Quote:
Originally Posted by anden
Jeff, you seem to be the resident 1955-65 Zenith expert. My question is about a zenith I came across last night...it looks exactly like a Y832 AM/FM of 1955, but it has AM and two shortwave bands - no FM, no model number to be found. One Zenith collector I emailed said he had seen only one of these in 15 years of collecting. It's sitting at a local antique shop, $50. I couldn't bring myself to buy a non working radio in so-so cosmetic condition for $50.
anden
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Anden,
I just did a Google search for the model Y832 and found that the American version does have FM, as well as two electrostatic tweeters and an 8-inch main speaker (as was typical for the 800 series; these sets also had a tone control that actually varied the response curve of the entire audio stage, rather than simply cutting down high frequencies as was and is done to this day with tone control setups in cheaper sets).
The Y832 you saw might well be an export model if it does not have coverage of the U.S./Canadian FM broadcast band, or any FM at all (the FM band in much of Europe starts around 87.5 MHz and ends at 104 MHz; many German multiband sets cover 87-100 MHz).
The tube complement of the American Y-832 is typical for the 800 series Zeniths, down to the 6BJ6 RF amplifier which is used on both AM and FM (the C845 has a similar setup, although the high-fidelity MJ1035 has separate RF amps for both bands, a 12BA6 for AM and half a 17JK8 on FM).
The Y832 you saw sounds to me as if it is indeed extremely rare, if the antique radio collector you mentioned said he has only seen one other set like it in 15 years of collecting them. I personally have seen very few Zenith table model radios with shortwave but no FM. There is a very rare variant of the H511 5-tube table model that had one shortwave band in addition to AM broadcast; this was the model J402, which had four tubes and was powered solely by batteries (not a farm battery radio--this one used, IIRC, one 67.5-volt pack for B+ and a separate pack for filament voltage); there was no provision for operating the J402 on AC power unless a dual-voltage power supply was used. As I said, the J402 is extremely rare; as with the collector you mentioned who had only seen one Y832 without FM in 15 years of radio collecting, I have only seen one J402 in six years in the hobby, and that only in a Sams Photofact folder several years ago (never actually saw one up close). The H511, however, is from 1951 and is the AC/DC version of the J402, covering standard broadcast only. The 511 shows up on ebay quite often, so if you're looking for one of these oldies, that's where to start.
You mentioned wanting an MJ1035 after having read about mine in one of my recent posts. Again, these sets show up once in a while on ebay (not nearly as often, however, as the 800-series Zeniths and other models, such as the Royal series of transistor sets--in fact, I have only seen two MJ1035s on ebay in the last month or so) and also on Craigslist, so I'd keep an eye open on both these sites in case one should be listed. (You may also post a Want It Now request on ebay; these requests are watched carefully by ebay sellers who may have the item you want, and you will be notified if the model you're seeking becomes available--you can also save your search by clicking on the "Save this search" link on every search page; this will instruct ebay to email you a list of matching items when they show up on the site.) You won't be disappointed. The MJ1035 is a very large and heavy high-fidelity radio with stereo FM, using an external stereo speaker in addition to the ones in the cabinet (an eight-inch main speaker and a 5" tweeter, which in the MJ1035 is a real speaker--not a plastic-cased electrostatic tweeter such as is found in smaller Zeniths; the extension speaker duplicates this speaker arrangement). It is very sensitive as well, picking up stations right and left in most areas with just the built-in line-cord antenna or even a 6-foot length of wire on the FM antenna terminal. I have a cheap pair of TV rabbit ears on my MJ1035 which work very well; I live between two cities (Cleveland and Ashtabula, the latter being a city almost right on Lake Erie) and get both areas' FM stations in stereo just fine. The only real downside to the MJ1035 is that the radio's multiplex reception falls off somewhat (due to the crude design, by today's standards, of the radio's multiplex decoder; this was one of Zenith's first attempts at stereo FM in a table radio) if you are more than about 15 miles from the stations, although I personally believe even this problem can be overcome simply by using a better antenna. I like oldies, and listen to a small oldies station 35 miles east of here that I cannot quite get on my MJ1035 with the wire antenna; however, with the rabbit ears, the station comes in, in stereo, just as well as if it were only five miles away.
Good luck. Keep an eye on ebay and CL, and I'm sure you'll find an MJ1035 eventually. As I said, these sets don't show up on ebay often, but if you do find one it will have been worth the wait.