I purchased two olson side-bander amateur radios to use the chassis and possibly the power transformer. the unit uses tubes. Is the transformer HV or does it generate th B+ with the use of the vibrator. I do not understand why it uses the vibrator. It does not look like a portable unit. Roy

 

The mechanical vibrator uses low voltage DC, such as 6 or 12 volts, to generate a high voltage AC signal through a transformer. The AC on the secondary side gets full-wave rectified for the B+ supply, which is the plate voltage for the tubes.

 

so the transformer is not HV?

 

The transformer changes the chopped 6 or 12 volts into a high voltage which is called B+.

 

The transformer changes the chopped 6 or 12 volts into a high voltage which is called B+.

Exactly, except it's not called B+ until after it's rectified.