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Post by don on Jan 30, 2023 22:46:14 GMT -5
I am about to start testing this old beauty out. I need to check the tubes and capacitors, hopefully not needing to replace too many, put on a new power cord and slowly bring her up to operating voltage on the variac. Wax the cabinet and put her to use. I love Zeniths.  |
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Post by urbino on Jan 30, 2023 22:52:06 GMT -5
Wow, that's a beaut! Do you know what year it's from? Are the buttons/knobs Bakelite?
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 30, 2023 22:59:33 GMT -5
Very nice. I'll bet that all the caps are shot, and probably most of the resistors. But it was made to be repaired. 👍👍
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Post by urbino on Jan 30, 2023 23:02:34 GMT -5
It just occurred to me: do these old radios work, given that broadcasters have switched over to digital signals?
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 30, 2023 23:17:12 GMT -5
It just occurred to me: do these old radios work, given that broadcasters have switched over to digital signals? It's got shortwave. |
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Post by turbocat on Jan 30, 2023 23:28:40 GMT -5
Nice. I had a Zenith Owl Eyes radio that I gave to a friend to get it working again and he got evicted and my radio disappeared in the process. I miss that radio.
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Post by urbino on Jan 30, 2023 23:43:01 GMT -5
I bet somebody, somewhere on the internet is selling a little box to convert digital broadcast to analog. All you'd need is a cheap DAC chip and maybe a resistor to attenuate the signal. Wire it right in to where the antenna leads were in the old radio.
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Post by don on Jan 31, 2023 0:04:20 GMT -5
Wow, that's a beaut! Do you know what year it's from? Are the buttons/knobs Bakelite? 1938 if I remember correctly. |
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Post by don on Jan 31, 2023 0:06:19 GMT -5
Very nice. I'll bet that all the caps are shot, and probably most of the resistors. But it was made to be repaired. 👍👍 I am sure the electrolytics are leaky and out of spec, but sometimes they surprise me. I will most likely re-cap it anyway. Tubes are easy. Sometimes those push-buttons are pretty ratty. Should be a fun one. |
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Post by don on Jan 31, 2023 0:07:56 GMT -5
It just occurred to me: do these old radios work, given that broadcasters have switched over to digital signals? I listen to local AM broadcasts all the time on my old radios. Baseball games are perfect on an old tube set. I might get a low power AM Bluetooth transmitter and run old radio shows through it. |
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Post by urbino on Jan 31, 2023 0:10:51 GMT -5
It just occurred to me: do these old radios work, given that broadcasters have switched over to digital signals? I listen to local AM broadcasts all the time on my old radios. Baseball games are perfect on an old tube set. I might get a low power AM Bluetooth transmitter and run old radio shows through it. That sounds pretty heavenly, actually. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 31, 2023 0:11:56 GMT -5
I listen to local AM broadcasts all the time on my old radios. Baseball games are perfect on an old tube set. I might get a low power AM Bluetooth transmitter and run old radio shows through it. That sounds pretty heavenly, actually. The way baseball was meant to be heard! 😁 |
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Post by don on Jan 31, 2023 0:15:26 GMT -5
Nice. I had a Zenith Owl Eyes radio that I gave to a friend to get it working again and he got evicted and my radio disappeared in the process. I miss that radio. My grandfather had one of those. Like this one. Not sure who ended up with it. I have his Zenith table radio. It is a much simpler set than the one I am getting ready to work on. It stopped working in 2010 a few weeks after he passed. I still need to get it running again. He had a small town full-service garage in Kansas and sold Buicks, Zenith radios and Whirlpool appliances there. He definitely appreciated quality. I often ponder restoring an old Buick.  |
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 31, 2023 0:45:42 GMT -5
Before there were transistors, I had a crystal radio. I used it to listen to the Indy 500 in elementary school. AJ Foyts nephew was at the next desk and he was getting updates from me. It was a rocket shaped thing with the antenna sticking out of the nose cone. You tuned it by moving the antenna in and out. Had an earbud before earbuds were cool.
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Post by don on Jan 31, 2023 1:52:01 GMT -5
Before there were transistors, I had a crystal radio. I used it to listen to the Indy 500 in elementary school. AJ Foyts nephew was at the next desk and he was getting updates from me. It was a rocket shaped thing with the antenna sticking out of the nose cone. You tuned it by moving the antenna in and out. Had an earbud before earbuds were cool. I built one with a Radio Shack kit in about 1973. I always had a small transistor radio under my pillow. Listened to a lot of AM radio stations at night. CBS Radio Mystery Theater was a regular thing for me, as was the Doctor Demento Show. |
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Post by turbocat on Jan 31, 2023 2:02:02 GMT -5
Before there were transistors, I had a crystal radio. I used it to listen to the Indy 500 in elementary school. AJ Foyts nephew was at the next desk and he was getting updates from me. It was a rocket shaped thing with the antenna sticking out of the nose cone. You tuned it by moving the antenna in and out. Had an earbud before earbuds were cool. I built one with a Radio Shack kit in about 1973. I always had a small transistor radio under my pillow. Listened to a lot of AM radio stations at night. CBS Radio Mystery Theater was a regular thing for me, as was the Doctor Demento Show. Same here, I couldn’t wait to hear the CBS Radio Mystery Theater and I always enjoyed the Doctor Demento show. I was given a small transistor radio, a Realistic, that had been dropped and the case had broken into pieces. I took the speaker and board and fixed them into a margarine container. Worked fine. |
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Post by oldcajun123 on Jan 31, 2023 9:45:40 GMT -5
 In the fifties we moved to Brownsville Texas, Dad was shrimping , my parents went to a Sears and Robuck and bought a console radio, and record player, the radio had a short wave band in it. Dad would go out for 30 to 35 days shrimping, we would start listening to the short wave, he would tell another boat when he was coming in and we would be at the pier waiting for him. Brand name was Silvertone, shot it with my .45 but that’s another story. Picture later, drinking coffee now.
