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Old 08-01-2009, 11:40 PM
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Zenith itty bitty "owl" transistor radio w/earpiece

I know you are gonna want to see pictures of this, hope I can find it. I bought a little Zenith transistor radio at a garage sale a year or 2 ago, It is very small, about maybe 1 1/2" wide x 2 1/2 tall, yellow with an "owl" decal on the front . Has a little ear piece for a speaker. Anybody know of or about these? I'll go see if I can dig it up.........
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Old 08-02-2009, 11:15 PM
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pictures added, that is a phono cartridge for another reference to the size of this little radio. john
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File Type: jpg zenith owl 005.JPG (97.4 KB, 23 views)
File Type: jpg zenith owl 006.JPG (89.9 KB, 19 views)
File Type: jpg zenith owl 007.JPG (98.6 KB, 26 views)
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Old 08-06-2009, 05:56 PM
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When it rains, it pours... Owls apparently

Snagged this little guy at a GS last weekend for 2 bucks. Everyone seems to think he looks like the owl in the movie "Clash of the Titans".

His eyes are the volume control and tuner, and his feet are made of some kind of metal (not gold !

My wife won't let me sell him.

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Old 08-07-2009, 07:35 AM
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The Zenith owl was made in the early seventies--part of some promotion.
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Old 08-07-2009, 02:45 PM
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Interesting. I never saw a Zenith radio like that one before now, although I have seen the smaller 2-transistor sets with the owl design on the front; the latter show up on eBay every once in a while. The Zenith Royal 500 series radios are also sometimes referred to as "owl eyes" sets, because of the large knobs and the half-moon dial scales on the front panel.

I don't blame your wife for not letting you sell your Zenith "owl" radio. It seems to be one of a kind, so I'd hold on to it. Being a Zenith from the early 1970s, this set should work well for you; good sensitivity and selectivity, and excellent sound as well. Zenith radios, until the so-called "bitter end" when the company ended radio production forever in 1982, were known for their very good sound fidelity; the better tube sets had volume and tone compensation, plus a true tone control that varied the entire response curve of the audio stages rather than just cutting down the high frequencies, as do most modern tone control circuits).

BTW: I don't know how good or bad the sound was from Zenith's last table radio, the G430W from 1982. This radio had a tuning meter, slide controls for bass, treble and volume, and a device on the back cover they referred to as a "bass booster", although I have a sneaking suspicion it was simply an air chamber leading from the speaker to the back of the radio; it may or may not have contributed anything to the sound fidelity. However, never having owned a G430W radio (I've only seen pictures of it on eBay and elsewhere), I am taking a wild guess at best as to how the bass booster actually worked or if it really improved the audio quality.
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Old 08-07-2009, 03:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffhs View Post
I don't blame your wife for not letting you sell your Zenith "owl" radio. It seems to be one of a kind, so I'd hold on to it.
Sorry for the confusion- the owl radio I posted a pic of is not a Zenith- they seem to be called "Midnight Owl Radio". I found a completed auction (no affiliation) with the instructions booklet out on "thePay".

There are no other indications of the maker (though I haven't opened him up to look inside- his wings and head are thin and shiny metal so I really don't want to risk damaging him.

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