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I've posted these photos of the Zenith Rauland picture tube plant before. Just thought they would be of interest to those who haven't seen them.

-Steve D.

It is a shame Doug's pictures are gone. Those of who signed up after the pictures were gone would love to see them.

I drove by the Zenith Austin / Dickens plant about a month ago and it looked pretty desolate. The Google Street View on Austin is pretty recent and gives an idea of its current condition.

I know this is OT but hope you don't mind. It kinda goes along the same lines.

In 2003, my cousin's son went into the Air Force and was at the AF Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. I went there many times to visit. We found the AMPEX building, I think pre-recorded tapes, there. The building was unoccupied and the real heartbreaker (to me) was seeing all of the weeds growing up in the parking lot. We reflected on what had taken place over the decades there. But time marches on.

Back to your regularly scheduled program...

Quote:

Originally Posted by rca2000 (Post 3106010)

The 845 DOES sound good at LOW volume....BUT if you give it ANY gas at all...it "pukes out", due to the amp clipping. If it had 5 or 10+ clean watts of power--it would NOT do so. with maybe 2 watts MAX_-it is like a tiny 4 cylinder 1980's hamster engine car--trying to go up a big hill with 2 large people in the car.....say a Ford exp.

In fact...a couple of people in my radio club call them "dentist-office radios". Seems they were-and maybe still ARE--often found there. Great sound--as long as you don't "gas it".

Adding a decent amp like a 6BQ5-and cold power supply would have turned a sensitive, good sounding at LOW volume radio--into a WORLD CLASS leader !!

Remember the times, and the era. FM airwaves were not a Rock and Roll centric medium. FM was then mostly MOR adult pop, Easy Listening, Beautiful Music, and Classical oriented. AM was the youth band. Most FM stations depended on the SCA subcarrier revenue for their livelihood and the AM sister to stay on the air. FM in cars was very rare. And there were areas of the country where FM was few and far between, in Eastern Tennessee, from the Tri-Cities to Chattanooga, there was less than one dozen FM stations on the air until the great FM build out of 1966/1967 and FM became commercially viable.

Where are the Zenith factory pictures? I clicked both links, but did not see the photos to which everyone was referring.

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxm (Post 3162113)

I drove by the Zenith Austin / Dickens plant about a month ago and it looked pretty desolate. The Google Street View on Austin is pretty recent and gives an idea of its current condition.

The building is only one story or so.
The buildings that are three or four stories are being converted to residential, either condo or elderly housing.
Look what's happening to Motorola's Franklin Park building. :thmbsp:

Quote:

Originally Posted by RayD1942 (Post 3163625)

Where are the Zenith factory pictures? I clicked both links, but did not see the photos to which everyone was referring.

Look in youtube. there were many ads, factory productions &
a great story from the CRT plant. May ads are dupes but they
can show you the changing strategy over the years.
Its too bad there is no dumping grounds for all this stuff.
IIRC there is not even a Zenith club ! For all the interest of there
products from the beginning to end this is a shame.
AND I know Zenith kept a large archive / history dept. Did GS just
dump it or pass it to some university library ??

73 Zeno