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Post by Plainsman on Jan 31, 2023 11:39:08 GMT -5
I was 14 when we got TV. Radio had been the medium for me. Fibber McGee & Molly, Mr Keane Tracer of Lost Persons. “What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! Bwa-ha-ha-ha.” Amos & Andy. The list goes on. Etc. Etc. Some may still remember.
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Post by don on Jan 31, 2023 12:58:40 GMT -5
I was 14 when we got TV. Radio had been the medium for me. Fibber McGee & Molly, Mr Keane Tracer of Lost Persons. “What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! Bwa-ha-ha-ha.” Amos & Andy. The list goes on. Etc. Etc. Some may still remember. All the classic radio shows were gone by the time I was a young boy, but the Radio Mystery Theater got me interested in classic radio shows. Here in the Denver area we always had a station that would play a few hours each night of classic old time radio. Now I just get my shows with my phone. My favorites: Gunsmoke, The Sixshooter, Dimension X, X Minus One, Suspense, Lights Out, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, The Great Gildersleeve, The Bickersons, Jack Benny, Have Gun Will Travel, The Mysterious Traveller, The Whistler. |
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Post by turbocat on Jan 31, 2023 14:30:38 GMT -5
For those who aren’t aware, archive.org has an incredible library of old radio shows of all kinds that can be listened to and downloaded for free.
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Post by Darin on Jan 31, 2023 14:53:42 GMT -5
She's a Beaut!
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 31, 2023 14:54:57 GMT -5
We got our first TV when I was 5. I'm sure the family must have listened to radio, but I don't remember ever seeing one before I got a used GE clock radio when I was about 10. I had a record player of my own when I was about 3 or 4 and my sisters played 78s for me. We were poor. 8 kids in an old house that the wind blew through the walls and floors. And the roof leaked. My dad was able to buy us a nice house just before he died. Our first TV was a 14 inch on tall legs. It would be banned today as unsafe. The picture was awful at best.
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Old Radios
Jan 31, 2023 14:56:03 GMT -5
via mobile
don likes this
Post by Ronv69 on Jan 31, 2023 14:56:03 GMT -5
In the fifties we moved to Brownsville Texas, Dad was shrimping , my parents went to a Sears and Robuck and bought a console radio, and record player, the radio had a short wave band in it. Dad would go out for 30 to 35 days shrimping, we would start listening to the short wave, he would tell another boat when he was coming in and we would be at the pier waiting for him. Brand name was Silvertone, shot it with my .45 but that’s another story. Picture later, drinking coffee now. I worked on shrimp boat. One day. Because I couldn't get off. |
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Post by Plainsman on Jan 31, 2023 15:00:20 GMT -5
My grandad ran three boats out of Aransas Pass.
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Old Radios
Jan 31, 2023 15:03:46 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Ronv69 on Jan 31, 2023 15:03:46 GMT -5
My grandad ran three boats out of Aransas Pass. It MIGHT be better if you own the boat. But I'll pass. |
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Post by oldcajun123 on Jan 31, 2023 15:17:09 GMT -5
The owner of 75 shrimp boats Mr Versaggie, was impressed with Dad, he could weld, splice wire cable, plot a course, many shrimpers were not educated. He told Dad you are the boss, no more going out. Dad told him his heart was back in Cajun land, so back we went.
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Old Radios
Jan 31, 2023 15:19:34 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Ronv69 on Jan 31, 2023 15:19:34 GMT -5
The owner of 75 shrimp boats Mr Versaggie, was impressed with Dad, he could weld, splice wire cable, plot a course, many shrimpers were not educated. He told Dad you are the boss, no more going out. Dad told him his heart was back in Cajun land, so back we went. Port Aransas used to be a nice but isolated place, but it's not south Louisiana. |
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Post by oldcajun123 on Jan 31, 2023 15:35:06 GMT -5
 Silvertone, SearsRobuck !
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Post by oldcajun123 on Jan 31, 2023 15:36:38 GMT -5
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Post by oldcajun123 on Jan 31, 2023 15:37:15 GMT -5
Hole where I shot it !
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In the fifties we moved to Brownsville Texas, Dad was shrimping , my parents went to a Sears and Robuck and bought a console radio, and record player, the radio had a short wave band in it. Dad would go out for 30 to 35 days shrimping, we would start listening to the short wave, he would tell another boat when he was coming in and we would be at the pier waiting for him. Brand name was Silvertone, shot it with my .45 but that’s another story. Picture later, drinking coffee now.
