[Jeffhs]

I had a Zenith Circle of Sound AM/FM clock radio in the '80s that was given to me by a relative after the main power switch lever broke off. I removed the clock (backlit tape, no flipdown digits, definitely not electronic) and installed a pushbutton switch for on/off. The radio worked very well for me through the '80s, then got lost when I moved in late 1999.

I also have a Zenith H480W AM/FM/stereo-FM radio which I purchased new in 1980. The clock is digital (the real deal, down to the persinickety time-setting buttons) and still works, even now, 31 years later, even though the power reserve backup battery for the clock is long gone (dead). The radio, on the other hand, worked extremely well and sounded great for the first 25 years or thereabouts, then I made the mistake of trying to clean the slide pots for volume, tone and balance with Radio Shack contact cleaner (didn't know about Deoxit in those days). The radio now works very well on AM, but is extremely weak on FM; that is, it receives stations, but I have to run the volume all the way up and hold one of the speakers to my ear (the speakers are built into either end of the cabinet) to hear anything. I mentioned this problem once before in a post to this or possibly another thread; the suggestion was made that perhaps the function switches are dirty and need cleaning. I am hesitant to try to remove the chassis from the cabinet because of the dial cord stringing arrangement; I don't have a service manual for this radio, so couldn't restring the dial if the cord came off the tracks/pulleys or snapped.