[jt1stcav]

Paula, you did a fabulous job repairing your unique Zenith. The attention to detail is simply amazing...the final touches on the handle repair had to be tedious, but rewarding (no one would know it was broken before unless they looked very hard for it). I can see why you'd be proud to show it off! Congrats on a job well done!

Gotta love those bakelite Zenith radios...in 2001 I bought this 1953 K-518 (if I recall correctly) on eBay for about $40. I always liked the looks of this classic clock radio, so when I saw this auction, I made sure I'd win (I sniped the winning bid seconds before the auction ended, beating out several other bidders sniping at the same time)! I then had it shipped directly to my dad in CT for restoration. All it's original tubes tested great, all the caps were replaced, along with the burned out bulb. Of course that nasty selenium rectifier was yanked out and a new silicone rectifier installed in its place. It cleaned up nicely, and looks like new inside and out. The deep brown bakelite cabinet is in perfect condition; the only discoloration is the ivory colored rings around the dial and the clock face, which he didn't try to clean up for fear of destroying them. Then he shipped it off to me here in FL, and it now sits proudly in my kitchen. It has an accessory outlet in the back where you could plug in a coffee pot; even though my dad said the outlet tested good, I don't dare use it.

This radio never ceases to amaze me! After a 5 second warmup, my local oldies station is locked on with pinpoint accuracy and zero drift...you'd think this 51 year old radio had a PLL frequency synthesizer IC built in! I use this radio almost daily (it resides on top of the fridge) while I'm eating breakfast, and maybe once a month I have to fine tune the station...not bad!

And the Telechron alarm clock...well, it might as well have a modern Seiko quartz movement installed, it's that accurate! It keeps perfect time all day long without fail, it's amazing how it keeps time exactly, compared alongside the digital quartz clock on the microwave oven. Hell, it keeps better time than my Swiss made Omega Seamaster chronometer (which loses a second or two a day)!

Sorry for the picture (it's the only good one I have at the moment)...my brother was experimenting with the settings on his new Olympus digital camera and decided to take some "vintage" looking pictures of our antiques around the house. He's on vacation now with his camera, so I can't take any updated pictures (I don't own a digital camera for myself yet). Anyway, you get the picture...get it?