Zenith Royal 1290! Finally!!
 

I realize its pretty big $, but Ive been waiting for a royal 1290 forever! This is zeniths very first all transistor TV, 1966 and was made only in 66-67. Ive got a factory zenith 3 ring sales binder with all kinds of info on this set. Ive never seen one in person and this is zenith land! I must have this set!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...159231076&rd=1

That's pretty remarkable Doug, have never ever heard of or seen such a set!

Wow - very nice looking set - you'd swear that thing was brand new! I've never seen a solid state set with no printed circuit boards before. I know Zenith was big on the hand wired chassis, but I was under the impression that by the time they got to solid state, they had gotten to printed circuit boards as well. I've got a couple of Zenith hybrid portables, little 12" sets that are part tube, part solid state. IIRC, the video and IF sections were solid state, and tubes were used for the audio, AGC, HV and the sync stuff. But those sets make use of printed boards, mounted to the chassis.

-Ian

Hey Doug:

I actually have one of those sets. I got it back in the late 70s or early 80s when I worked for a Zenith dealer. It came into the store, not working of course, and the customer didn't want to stick anything into it and left it there. I knew it was Zenith's first transistor set and took it home. It is in good cosmetic condition. Someday I will have to pull it apart and see if I can get it working again.

Steve