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Author Topic: Zenith Transoceanic 3000 unusual accessory, Genuine??  (Read 292 times)

VK2NZA

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Zenith Transoceanic 3000 unusual accessory, Genuine??
« on: May 31, 2020, 11:31:18 PM »

I purchased a Zenith Transoceanic 3000 a while back at a hamfest, it is in good condition and came with a black leather look vinyl case, the original immaculate "Operating Guide,"  the "Zenith Royal 3000-1 Service Manual and Schematic for Chassis no 12KT40Z8 and a purple and green colored booklet with yellow silk attachment that was attached originally to the handle of the radio advertising "Powered to Tune in the World & Introducing FM broadcast band", "the worlds most magnificent radio with FM."
It also came with the original export model 230 vac - 12 vdc transformer with long outlet cord also in excellent condition.

  I've always liked these radios, having been able to use one or two in the 60's owned by my father ( a 1000) and another friend as a youth discovering bandspread shortwave, back then the bands were hopping and short dial movements produced a wealth of signals fom Cuba , Quito, Moscow, Belgrade, etc etc, not so much now sadly.

The whole rig is in VG condition apart from a dicky hinge on one side of the fold down polished aluminium fascia.
It is very sensitive on FM and I listen most nights to Radio NZ here in Australia on 5945 khz in the 49 meter band with a 10 over 9 signal, Chia Drive , Bejing and often radio Thailand in English transmission.
Nice full sound and is very frugal on batteries. my D cells would be over 18 montha old and still going strong, I was lucky to have a very clean battery case without any battery leakage when it arrived, apparently owned by an amateur who knew how to look after the radio properly !
Even the spring loaded switch and dial light operate.

However the purpose of my query is the black leather look vinyl case, it has a zip on the outer front sides that allows the face to be exposed, holes for the aerial and handle and the Zenith logo  and Zenith in block letters, a flap on the R/H side with a push button lock covers the bandswitch.
it is in amazing condition
It is professionally made and looks genuine, but have never seen another, is it a rare and unusual Zenith accessory?
Has anyone seen one of these before?
Ross.
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N0TLD

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Re: Zenith Transoceanic 3000 unusual accessory, Genuine??
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2020, 10:40:02 PM »

Hi Ross --

It is indeed a legitimate, genuine accessory for the 1000 and 3000 series (there were variations for each).

Padgett's T/O site has some info about the leather cases:

http://performanceresearch.us/padgett/radio/transto.htm#leather

I'm a longtime Zenith T/O fan, tube and solid state. I've only seen a half dozen or so leather cases sold with 1000/3000 models over the years, and I'd have to say they are not too common... so, good snag! Well, good snag on the entire radio purchase, for sure, but extra good snag on the leather case and the fine condition of the whole set.

73 de N0TLD
Mike
 
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VK2NZA

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Re: Zenith Transoceanic 3000 unusual accessory, Genuine??
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2020, 11:21:16 PM »

N0TLD,
     Hi Mike,   thanks for enlightening me re the case, I checked out the site you referred and spotted the case I have.
Possibly as I've discovered over the years leather cases on radios do not age well if not dressed regularly and kept out of sunlight, going hard and cracking.
This is the case with a National Panasonic early transistor radio I also have.
However my Zenith case is of good quality black vinyl with an inner sliightly padded  lining in white and has managed to survive maybe 55 - 60 years intact.
thanks for getting back to me.
   best wishes Ross.
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RENTON481

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Re: Zenith Transoceanic 3000 unusual accessory, Genuine??
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2020, 06:18:08 PM »

Just an aside -- as a 3000 owner, I would advise you to use batteries instead of the AC adapter, as not all adapters put out the correct voltage, and the transistors in the 3000 are sensitive to higher voltages and they can go into thermal-runaway (I think that's the term), where they heat up, and then your radio basically shuts down.

And in some cases the transistors will fry.

That didn't happen to me -- I used the adapter and after 15 minutes of MW listening the volume decreased, and decreased, and decreased to nothing. After a bit of investigation I read about the thermal thing, the sensitivity to voltages, and began to use batteries, after which I had zero problems. Luckily, the voltage issue from the adapter didn't fry my 3000's final transistors.

The 3000 is very light on batteries, actually. Even a set of AA's will last quite a while. It doesn't require that much power to operate.
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VK2NZA

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Re: Zenith Transoceanic 3000 unusual accessory, Genuine??
« Reply #4 on: June 04, 2020, 04:07:57 AM »

Hi Renton.
   Thanks for the warning, I have been using alkalines in the radio and amazed at how little current the rig uses, but yes the transformer although an original  is very old by now, I did test it and it appears to be within spec however I like to carry it with me and batteries are more convenient.
Surprising how frugal on batteries old style transistor radios are compared with newer sythesised radios Renton.
All the best Ross.
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