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Old 04-28-2004, 12:49 PM
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Show us your portable AC/DC transistor radios!

This early 70's Panasonic RF-1600 has IMPRESSIVE sound! The bass and trebble response is damn-near HI-FI like. The set is AM/FM/SW/AIR/VHF running on 4 D-cells or 120v AC. It has a really cool lighted tuner drum that turns when you select the band. That way, you only see the scale for the band you choose. This radio is HEAVY... even without the batteries!

Only two drawbacks with this set... the antenna is broken (but still picks up well), and there is a dent on the front.

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Last edited by Celt; 04-27-2018 at 06:51 AM.
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Old 04-28-2004, 01:04 PM
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This Sears multiband set runs on 6 C-cells or AC. Plays great! I used to carry this on the ship with me before we got satellite TV. This radio traveled all the way to east Africa providing us tunes and news.

I think I have seen the same set before with the Soundesign badge on it.

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Last edited by Celt; 04-27-2018 at 06:52 AM.
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Old 03-20-2006, 12:41 PM
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I have a radio with the same exact design except it is branded with both SounDesign and "Readers Digest".

-Dan.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie
This Sears multiband set runs on 6 C-cells or AC. Plays great! I used to carry this on the ship with me before we got satellite TV. This radio traveled all the way to east Africa providing us tunes and news.

I think I have seen the same set before with the Soundesign badge on it.
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Old 04-28-2004, 05:58 PM
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This mid to late 60's RCA is about half the size of the two previous sets. Model RHE10E. This set is only DC, running off three C-cells. It's AM/SW. It has a few minor scratches, but otherwise in fair shape. I think there may have been a lable on the top left by the antenna because there is some glue there. Plays great!

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Last edited by Celt; 04-27-2018 at 06:52 AM.
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Old 04-28-2004, 06:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by Charlie
This Sears multiband set runs on 6 C-cells or AC. Plays great! I used to carry this on the ship with me before we got satellite TV. This radio traveled all the way to east Africa providing us tunes and news.

I think I have seen the same set before with the Soundesign badge on it.
Charlie if you have that Soundesign and want to sell it please let me know. It was the very first all-band radio I ever had, picked out of the garbage and rode it home on the front handlebars of my Free Spirit chopper bike from the West Side of Buffalo back when I was about 11. Spent a whole summer listening to different things on that radio
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Old 12-19-2007, 01:53 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamakiri View Post
Charlie if you have that Soundesign and want to sell it please let me know. It was the very first all-band radio I ever had, picked out of the garbage and rode it home on the front handlebars of my Free Spirit chopper bike from the West Side of Buffalo back when I was about 11. Spent a whole summer listening to different things on that radio
that is wierd, a four valve hotpoint radio was picked out of the garbage and carried home on the flat foot tray of my push scooter. I spent many years listening to the radio with ever longer antennas- it spawned my electronic passion and the subsequent interest in hifi and all things electronic.
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Old 12-19-2007, 07:37 AM
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Hi, Dave,
I know of at least 3 other Spacemaster Platas that existed at the same time I got mine (1966) as 3 friends also ordered them at that time. I note that you are in Canada: maybe only the U.S. models were "Plata", and "Silver" was sold in other countries? As I had seen the one in Guatemala.

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Old 04-28-2004, 07:06 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kamakiri
Charlie if you have that Soundesign and want to sell it please let me know
Tim,

No, I never actually had the Soundesign model. I saw it in a thrift store a few years back and noticed it was the same exact radio as this Sears radio. I don't remember why I passed it up. I guess I had more sense then than I do now!
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Old 04-28-2004, 09:17 PM
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I've got a matched pair of GE P4930A's, rock solid units, with TV band
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Last edited by Charlie; 03-26-2006 at 01:53 PM.
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Old 05-18-2004, 08:46 PM
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Soundesign/Sears

Tim,

If this Sears set looks like the Soundesign you had back then, you are welcomed to it if you would like it. I really think the only difference between the two is the name label. If you want it, I'll send it to ya when I get home... that would be around June 17th.

I rarely use the radio anymore now that we have satellite TV and tunes on the ship. It plays very well on all bands.

Yours for the having if you want it.

