More Solid State/Circle of Sound

[Nolan Woodbury]

Hope this doesn't get moved to the new 'Dollars and Sense' forum...(although that is an excellent idea) as this post doesn't question value or shipping costs. In this case, both seem very reasonable.

Two solid examples of the 'Circle of Sound' series:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Zenith-Circle-of...QQcmdZViewItem
(New in the box)

http://cgi.ebay.com/SIMPLY-PERFECT-M...QQcmdZViewItem

I haven't won anything from 'Mr Transistor' but I've spoken with him a few times via email. Nice guy.

Two nice 'daily drivers' Zenith fans!

[Tony V]

I had the model like Mr. Transistor has. This is a perfect alarm cock for those of us that are deep sleepers. The alarm is so loud it will startle you right out of bed but has great fidelity too for regular radio listening. Two good examples here!
-Tony

[Chad Hauris]

The original model of the clock radio had a mechanical digital clock and a tuning dial which was lighted and curved in an arc...this is why the dial pointer moves at an angle as the electronic clock model uses the same indicator mechanism but a more modern style dial scale.

The electronic version has a unique battery backup system. It uses a 1.5 volt ni-cd cell which is kept charged by the power supply and then if the power goes out, the 1.5 v cell powers a DC-DC inverter circuit to provide the higher DC voltage to keep the clock oscillator going. Often the ni-cd cell has gone bad over the years, though.

[Nolan Woodbury]

Awhile back I found a brown bakelite "Owl Face" Zenith (Model L518Y) Deluxe alarm clock with an AM radio. Really pretty, like it had never been used. Somebody rigged the clock with a seperate AC line, so (I guess?) you wouldn't have to plug in the radio to use the alarm. Anyway, I've been using it for over six months and it has never failed to work. The clock keep better time than my Tag Heuer wristwatch. My wife still doesn't trust it, so she backs it up with her cell phone.

A shocking lack of faith, I say...

[Filmboydoug]

Pics posted before the auction disappears...

[Filmboydoug]

Next auction...

[Filmboydoug]

Last pics...

[mhardy6647]

I grew up with one of the mechanical (rolling film) Zenith "circle of sound" clocks with the curved radio dial. It had very good sound. I still have it. The clock was replaced once. At this point, all the lights have burned out, so I retired it from alarm clock use after about 30 years :-( I like that old radio a lot.

I found one of the digital versions at the dump a year or two ago. I used it as an office clock/radio, until there was a power failure one weekend that ate up the backup battery. The radio insisted on making a buzzing/whistling sound when turned off, after I replaced the battery and plugged it in again. I took it back to the dump (which, fortunately has a very generous return policy).

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Chad Hauris

The original model of the clock radio had a mechanical digital clock and a tuning dial which was lighted and curved in an arc...this is why the dial pointer moves at an angle as the electronic clock model uses the same indicator mechanism but a more modern style dial scale.

The electronic version has a unique battery backup system. It uses a 1.5 volt ni-cd cell which is kept charged by the power supply and then if the power goes out, the 1.5 v cell powers a DC-DC inverter circuit to provide the higher DC voltage to keep the clock oscillator going. Often the ni-cd cell has gone bad over the years, though.

Chad, I have a Zenith H480 AM/FM/FMstereo clock radio with the electronic digital clock and Power Reserve backup system. The NiCad backup battery is still good, even after 26 years. Unfortunately, however, the FM has mysteriously quit (almost--the tuner must be working, as I can hear signals with the volume all the way up) after I tried to clean the slide pots. AM still works as well as when the radio was new. I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong.

I had a Zenith F472W clock radio with the curved tuning dial and Target Tuning, in addition to the Circle of Sound audio system (the speaker was mounted in the base of the radio). Unfortunately, the radio was lost during a move seven years ago and is probably long gone by now. I should have held on to it, as this was a unique design I have not seen in any other Zenith radio before or certainly since. I have a Sony 3-volt transistor portable, AM-FM, with a tuning indicator in the upper left corner of the tuning dial, but it isn't the same as the Zenith design (although it works on the same principle as the Target Tuning system).