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  #16  
Old 06-05-2004, 10:10 PM
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drh4683 drh4683 is offline
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One of the finest multband receivers made is the Grundig transistor 6001, known as the satellit 210. This receiver is from 1968 and has great features and supurb sound to any other portable, even to this day its one of the best sounding portable multibands. Just a great radio. As great as they are, I'll still take a zenith TO anyday.
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Last edited by Charlie; 03-26-2006 at 01:35 PM.
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  #17  
Old 06-05-2004, 10:11 PM
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This radio is from around 1970. Grundig transistor 865. Another good quality grundig. Being a cheaper portable, it was made in portugal.
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Last edited by Charlie; 03-26-2006 at 01:32 PM.
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  #18  
Old 06-05-2004, 10:13 PM
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A westinghouse 9 transistor AM SW receiver. Looks nice but horrible sensitivity. Just the nature of the design. I went through it and got it as good as it can get, just a basic low end AM SW portable. This is from 1960.
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Last edited by Charlie; 03-26-2006 at 01:30 PM.
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  #19  
Old 06-09-2004, 04:09 PM
Rock-Ola
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Beautiful collection of multi-band radios! I have the T/O 7000 and I also have a similar Grundig radio but mine is called an Ocean Boy and has a vertical row of pushbuttons for changing bands. It looks about the same size as your Grundig and you're right about the sound quality. I really like the Zenith, but honestly I thing the Grundig sounds better.
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  #20  
Old 06-10-2004, 03:49 PM
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Thumbs up Excellent!!

Thanks, Doug, for sharing all those nice photos and comments with us! It's a very impressive collection!

Last edited by Paula; 10-28-2004 at 10:27 AM.
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  #21  
Old 06-11-2004, 12:58 AM
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Doug,

Those are some slick lookin radios! We are going to start calling you "Mr. Zenith"!
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  #22  
Old 06-22-2004, 04:06 PM
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Thanks for the compliments. I love transoceanics, and you can get them relatively cheap on ebay now. Ive wanted a TO for ever, and never found one before ebay. I always took ads out of the old NG magazines. Went to many garage sales as a kid and never any luck. At that Time finding a TO was more important than a TV. Still never found one around here to this day!
When the ebay demand of the R7000 goes way way down, Id love to have one of those. Those darn things go for $500 which is crazy.
The only other models Id like to get are the 2000 AM FM portable and a 1000-D.

I like the nickname charlie! We can probably all agree that zenith was the best. Too bad they are gone
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  #23  
Old 08-08-2004, 12:28 AM
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That's a groovy lookin Airline! In fact, it looks like the same model Doug has... or at least damn close to it.
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  #24  
Old 11-16-2004, 01:10 AM
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Sony AM/FMs

I have several vintage transistor sets here, but the best ones, IMO, are two Sony AM/FM radios. One is a rather large 18-transistor AM/FM/FM stereo portable (model MR-9700W), the other a smaller AM/FM 3-volt portable (model TFM-7720W). The AM/FM/FM stereo radio sounds like a console, and has incredible bass for a portable mainly because of its large solid wood cabinet (the sound quality is great, second only to my 1963 Zenith K-731 seven-tube AM/FM receiver).

The smaller three-volt portable works well, but has an intermittent somewhere as the sound will cut in and out at random. I can bring it back simply by tapping the volume control, so I suspect either the control itself is defective or noisy or else there is a bad connection on the PC board it is soldered to. I hope the problem is just a noisy control, though, as I don't look forward to tearing the set apart to resolder bad connections around it. That is, I can do it if need be, but I'd rather not if I can possibly avoid it.

I also have a late-1960s vintage Aiwa AM-FM portable that works very well; the only problem is, I can't find it--yet, anyhow. Probably stored away in a box somewhere around here. Liking radio as much as I do, and since the set works, I wouldn't dream of putting it (or any of my vintage radios) out with the trash.

The power supply for the TFM-7720W receiver seems sorta' odd (to me, anyhow). The set will work on AC or two 1.5-volt size D flashlight cells; the latter is why I say this set's power source is unusual. Most larger portables use at least four C or D cells (my late-'60s Aiwa portable, mentioned above, uses four C's for 6 volts; the MR-9700W stereo receiver uses four D-size flashlight cells, also for a total of six volts). How did Sony manage to design the TFM-7720 to operate on just three volts? The set has a tuning indicator (most likely a small, perhaps grain-of-wheat bulb behind a small rectangular red lens on the tuning dial--I doubt very much it's an LED, given the radio's vintage) which I'm sure eats up power like crazy when it is on (this would explain why this radio has been designed to use D-size batteries, as these are capable of higher current output than C or penlight cells).

BTW, at my former home, some 20 years ago, I had a small Japanese-made portable (AM, FM, and two shortwave bands) that looked an awful lot like one of Zenith's Interoceanic models. I was reminded of this when I saw a pic of a later-vintage Zenith Interoceanic in one of Doug's posts, earlier in this thread.

