Zenith 13" CCII space command portable

[drh4683]

I was looking a little further into that 13" zenith CCII I picked up at the estates last Saturday. I wanted to determine exactly what remote went with it. I figured it used the space command 100 (the single button clicker) as I have a 1978 brochure which has a photo of the SJ-1321W, it looks IDENTICAL in the brochure the set I have, and the 1978 model incicates that it is equipped with space command 100. Considering my set is near exactly the same, but a model SK-1321W, I assumed it also would use the space command 100... Technically, its a 1979 model, but was assembled in March of 1978. Unfortunately, I don't have a 1979 brochure, and even if I did, I doubt Zenith would be advertizing the Chromacolor II sets as the system 3 was the big thing since they introduced it for many of the 1978 models. I tried the set out with my space command 100 remote yesterday and I found out it was muting the sound....that means it has more than one function and is NOT a space command 100. So I decided to try out a space command 600 remote and found I could change channels left and right, the mute worked, and then volume could be stepped, but it would not turn the TV off. So the process of elimination tells me its not a space command 600 either, as if it was a four function remote, the volume stepper would have eventually turned the set off. That being said, this set must have used an electronic remote that had a designated ON-OFF button. The problem is, I have no idea which remote this set used, and I know zenith had about 3 to 5 variations of the electronic ultrasonic remote in the late 70's into the early 80's that all looked quite similar. Some had the chromacolor logo, some didn't, some had a different arrangement of the same buttons, etc. I seem to fall short on any data for this model, I don't even have service manuals that covers this model. Can anyone shed some light on this? Anyone have a '79 brochure or service manual that MIGHT have this particular model in it? This is all in hope that it indicates a remote model, or at least a picture.

[N9ZQA]

Doug -

For what it's worth, I have the System 3 version of this set, built in either November 1980 or 81 (the tag has fallen off the back of the set and I am reading the imprint left in the glue). It looks nearly identical to your set, and has a 6-button remote - power, channel up/down, volume up/down, and mute. The only identifying marks on it are a tag in the battery compartment that reads:

0446QR
EIA 343 Mexico
124-16

and on the battery door:

24-2685
1

"Replace with Zenith battery 5-115 for best operation"

The remote is in the first picture in the following thread, top row, second from right.

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=246014

-Jim

[drh4683]

Thanks.

I too have the 1980 system 3 version of this set, which also uses the exact remote as you pointed out. Now I've seen that exact same remote control that also has the color emblem on it, and another one thats just like that remote having the color emblem and also the "zoom" function. I guess what gets confusing is that zenith dropped the remote model names as once shown on the TV and remote, making it rather difficult to determine what a "space command 800" really is as I believe thats what the remote is called on these sets, but again, there are numerous versions of it.

[andy]

---

[AUdubon5425]

Okay, I don't know how much help this will be - fair to poor graphics:

Nov. 1978 Zenith Ad

It's the ad for that set with the remote pictured with it. Funny, I have the other two Zenith products shown in the ad.

[Jeffhs]

I had a Zenith four-mode integrated stereo system (AM/FM, cassette, phono, 8-track) in the early '80s, and was surprised to see it listed in the ad you mentioned. I had been wondering for some time exactly when that system was made; now I know--late 1970s, because of the 8-track player/recorder. The unit I bought, at a local (at that time) TV shop (East End TV and Appliance, then located in Wickliffe, east-suburban Cleveland) was probably either a discontinued model or a discounted set, part of an inventory reduction; I don't remember anymore. Left it at my former residence and bought a new Aiwa 3-mode system when I moved here ten and a half years ago. I would have liked to have kept that Zenith system, as it gave me 17 years of enjoyment and next to no trouble (I did have to have the cassette deck repaired about three years after I bought it, wouldn't you know it--after the warranty expired). The only reason I left it behind was that my apartment is too small for a stereo system that size (the main unit was as big as most stereo receivers of the '70s; the speakers were also what one would expect to find included with a system of that era). The cabinets of the main unit and the speakers were real wood as well. Contrast this with my Aiwa system--main unit has a metal cabinet, and the speakers...I'm not sure if they are in painted wood cabinets or what. The cassette decks quit about seven years ago; to have them repaired would have cost more than the system was worth at the time, so I replaced them with a 1977 Radio Shack SCT-11 stereo deck a couple of years ago.

Good grief. I suppose the next stereo system I get, if and when my Aiwa system goes belly-up (which may not be for some time, as I use the system only as an amplifier--all my music is stored on my computer), will be even worse--plastic cabinet, a CD player that won't last more than a year (if that long), no cassette deck (they don't put cassettes in bookshelf stereos anymore)...sheeesh.

I'd hang on to any of the vintage Zenith TVs, radios, stereo systems, etc. you guys find, as they don't make them like that anymore; moreover, the Zenith Radio Corporation itself isn't even a shadow of its former self, having left Chicago for Korea over 15 years ago.

[AUdubon5425]

Jeff, Zenith marketed those from about the time of that ad (late '78) through at least 1981 or '82.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

Jeff, Zenith marketed those from about the time of that ad (late '78) through at least 1981 or '82.

Thanks, Ryan. I had a feeling these Zenith combo sets were from the late 1970s, again because of the eight-track tape deck. I remember eight-track stereo tape in cars (my dad's second wife had one in her car in the early '70s), but this Zenith stereo, my first real stereo system, was the first home stereo I had ever seen with an 8-track deck.

BTW, if 1982 was the last year for these Zenith combo units, I must have gotten one of the last ones marketed. I don't remember ever seeing this particular combo system sold new anywhere after '82 (I do see used ones, and variations of them, every now and then on eBay nowadays), at least not in the store where I purchased my system; in fact, I don't know if that store is still in business. It moved from its suburban Cleveland location to its present one a few years ago, but since I moved (ironically, to within six or eight miles of their present location), I lost touch with them and haven't heard or read a word from them since -- in newspaper ads or elsewhere.

Update: Yup, East End TV and Appliance is out of business. I tried looking them up in the local Yellow Pages and on Google -- no luck. Perhaps they couldn't keep up with it when flat-panel TV, DVD, HDTV, Blu-ray and the like came in, though I can't imagine why they would have so much trouble selling the new stuff; after all, they were going great guns selling CRT TVs and stereo systems in the '80s.

[AUdubon5425]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

...though I can't imagine why they would have so much trouble selling the new stuff; after all, they were going great guns selling CRT TVs and stereo systems in the '80s.

Well, it's like anything else - they probably had a hard time competing with big stores that bought at volume discounts. My uncle stocked a small selection of price-friendly integrated stereos throughout the 1970's. By 1980 or so, many discount stores such as K-Mart, Barkers, Gaylord's, Wilson's and Woolco had opened and small independents couldn't compete with their prices.

Kudos to them for holding on as long as they did.

There are still small appliance stores around, but you're more apt to find them in smaller towns at an inconvenient distance from the nearest Wal Mart and Home Depot.

By the way, 8-tracks were in the stores around here at least into 1985, and RCA or Columbia Record clubs offered them into 1988 or '89. I remember seeing all-in-one stereos with 8-tracks still in them as late as 1987/88 - in the Sears or Penney's catalog. Radio Shack sold a playback only deck into the early 90's (I still have one.)