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Zenith Trans-Oceanic

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I pickup this unit up in Colombia probably about 1980. Traded my National NC-57 for it.

It sits on a short shelf in my shop...covered in dust...used to use it a lot..especially if there was a game the guys wanted to hear during one of our Friday Ops sessions for the outdoor railroad.

Probably hasn't been powered up in 5 years...the band selector was really touchy...stack of rotary wipers like on an old TV tuner.

Last night I took it down, cleaned it off, opened it up, cleaned the switch with spray contact cleaner, spun it a dozen times in both directions.

Fired it up...speaker really "rattly"....pulled the speaker..thin foam on inside of metal grille...completely disintegrated...pull all the bits out, re-assembled, works fine...think I'll use it again.

Funny how these old units are repairable...has transistors, and they plug into sockets, not soldered.

Maybe I can mount it in the console of the Jag.
 
Pics?

I used to have, many years ago, an RCA "AR-88"... beautiful but huge, WWII-era, beast.
 
I still have a big Hallicrafters in the basement that works.
I'll get some photos.
 
Wow - someone else has a Trans Oceanic!

Mine (ca. 1947) still works - but I live in a valley so there's not much to listen.

View attachment 46514

Dave - have you figured out how to use the two external antennas?

Tom
 
HERE is the AR88. It was a real work-horse back then. When first got my amateur radio license, I used it as my primary receiver. Must have weighed 150 pounds. Of course, back in the day, I enjoyed listening to short-wave in general.
 
I used to do SWL on my NC-57 all the time.
Had QSL cards from all over the world.
 
TOC said:
I used to do SWL on my NC-57 all the time.
Had QSL cards from all over the world.
Click to expand...

In High School I was into CB radio. Had a General MC-6 with a Brewer Labs 150W linear Amp (not exactly legal) and a 4 Element Quad "Big Gun" antenna. I used to "shoot skip" all over US and occasionally other countries. I think my furthest QSL card was from Australia (I was in Denver). One wall in my bed room was covered with cards in those clear plastic holders that came in sheets. Yeah, I was a nerd, but it kept me away from drugs LOL!
 
NutmegCT said:
Wow - someone else has a Trans Oceanic!

Tom
Click to expand...

Curse you all, when I was growing up, every Dutch home had an AM/FM/SW Blaupunt or Grundig or Telefunkin large radio - off to Kijiji to look.... (more stuff)
 
Here's a Grundig very similar to ours from the late 1950s:

radio_Grundig_2066PX_restored_09oct2007.jpg


nyah nyah nyah

View attachment 46518
 
Hallicrafters SX-99 with a homebrew oscillator circuit built in so I could flip a switch and dial in a freq to "unscramble" SSB. Had QSL cards from BBC London and Moscow, too.

Never got my license, I blame onset of puberty for that. :smirk:
 
We had a Grundig we brought back from Germany, It was a console model with a record changer built in.
 
At some point we had a Grundig, and a Telefunkin...and a Wollensac tape deck in a leather carrier like a fat briefcase....the Wollensac I still have if anybody wants it.
National, Hallicrafters, Magnavox, Zenith....I would have to sit down and have a think about others.

I had a metal suitcase once....I think is was thin wood covered by thin sheet metal....that I rigged with A, B and C batteries, through an octal plug, to plug into the National...put handles on the National, carried it to picnics with a whip antenna.....
 
Still maintain my license (N7ALJ) though I never use it anymore. I've got a nice Kenwood transceiver gathering dust (from HF days).
 
My brother collected and sold Trans-Oceanics on E-Bay.
I bought a Telefunken Rondo back in the 1950's. It's in my playroom right now. Operates perfectly. I also have a 1930's GE AM-SW cathedral radio in my workshop but it needs work and only gets the local station and WCBS.
 
I bought a bakelite Grundig made for the US market at a hamfest a few years ago for $20. AM/FM/SW and input jack, had seven or eight tubes including a tuning eye that I thought was the coolest thing in the world. Trouble was that the amplification circuit had more than a few issues that included dry caps. I was always a bit too timid to touch it, so I ended up giving it to another enthusiast who would likely have it repaired. Wouldn't mind having one of those, the equivalent Roberts, or a nice T-O.
 
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