Zenith G500: In It's Natural Habitat
 

Alternate title: "Hey, I got one of those!"

When watching old movies on TV my enjoyment is enhanced by watching for vintage radios in their natural habitat. It's like birdwatching, but I don't have leave my natural habitat-- the couch.

Despite the advertising showing the radio at the beach, etc., I always thought of the Transoceanic as a sort of hobbyist radio. But maybe I was wrong.

In this scene from Born Yesterday (1950) actress Billie Holliday is listening to music, but the radio is not shown. Broderick Crawford steps into the scene and abruptly turns down the volume. Holliday picks up the set and walks away. You still can't see the radio, but this piques my interest--what kind of DC portable is this?

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...167a0e38_z.jpg

Voila--it's a new (new because this is a 1950 film) G500 in the home of a wealthy couple.
The scene demanded a DC portable so the actress didn't have to awkwardly unplug the set. My response--"Hey, I got one of those!"

The film won one Oscar and won five Oscars in 1951 but, alas, no mention of the radio.

I have that same radio as well, and mine is is working with almost all of its original components (I replaced a few of the more easily accessible and more critical capacitors but left the ones that weren't too critical to the functionality of the set such as the tone control capacitors in place, it even still has the original filter caps in place and they are still cool as a cucumber yet.)

I'm at the point I have an example of more or less every major electronic/cosmetic revision of the tube and SS transoceanics (except the pre-WWII model) and many of the tube competitors.

A lot of these sets saw use in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Some of these have travel stickers all over them. I wouldn't be surprised if plenty of these lived in ham shacks, but plenty had adventures too.

I felt that in light of the archetype video by Shang066 demonstrating how these T-O's can be improved, I have a few questions:

The G500 (chassis 8G005YT) using 8-pin loctal tubes was in HW Sams 53 or 83 both? Had one and sold it.

The one in the video (A600?) must be the mid-late 1950s, I have a great full-sized factory schematic for THAT one, but not the radio itself:sigh:.

My only T-O is the model R600/6R40 chassis and I would like to get a schematic, but Nostalgiaair does not list one for Riders.

How close are the models of the mid 50s Tom?

Any Broderick Crawford film is worth the time. I understand he also had a
thirst could cast a shadow. Probable why he was so good.

Have seen old style TO's on a few stamps, Bhutan IIRC & others. A late
friend was in the USAF in the late 50's in Alaska. The radio men built
a big box loop, hooked a tube TO to it & when conditions were right
would listen to WSM for the Grand Ole Opry. He was from the Tenn woods so it brought him home for a few hrs.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

I believe they switched from loctal to 7-pin before 1950. Once they switched to 7-pin the chassis were basically the same with different tuning dials and some models having phono input. The mil-spec models had a beefier power supply, and no auto retracting cord.

It's probably been about 5-7 years since I last worked on one of mine.

The recent video by Shang066 highlights how these truly great portables can be improved using non-tubes in form of MOSFETs? I'm already sold on that 3V4! Audio on these was always lacking to save battery power. A ceramic filter in a 1U4, just awesome!

A model A600 is featured in the video. I have an R600 chassis 6R40, which is a few years prior to the A.

Trouble is, I have a great Zenith schematic and parts list for the A600 chassis 6A41

Are the mid 1950s models similar enough that I could use this for my R600?

BTW - I had borrowed this same model from my friends Dad when I was 12. I got a 50A1 and 1L6 (ordered via RS) and of course it came in the mail and, after I got off the school bus, raced home to try them and they worked! I though it was soooo cool back then that I could now "intercept" Radio Moscow and listen to propaganda. I gave it back when asked, by then I had a G500 and SWL was not as interesting anymore:sigh:

I forget the name of the movie, but it was about '51, where some crooks were making a getaway in a car, about a '50 Plymouth. They had a Zenith TO in the front seat, listening to something or other. Anyhow they made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up on a A-bomb test site, and it was about to go off. They swung a U and were haulin ass, and the nuke went off. The car, the crooks, and the poor TO went flipping downrange end over end in the blast wave. That's where the movie ended, IIRC. Anybody recall that movie?

:oOOPs. Double post.

I remember that one too. Probably listening to the police band up around
2 mcs

Not a G500 but I picked up an H500 a couple months ago and I love it! Gave it a recap and it's at least as sensitive as my Tecsun pl880. I'm eyeing that soiled state 1L6 right now as I want to save the hollow state one for the zombie apocalypse

T600
 

This TO was given to me many years ago. It was missing the wave-magnet for some reason when I got it. I replaced it with a ferrite loopstick coil and it seems to work pretty well. It was speckled with white paint which took some time to remove.
I toyed around with the idea of updating it by adding a BFO and S-meter in the space below where the batteries are supposed to go.
Maybe put LED dial lights in and add an FET pre-amp and digital frequency display.