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Zenith Royal 7000 Trans-Oceanic
I picked up this Zenith Royal 7000 (chassis # 18ZT40Z3) Trans-Oceanic at the flea market for $48. This is a USA made radio and appears to be an earlier production Royal 7000. The radio has reception; but, is not as robust as it should be. I'm sure the old electrolytic caps are worn out. It's missing the log book and a good cleaning should be all that's needed to make the cabinet look nice. The battery compartment and antenna are also in good condition. I don't think I did too bad for $48.
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#2
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I posted one of these a few days ago that I bought for $5 at an estate sale. http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=252851 I sold it to a regular customer of mine that collects and restores radios for $72. The chassis # in mine is 18ZT40Z and the log book says copyright 1970.
$48 is a good price if you plan on keeping it. These go for hundreds on the auction site. I haven't delivered the radio yet. I could scan the log book and send it to you if you'd like? Its assembled using the plastic ring binding and shouldn't be hard to duplicate at a place like Fedex Office or a local print shop except for maybe the faux leather cover with the metallic logo. Last edited by jwharris; 12-20-2011 at 01:24 AM. Reason: add |
#3
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I got one at a garage sale a couple years ago for $15. Not perfect, but well well worth it. With the logbook.
Very good performer yet-just needs lights. |
#4
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You have a nice Trans-Oceanic. If you can't recap it, Terry DeWick does repair TO sets. You have the best model they made. Beautiful set.
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#5
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I have a Zenith Royal 1000-1 AM/SW radio (no FM) from 1958; won it in an eBay auction several years ago. Still works well and even has its original metal-cased wall-wart that also works well -- even after 54 years. However, I can't believe the Royal 7000, which was introduced, IIRC, in the '60s or '70s, was built even better than any of its predecessors, except possibly the Royal 3000 series of the early 1970s. The '7000 has one advantage over most of the earlier models in that it has FM (a band not included in any other versions of the T/O except the Royal 3000 of the '70s), but other than that I don't see how the '70s models of the T/O could actually have been buillt better than the '50s-'60s ones; for example, the older T/Os had all-metal chassis and socketed transistors. Just before the 7000 went out of production, a version of it (model R7000-Y, once again IIRC), was in fact made in Taiwan -- but the 7000 (no suffix) was made here and was probably the last American-made T/O before Zenith sold out to GoldStar. The 7000-Y was probably loaded with plastic and had the transistors soldered in. Please correct me if I am wrong about any of this, but I seem to remember reading somewhere (likely here) that Zenith's radio plant moved from Chicago to the Orient about thirty years ago, which was the beginning of the end as far as the company's radios (and very shortly thereafter televisions) were concerned. The Zenith name and famous lightning-bolt logo now exist only as marketing symbols on flat-screen televisions not even built by Zenith.
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Jeff, WB8NHV Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002 Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten. |
Audiokarma |
#6
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I think the 3000 came along somewhere around '61 and was discontinued in '68, in favor of the 7000 models.
In '89, I bought a mint 3000 from a ham who was giving up the hobby and moving into an assisted living home. The $35 I gave him seemed like a lot to a 12 year old at the time; but, I now realize that was a bargain. For some stupid reason, I ended up selling that radio and I've kicked myself several times for doing that. Concerning Zenith foreign made radios, I know they were being made as early as '72 because I have a '72 AM/FM clock radio that was made in Korea. It's an OK radio; but, it is no where near as good as the USA built Zenith's of just a few years before.
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http://www.youtube.com/user/radiotvphononut |
#7
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Quote:
BTW, that ham radio operator from whom you bought the Zenith Transoceanic radio need not have given up the hobby entirely unless he had health issues or other problems that forced him to do so. (Worst case, he could have operated a 2-meter handheld transceiver through a local repeater, thereby remaining active in a hobby he must have enjoyed immensely, as I do.) If he had access to or owned a computer, he could have continued in ham radio by using a program called EchoLink. This software, developed by a ham (Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD) in New England, allows licensed amateurs to communicate by voice with other hams in much of the world and all 50 states here in the US. I have EchoLink on my computer but have yet to use it for anything but testing; I myself had to give up my 100-watt ham station when I moved (not by choice) to an apartment 12 years ago. Was off the air for about a decade, then discovered EL, downloaded the software, and was back "on the air", digital style. I did make one contact via EL about a year ago (IIRC), through a Cleveland FM amateur repeater station, but for some reason I haven't used the Echolink system since. (One of these days . . .) The microphone sits on my desk between my calculator and telephone.
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Jeff, WB8NHV Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002 Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten. |
#8
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It's a cheap white plastic basic clock radio with a non-digital clock.
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http://www.youtube.com/user/radiotvphononut |
#9
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The Royal 3000 was introduced in 1963 and discontinued in 1971.
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