James:
A note on the Zenith Trans-Oceanic [tube-type general coverage receiver]s: I’ve been collecting these and refurbishing them on bad weather days. I replace all the paper and electrolytic capacitors, check the tubes, clean them up, and tune up the coil tower with an old tube RF signal generator. The paper capacitors are very prone to failure. Then I construct a replacement battery pack using ten 9 V batteries and 5 “D” cells. I plan to make a 12 VDC charger for these that I can run off my PV panels. So far I’ve done nine of these. I am putting them along with instruction manual, schematics, battery pack into Space Bags with a desiccant pack and storing them. I figure these will be more valuable with time. Now: the special high frequency pentagrid converter tube for these, the 1L6, is getting really scarce. I’m buying all I can on eBay if the price is right. There is a US Army manual of Korean War vintage with complete instructions on repair. There is an interesting variant of these, sold for only one year, the “Meridian” that is a general coverage shortwave receiver with the same tube set. These are rare as hen’s teeth. I’m refurbing my second right now. Next one I see on eBay, I’m getting it. Regards, – Doc Holladay
Letter Re: Restoring Older Shortwave Receivers
