[Boatanchors] And Now for Something Competely Different: Zenith

[Joe Connor]

The quality and sound from these radios is pretty amazing. My theory is that after we restore them, they perform better than they have since they left the factory.

Here's why: back in the '30s, capacitors were a high-failure item even when new. A lot failed quickly and a lot more probably suffered leakage even then. A radio with a dozen or so caps that are leaky to one degree or another isn't going to sound as good as it should. It's sort of a cumulative degradation. If there was one particular cap that shorted or caused a noticeable problem, the repairman would replace it but I've never heard of any repairman back in the day replacing all the paper caps. It would probably have cost more than a new set. Instead, the set was written off as "old" and "tired" and relegated to a dusty attic.

Now, we come in and replace all the caps with high-quality modern caps. We replace the out-of-spec resistors and align the IFs with precision (thank you, frequency counter). The end result is that the radio performs the way it was designed to perform, probably for the first time since it left the factory.


                                     Joe Connor



>________________________________
> From: Glen Zook <gzook at yahoo.com>
>To: Joe Connor <joeconnor53 at yahoo.com>; "Charlie , W5COV" <cvest at cox.net>; David Stinso "boatanchors at theporch.com" <boatanchors at theporch.com>; "boatanchors at mailman.qth.net" <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net> ent: Saturday, March 30, 2013 1:24 PM
>Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] And Now for Something Competely Different: Zenith
> 
>
>Round glass dial cover replacements are often available from those who repair clocks.
> 
>Glen, K9STH
>
>
>Website:  http://k9sth.com
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>
>________________________________
> From: Joe Connor <joeconnor53 at yahoo.com>
>To: "Charlie , W5COV" <cvest at cox.net>; David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>; "boatanchors at theporch.com" <boatanchors at theporch.com>; "boatanchors at mailman.qth.net" <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net> 
>Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2013 11:57 AM
>Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] And Now for Something Competely Different: Zenith
> 
>Here's the place that makes dial covers but I didn't see one listed for this particular set. However, it may be possible for them to make one if you send them the dimensions:
>
>http://jmpalm.home.mindspring.com/
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>
>This fellow sells a kit to roll your own:
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>http://dialcover.com/dialcovers.html
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