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Old 05-19-2004, 06:41 AM
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Definitely!
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Old 06-05-2004, 09:43 PM
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Show Us Your Portable Multiband Radios

I enjoy the zenith transoceanics as much as I do their televisions. The great thing about zenith is that their TVs and radios show the same care and pride in craftsmanship and performance. Here is a Royal 1000-1, 1958. This radio was made from 1957-1962. You could also get a royal 1000-D which is the same radio with LW band, available in 1959 (I think?).
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Last edited by Charlie; 03-26-2006 at 01:49 PM.
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Old 04-29-2005, 03:09 PM
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My latest ebay score: Zenith Royal 1000-1

Quote:
Originally Posted by drh4683
I enjoy the zenith transoceanics as much as I do their televisions. The great thing about zenith is that their TVs and radios show the same care and pride in craftsmanship and performance. Here is a Royal 1000-1, 1958. This radio was made from 1957-1962. You could also get a royal 1000-D which is the same radio with LW band, available in 1959 (I think?).
Doug, I like Zenith radios and TVs too (have for years), as I've mentioned before in this forum. I just received via UPS this morning a Zenith Royal 1000-1, which I scored on ebay a couple weeks ago (the seller said he didn't ship the radio immediately after the end of the auction because he was busy around his home; I still gave him positive feedback [the benefit of the doubt, and considering that he explained the reason for the delay] and a B+ rating in the "Comments" section of the feedback form). The radio works very well, picking up stations many of my other sets won't touch (such as CFRB 1010 in Toronto, WBEN 930 in Buffalo, New York, et al.); however, when it arrived I noticed 1) the battery case was missing, and 2) the bandswitch knob was very loose on its shaft; so loose, in fact, that it fell off twice before I went in and tightened the setscrew on it. The third thing, which I don't consider a problem as it can be readily corrected (I'll work on it tonight), is that the radio's case was extremely dirty and the dial drum was very dusty. The chassis was and still is filthy. This radio must have been sitting in its former owner's garage, basement, attic, etc., unused, for years if not decades. The AC adapter socket was also loose. I taped it in against the inside of the cabinet for the time being, but I really should find the proper fastener for it.

The radio had a very low opening bid on it when I came across it on ebay, but another potential buyer outbid me by $1 at first. However, I placed another bid, only to be outbid again and again and again . . . a total of five times. My sixth bid was the high one (unchallenged, as it turns out--in fact, I think I must have been bidding against myself seeing as how I kept getting outbid five times in a row, and within a minute or so of placing each bid), and I won the auction a day and a half or so later. I sent the seller an email earlier this afternoon explaining the missing battery box, loose bandswitch knob and loose AC adapter socket; I don't know how much good that will do, but I'm giving it a shot on the chance that the seller might find the missing battery case, or possibly tell me where I can find a replacement. (There is a three-prong male plug on the radio's chassis which I think the cable from the battery box plugged into, but no matching case.)

I did not include a picture of my new (to me) Royal 1000-1 in this post, as the picture Doug posted of a 1000-1 earlier is the exact model I have. My set sounds great, and as I stated earlier it pulls in AM stations here which many of my other Zeniths (including my R-70) won't touch.

BTW, I decided to fire up my Zenith H511 the other evening, just to see if it still works. It does, in spades. I plugged it into a ground-fault-interrupter outlet in my apartment just in case there was a problem, but I need not have worried or even been concerned, as the radio powered up and played flawlessly as soon as the tubes warmed up. I left it on, tuned to a big-band/standards station in Toronto (CHWO 740), much of the rest of the evening. The set sounds wonderful, even with the speaker cone rather torn up--I can't even notice anything that would even suggest a torn cone, such as garbled or distorted sound.

The TO Royal 1000-1 brings to five the number of Zenith radios in my collection. Except for the H511 and the TO, the other three Zeniths are somewhat less than antique (although my K-731, manufactured in 1963, is getting close at 42 years).
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Old 06-05-2004, 09:45 PM
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Royal 3000-1

Zenith made the royal 3000 from 1963-1969 (It was last sold in 1970 however). The 3000 included the FM band. Many collectors dont like this model as much as zenith "bulged" the rear door because of the added FM sub chassis. Its more or less a face change of the original 1000. This is my favorite TO model. This one was one of the last, built in June of 1969. Zenith date stamped the cabinets on these. Its easily seen if the chassis is removed.
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Last edited by Charlie; 03-26-2006 at 01:47 PM.
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Old 06-05-2004, 09:51 PM
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Royal D7000Y

The royal D7000Y is the newer generation of the 7000 series, from 1973-1978. The D7000Y has padded vinal sides and a tuneable weatherband. Also to note, the D7000Y has black in place of brushed aluminum on the front fold down door. The 7000 was indroduced as competition from panasonic (RF5000) and the Grundig Transistor 5000 were superior to the zenith royal 3000. The 3000 is still the same basic electronic design as the 1957 R1000. So zenith really never "upgraded" untill the 7000 series. the R7000 was introduced in 1970 to compete with foreign makes. Zenith wins in my opinion.
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Last edited by Charlie; 03-26-2006 at 01:46 PM.
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