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Old 09-19-2008, 01:47 PM
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Jeffhs Jeffhs is offline
<----Zenith C845
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairport Harbor, Ohio (near Lake Erie)
Posts: 4,035
Quote:
Originally Posted by tune tuner View Post
I got this one recently on eBay, don't have the model number handy. In good physical shape, electrically the VHF PSB bands are very weak, FM is fairly weak but surely usable for local stations. AM and SW are much better. The Channel Master transistor sets I have are dying as I own them, due to aging capacitors. Hopefully this attractive bigger model has some years left in it. Nice solid construction, brings me back in time as I explore the bands on it...

Chuck
That radio reminds me of an "Air Castle" (not to be confused with the Aircastle radios of the 1930s) multi-band (AM/FM/SW/VHF low and high) transistor portable I picked up in the trash in my old neighborhood about 30 years ago. (Regrettably, I don't have it any longer, as it got lost in a move about eight years ago.) Aside from the branding, the differences in the cabinet style, and the use of an eight-position rotary switch as the band selector, my set could have passed for any of the multiband sets which were popular in the '60s-'70s. The set worked like a champ while I had it. I lived in a Cleveland suburb at the time, and this radio could receive every station (AM and FM) from the city just fine. Wish I would have held on to it, as now I live in an area where certain stations either do not reach at all or else they are very weak, almost unlistenable, on some of my radios. I now have a Zenith TransOceanic 1000-1 that I won in an eBay auction several years ago, however, that works every bit as well on AM and SW as, if not better than, my Air Castle portable. The only things my T/O does not have are FM broadcast, as it was made in the late '50s when FM radio in the US was in its infancy, VHF public-service bands, and a tuning meter. Every now and then I think about bidding on a Royal 3000 (a Royal 1000 with FM) when I see one on eBay; oh well. One of these days . . .
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Jeff, WB8NHV

Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002

Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten.
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