Info on Zenith TransOceanic R-7000

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by colortrakker

I'm not signed into eBay so I can't see it. Is this what you're talking about?

I sold my D7000Y (model previous to this one) for $200 in late '03. Not a bad return on someting I only paid $43 for! And a hell and a half of a radio, too.

Yes, I know what you mean. I have a Zenith T-O Royal 1000-1 (Royal 1000 with the AC adapter modification) which was an ebay score a couple weeks ago. It works just great for the type of radio it is (BC/SW only, no FM) circa 1958-1963 or so; however, this was the first transistorized TransOceanic Zenith made, so its design was modified many times as time went on. I don't know whether the D7000Y was made by Zenith in this country or if the company had moved its radio plant to Korea or some other offshore location by the time the '7000Y was introduced, but it wouldn't surprise me if the set was an offshore product. I have a Zenith H480W AM/FM stereo clock radio, circa 1980, which was made in Taiwan, and my Zenith R-70 AM/FM transistor portable was made in Korea the same year as well (it was manufactured to Zenith's standards, however).

As for the Royal series of T-O's, I think the older sets (tube-powered and transistorized) were probably the best of the bunch, but then again, I'd expect them to be such since the original Zenith Radio Corporation of Chicago didn't mess around or cut corners. (My Royal 1000-1 is built like a tank and works every bit as well as the receiver section of my Icom IC-725 ham radio transceiver.) The original solid-state T-Os were made with metal chassis and plug-in transistors, whereas by the time the 7000 series was introduced I believe the sets were being made offshore, which meant circuit boards and wired-in transistors. (My R-70 falls into the latter category, as does my H480 clock radio.)

This was, IMO, the beginning of the end for Zenith as far as its radio/audio division was concerned; it was only a matter of time before the television plant followed suit, although I think one could see the writing on the wall when Zenith began to use circuit modules in its late-1970s color TVs. This was a radical shift from the company's longstanding practice of handwiring their TVs and radio/audio gear, but the times were changing by the '70s, and as I said, the handwriting was on the wall. It would only be a matter of time before the original Zenith Radio Corporation would fade into oblivion; the company made its last radio in 1982 and changed its name to Zenith Electronics Corporation two years later.

Heathkit Electronics bought out Zenith in the mid-'80s or so; by the end of the decade Zenith had changed hands yet again, this time being absorbed by Goldstar which is where the company stands today. There is no Zenith Radio Corp. any longer, GS does not manufacture Zenith-branded radios, and I have a suspicion that they no longer use the Zenith lightning bolt on their TVs either. It is truly the end of an era for the last American radio and TV manufacturer. We will never again see the likes of those magnificent handwired Zenith TVs/radios/hi-fi gear, so if you have older Zenith equipment, by all means hold on to it--they don't make them like that anymore. Every time I see Zenith radios, TVs or hi-fi gear being offered at auction on ebay, I wonder. Don't the sellers realize they are selling pieces of history? Obviously they must not. I see well-made Zenith console stereos, TVs and the like on ebay all the time. I guess the sellers figure they need the room in their homes which was once occupied by these magnificent consoles, so perhaps selling the units is really their only alternative. One thing is certain, in my mind anyway--better they sell those consoles to someone who can repair them or put them to good use than to gut the cabinets and--gasp!-- turn them into fishtanks.