2005/site-050610.html)
 
It not a complete amp the output transformer is on the speaker ,and the driver section is on the radio chassis .
 
That was Major Howard Armstrong's "Yankee" FM radio network, which was limited to several stations in the Northeast & New England... Armstrong was a genius, he developed the superheterodyne principle that is still used today, & developed most of the principles for FM radio, too. He worked for awhile for RCA, & was buddy-buddy w/David Sarnoff, the ramrod of RCA. But they had a falling-out, mainly over FM, & Armstrong had several patents that Sarnoff refused to pay royalties for. It became a long, drawn-out legal mess, w/Sarnoff's lawyers delaying Armstrong, depleting his fortune, & finally driving him to suicide in 1954. Keep the radio as it is, please...Some old radio nut out there would love to have it...(grin)
 
There are so few of these Armstrong FM radios left in the world thanks to RCA screwing over the Major one in restored and functional condition is something of a holy grail among radio collectors.
 
As a collector of antique radios, here's my opinion: If the Zenith 12H696 is in good enough condition that it can be restored with reasonable effort, I suggest that you preserve it for what it is - i.e., a beautiful antique radio / phonograph, rather than destroy it to get cheap parts.
 
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robert_kc said:
As a collector of antique radios, here's my opinion: If the Zenith 12H696 is in good enough condition that it can be restored with reasonable effort, I suggest that you preserve it for what it is - i.e., a beautiful antique radio / phonograph, rather than destroy it to get cheap parts.
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I can't argue with this. That's exactly what I'd do (i.e, restore it), if I came across an "Armstrong-band-FM" unit like this.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
robert_kc said:
As a collector of antique radios, here's my opinion: If the Zenith 12H696 is in good enough condition that it can be restored with reasonable effort, I suggest that you preserve it for what it is - i.e., a beautiful antique radio / phonograph, rather than destroy it to get cheap parts.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with this post these units should be saved when at all possible.
Keep in mind that the wire insulation in the Zeniths of this era have a tendency to disintegrate after 70 years. You may wind up rewiring the whole chassis.
 
I've used cable ready VCRs to convert the modern FM broadcast band down to the Armstrong pre-war FM frequencies. You open up the VCR, find the 47MHz IF strip (usually a pin on the rectangular shielded can that has the input F connector) and tap it to connect it to a new cable and connector to mount on the back panel of the VCR. Use a coupling cap (like 0.01uF) to block any DC. This in turn feeds the pre-war FM receiver. Tune the VCR to cable channels 97 and 98, and connect an antenna to the preexisting F connector input. Then you should be able to tune in FM stations. The order of stations on the dial will be reversed from what you see on a normal FM radio. Basically the VCR is acting like a block converter. The video and sound detector in the VCR will think it's just noise, but you're pulling the signal off before then.
 
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