The squares in this image are slightly smaller than they really are. Again, the linked image is HUGE, but I have left it in this format to retain resolution. This is a digital recreation of what the RCA 86K7 should look like with the correct grill cloth. NOTICE: The following images are HUGE for downloading and may take quite some time on dial up connections. Needless to say I opted for a pattern that was common to RCA during the period.įor purposes of historical documentation and as a reference for anyone else who may be restoring the RCA 86K7 I will be posting as many pictures of the original pattern as possible here. I had assumed the pattern was done in Gold on Brown as was so common in the day, but could find nothing even remotely similar to the cross-hatch wave pattern that can just barely be seen in the service manual. Unfortunately the only image I could find showing the original pattern was a black and white image in the 1937 service manual, so the rest was left up to guess work. When I was trying to choose a new grill cloth I searched the internet high and low for any photo of the original cloth. In 1930, RCA Radiotron was started, but some GE products were still rebadged until the mid-1930s, when RCA was fully operational as a manufacturer. I have never seen the original grill cloth. As far as broadcast, all the early RCA transmitters, etc were really built by GE until RCA (now an independent company) bought the Victor Company in 1929 for 154 million. To my utter surprise I found THE FACTORY ORIGINAL GRILL CLOTH UNDERNEATH!! Grabbing the exacto knife (so as not to damage the cardboard backer board) I began carefully lifting the old cloth. The Grill Cloth I ordered from Radio Daze has come in so I figured I would go ahead and change it.Īfter removing the speaker and the backer board for the cloth, I realized that someone has glued the el-cheapo generic grill cloth to the board. The parts have come in so it's time to get back to work.