Zenith Portable Rides Again

[bgadow]

This has been my project for the last few nights. Its Zenith model Z2014, a bw portable with a 20" crt. It was born August 13, 1968. This was given to me the first of May & had a note on the front listing (in short): fuse, volume control & 13Z10 tube. I assumed this was a list of what had been replaced & that the customer had never picked it up. (the note was dated 1985) The knobs were gone so one day I looked for a vol.control knob to stick in there & try it out but found there was not a control in the hole! Took me awhile to tackle it but learned that this set was sure not going to work right away! First, the control was there but not in the mount. Second, the fuse was gone. (I knew there was a reason to save all those Belfuses!) Third, the 13Z10 was missing which, of course, kills everything in a series string set like this. Anyway, replacing those parts was pretty easy. I would have guessed that I had a bushel basket of NOS 13Z10's around here but I only found one. First I tried a used one but it was nothing but trouble. I also tried the old vol. control but it had a bad dead spot at the front of the travel which no amount of cleaner or other tricks seemed to repair. Finally happened upon a good used one in the pile. The only thing that took time was finding knobs. I know these are wrong, at least I think I know! Got a ton of knobs but finding something close enough to work is a hassle. These look like they belong, anyhow. I'd guess this set saw plenty of use-it has a Channel Master rebuild crt. Now it works pretty well. A solid built set.

[jpdylon]

Pretty nice zenith set. I had one a about 8 years ago, and It was my first project. It was very relaible, and was easy to repair. I sold it to an older couple a year ago who occasionally e-mail me to thank me for keeping a piece of history alive. I'm glad to have found a spot on the internet where old television and vintage audio are appreciated, and not tossed in the trash.
BTW, if you have ever watched the movie "The Graduate" you will know that this model zenith was used in the hotel scene when benjamin is confronted by mrs robinson. Check it out sometime if you havn't seen it!

Jordan

[veg-o-matic]

Nice job, B.! Looks like now you'll have plenty of time to work on the DuMont!

[bgadow]

Never seen the Graduate, believe it or not. I'll catch it one of these days, if only for the tv!

Allen the friendly DuMont, well, his time is coming! I need a little more of a break away from him before I dig in. Part of my brain is trying to figure him out sort of in the background, & it has some ideas...but not ready yet!