Show us your portable AC/DC multiband radios!

[Jeffhs]

Was the front of the radio damaged somehow? Looks like the entire front panel is full of cracks, as if it had been forcibly struck.

The chassis looks awfully small in relation to the size of the cabinet. Must be packed underneath and a nightmare to work on.

[batterymaker]

Heh--no, the front panel is crackle-finish paint. It's a pretty simple radio for its performance.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by tune tuner

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 . . .

[steerpike2]

>>> Pile Wonder

Sounds like a haemorrhoid lotion!

[batterymaker]

Originally Posted by steerpike2

>>> Pile Wonder

Sounds like a haemorrhoid lotion!

That'd be for "Piles Wonder", but I digress....

[AUdubon5425]

Here's my Sony TR-814 from 1961 I believe - AM and two shortwave bands, *very* good reception on the AM side. Have been enjoying this one for several years.

[noveltyradio.co]

All great looking radios that I see in this thread. Here is my contribution: a great looking Hammarlund:

[Celt]

Here's a curb-find Sony ICF-38 that I got several years ago and have begun to use quite a bit around the house and outside. I found an open tracing at the detector. After a small amount of clean up, a jumper and fresh batteries, it was good to go. Has good sound quality with its 3.75" speaker, decent sensitivity and very good selectivity. Runs on 4 AA's or internal AC supply.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Celt

Here's a curb-find Sony ICF-38 that I got several years ago and have begun to use quite a bit around the house and outside. I found an open tracing at the detector. After a small amount of clean up, a jumper and fresh batteries, it was good to go. Has good sound quality with its 3.75" speaker, decent sensitivity and very good selectivity. Runs on 4 AA's or internal AC supply.

Those Sony radios are great. I have a TFM-7720-W AM/FM portable which I rescued from a dumpster. Works very well, good sensitivity and selectivity, great sound for a small portable. The only problem I'm having with it at the moment is an intermittent somewhere around the volume control. I can restore the sound by tapping on the volume knob on the front panel. I'd try to repair it, but I'm a bit leery of working on circuit boards after having had a bad experience with a PC board in an old TV years ago.

The TFM-7720W is one of those well-built radios you just don't see anymore. While I would not say this radio is built like a tank, it is, IMHO, quite solidly constructed and probably wasn't cheap when it was new in the early 1970s (1973, to be exact).

One thing puzzles me about that radio, though. It runs on two D-size flashlight batteries, which I consider odd since most of these radios use four, six or more C-cells. I have a Zenith TransOceanic from the late '50s that uses nine D-cells -- eight for the radio and one for the dial light. However, my three-volt Sony portable is a mystery to me. How could Sony design this set to operate on just three volts? The audio output isn't that great, probably much less than one watt, and there is only one pilot lamp in the set, for the tuning indicator.

I apologize for the poor picture (my camera takes great pictures for being a 1.3-mp cheapie from Radio Shack, but I was in a hurry so I took the photo on the fly), but I believe it is sharp enough that you can get an idea of what the radio looks like.

[monty55]

Does anyone know the model number of this Channel Master Radio ? I don't have it yet, but need to find the service manual. I've seen this radio posted before. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[tune tuner]

Originally Posted by grayga

RCA Stratoworld
Stromberg Carlson AWP-8
Hallicrafters TW-2000
Silvertone Wayfarer

I have no manuals, tags, brochures, catalogs or other collateral material for any of these radios. I'd appreciate any help you can give and will be happy to pay for copies and/or PC files.

Grayga,
Beautiful radios!

Chuck

[Mark W.]

WELL I have the Heathkit Mohican AM SW my dad built on the kitchen table in the 60's sometime. I only have the battery power supply modual for it but an AC modual was available and I guess I should pickup one off eBay.

It still works perfectly and spends it's days and nights waiting for the power to go out so it can spring to life and give me news and info.

[DecentMan4you]

gee which model should i start with

[mnop]

The best receivers widely available at reasonable prices still seem to be the Zenith Trans-Oceanic (transoceanic) radios. If fm is not important, grab a Royal 1000 from ebay for around $40.00 in working condition. Zenith made around 100,000 of them from 1957 - 1962. Replacement transistors are less than a buck and make 90% of those you find work well. If FM matters, there's the Royal 3000, same price, Zenith made over 150,000 from 1962 - 1969. At the very top of the market is the Royal 7000, an 18 transistor set, usually about $150. These were made from 1969 through 1978. They're all heavy, built to last forever, a pleasure to own and operate. (mac)

[Midnight Blues]

Here's my Zenith Transoceanic, I use it daily, its just a wonderful piece.