rare "1-off" Zenith mystery chassis? trying to ID - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: rare "1-off" Zenith mystery chassis? trying to ID (/showthread.php?tid=1405)

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rare "1-off" Zenith mystery chassis? trying to ID - Texasrocker - 10-04-2008

I have a "mystery" ??? simple Zenith ac/dc chassis with no "model #"sticker on bakelite cab to match orig Zenith chassis # factory sticker located on chassis. Fact is, I cant find this Zenith chassis listed in JF Riders, or anywhere else on the internet,radioattic,eBay,Zenith collectors websites,etc period. This mystery Zenith bakelite ac/dc set is a AM / Shortwave factory orig combo. This sets chassis is identical layout ,as the more-common seen on eBay AM band only version Zenith mod 5D-810 Y., only differences is this mystery set uses a 50C5 in place of the 50L6, and has no factory loop antenna built-in as the 5D810 (no diallamp) & 5D-811(with diallamp), and has the Zenith factory orig rotary AM/ SW bandswitch on rear of chassis.The orig bakelight cabinet is the same as the 5D-810Y ( with no handle on top as the 5D-811)
see a photo here of the more-common 5D-810Y:

http://www.radioattic.com/radio.php?radio=7531

The orig Zenith chassis # sticker on my "mystery" Zenith is still in place reads chassis #: 5G60T for this 2-band ( AM/SW set) Ive never seen one of these sets before, period. Is this particular set "rare"?? HELP Zenith pros!!!

the Zenith chassis # for the more common AM only ac/dc chassis receivers ( mods 5D-810Y & 5D-811)models are listed in JF Riders index respectively as: chassis #s 5E02, & 5E01 and both schematics are in Riders vol 18

....another "notable" difference in these 3 ac/dc sets mentioned, is the fact that my "mystery set" chassis has the orig Zenith "bumblebee" black early sealed type caps, as opposed to the AM receivers orig "wax" types used at the factory in the AM only sets. And as mention previous above, the "mystery" chassis came with no factory loop antenna. Just 2 separate wires off the antenna coil to attach to a longwire as orig.

Any Zenith pros out there ever ran across the Zenith 5G60T chassis before? I have the set fully restored, but would like to know more about it, its "scarcity", etc? Perhaps this particular model only showed up in the official Zenith-service books from the 1947,48,49 years? It is a very fine receiver indeed on both AM & SW!

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Re: rare "1-off" Zenith mystery chassis? trying to ID - exray - 10-05-2008

If I'm not mistaken, the T suffix indicates an export model on later (postwar) models. That makes the info hunt more difficult.

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Re: rare "1-off" Zenith mystery chassis? trying to ID - Texasrocker - 10-05-2008

Thanks for the info Exray!! I thought it was kinda weird that Zenith would add the SW band that many yrs (postwar) also on the cheaper bakelite tabletop models, since the American counterpart was AM only during 1948-49 yrs. Zeniths SW sets for Americans was still the mainstream Transoceanics-line during those yrs and cost much more. This set was most probably brought back to the US by a military veteran that purchased it overseas while on tour of duty. Many Telefunkens, Grundigs,Emud etc also made it here to the US over the yrs in US Military shipping crates. I also noticed the chassis on this mystery set also has the Zenith (gold-wrinkle finish) Transoceanic-type chassis paint job that the counterpart US models were alum chassis only. Thanks again for your info on the (export) model Zeniths!!I figure there probably werent many of these bakelight export models made, but then again, these type sets are not worth much anyways except for the history behind them.

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