Also, Heathkit offered an AM/FM/SW set in the early '80s, IIRC, which looked like a knockoff of one of Zenith's later solid-state TO sets. The Heathkit set, I swear, was a dead ringer for the Zenith, as the Heathkit had the same rotating drum dial, front-panel layout, etc. as Zenith's solid-state TO. I think Heath may have offered their version of this set after Zenith bought out Schlumberger in the early '80s or thereabouts.
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Last edited by Jeffhs; 11-16-2004 at 01:15 AM.
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  #25  
Old 04-29-2005, 03:09 PM
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My latest ebay score: Zenith Royal 1000-1

Quote:
Originally Posted by drh4683
I enjoy the zenith transoceanics as much as I do their televisions. The great thing about zenith is that their TVs and radios show the same care and pride in craftsmanship and performance. Here is a Royal 1000-1, 1958. This radio was made from 1957-1962. You could also get a royal 1000-D which is the same radio with LW band, available in 1959 (I think?).
Doug, I like Zenith radios and TVs too (have for years), as I've mentioned before in this forum. I just received via UPS this morning a Zenith Royal 1000-1, which I scored on ebay a couple weeks ago (the seller said he didn't ship the radio immediately after the end of the auction because he was busy around his home; I still gave him positive feedback [the benefit of the doubt, and considering that he explained the reason for the delay] and a B+ rating in the "Comments" section of the feedback form). The radio works very well, picking up stations many of my other sets won't touch (such as CFRB 1010 in Toronto, WBEN 930 in Buffalo, New York, et al.); however, when it arrived I noticed 1) the battery case was missing, and 2) the bandswitch knob was very loose on its shaft; so loose, in fact, that it fell off twice before I went in and tightened the setscrew on it. The third thing, which I don't consider a problem as it can be readily corrected (I'll work on it tonight), is that the radio's case was extremely dirty and the dial drum was very dusty. The chassis was and still is filthy. This radio must have been sitting in its former owner's garage, basement, attic, etc., unused, for years if not decades. The AC adapter socket was also loose. I taped it in against the inside of the cabinet for the time being, but I really should find the proper fastener for it.

The radio had a very low opening bid on it when I came across it on ebay, but another potential buyer outbid me by $1 at first. However, I placed another bid, only to be outbid again and again and again . . . a total of five times. My sixth bid was the high one (unchallenged, as it turns out--in fact, I think I must have been bidding against myself seeing as how I kept getting outbid five times in a row, and within a minute or so of placing each bid), and I won the auction a day and a half or so later. I sent the seller an email earlier this afternoon explaining the missing battery box, loose bandswitch knob and loose AC adapter socket; I don't know how much good that will do, but I'm giving it a shot on the chance that the seller might find the missing battery case, or possibly tell me where I can find a replacement. (There is a three-prong male plug on the radio's chassis which I think the cable from the battery box plugged into, but no matching case.)

I did not include a picture of my new (to me) Royal 1000-1 in this post, as the picture Doug posted of a 1000-1 earlier is the exact model I have. My set sounds great, and as I stated earlier it pulls in AM stations here which many of my other Zeniths (including my R-70) won't touch.

BTW, I decided to fire up my Zenith H511 the other evening, just to see if it still works. It does, in spades. I plugged it into a ground-fault-interrupter outlet in my apartment just in case there was a problem, but I need not have worried or even been concerned, as the radio powered up and played flawlessly as soon as the tubes warmed up. I left it on, tuned to a big-band/standards station in Toronto (CHWO 740), much of the rest of the evening. The set sounds wonderful, even with the speaker cone rather torn up--I can't even notice anything that would even suggest a torn cone, such as garbled or distorted sound.

The TO Royal 1000-1 brings to five the number of Zenith radios in my collection. Except for the H511 and the TO, the other three Zeniths are somewhat less than antique (although my K-731, manufactured in 1963, is getting close at 42 years).
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  #26  
Old 11-07-2005, 08:50 AM
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Bogframe Bogframe is offline
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I have a 1956 Telefunken Bajazzo that's in the process of being repaired that I picked up curbside a month or so ago. Tubes, huge batteries and a plug...what's not to love?
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  #27  
Old 03-20-2006, 12:41 PM
caban
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I have a radio with the same exact design except it is branded with both SounDesign and "Readers Digest".

-Dan.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie
This Sears multiband set runs on 6 C-cells or AC. Plays great! I used to carry this on the ship with me before we got satellite TV. This radio traveled all the way to east Africa providing us tunes and news.

I think I have seen the same set before with the Soundesign badge on it.
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  #28  
Old 03-21-2006, 12:48 AM
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kx250rider kx250rider is offline
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Here's my daily-use radio... Zenith Royal 2000. I read somewhere that this was Zenith's first AM-FM transistor set. Weighs a ton, has color TV type rabbit ears antenna for FM, and has a metal chassis with transistor sockets. Uses 8 D batteries, and no AC provisions. This radio is the only one I have that will receive AM up here in the canyon. We can't get ANY FM or TV, and most AM radios will only pick up one or two fuzzy stations. This one pulls in Bakersfield, CA, and a few Los Angeles stations fairly well.

Charles
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  #29  
Old 03-21-2006, 07:38 PM
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Talking Cool Zenith 2000!

Would not mind having one of those, but I am over my self imposed limit fo 5 portable radios. Got six sets and I am moving. The "wife factor" is kicking in. Dont really want to part with any of them The GE's and both Zeniths are all working sets. As is the Montgomery Ward..Too well I might add. Eric
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  #30  
Old 03-22-2006, 11:04 AM
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Sears Wayfarer

It is a shame that most of the pictures on this thread do not show up ... It would have been nice to have seen all of your radios!

When a little kid, Santa brought me a Sears Wayfarer for Christmas (1972). It has serviced me well through the years, as I went DXing and recorded my finds on tape. And, it worked wonderful as an amplifier (with RCA input) for testing various equipment through the years. It still is in my arsenal, and works well to this day.

While hamfesting one day, I found another rather cheap, and will hold on to that one for parts, if mine ever needs them.

Saw one go on eBay the other day ... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5876622352
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