1950 Zenith Trans-Oceanic Model G-500 Short-Wave Radio
As good as it gets rare and beautiful early Trans-Oceanic G-500
In a Nutshell
The perfect Christmas present as it was 64 years ago
Introduction:
The Trans-Oceanic line of Zenith's shortwave radios is the most prolific line of portable radios ever built (the tube models were built from 1942 to 1962, and transistor models were built from 1957 to 1982). Model G500 was introduced end 1949 for the 1950 line. It is the successor of model 8G005Y, but with 5 modern miniature tubes, instead of 8 octal tubes (hunting short-wave stations doesn't require a push-pull amplifier and the battery will say "Thank you"). Replacing the octal 1LA6 converter tube by a specially developed miniature tube (1L6) caused today's collectors to pay a fortune for it in case it is broken. The replacement of the rectifier tube by a Selenium rectifier too turned out to cause headaches today, since they tend to deteriorate and have to be replaced (by Si diodes). The prominent exterior difference between the 8G005Y and the G500 is the golden Zenith emblem "Royalty of Radios" on the wavemagnet antenna (pict.31). Only about 90'000 sets of this "transitional" model have been made between 1949 and 1951, whereas the follow-up model H500 (for sale too) sold 245'000 times. The later (L, R, T, Y, A, B)600 series (an A600, A600L and Y600L are for sale too) had the airplane dial replaced by a slide-rule dial and were the last 269'000 tube models sold. The new Trans-Oceanics used transistors starting with the Royal 1000 (for sale too), and were introduced in 1957; the Royal 1000 was very expensive ($275 compared with $140 for the B600) at the time and allowed the B600 a last respite of a few years. Today the prices are reversed, the older models being more pricy. Not only in my opinion the G500 would clearly win a Trans-Oceanic beauty competition.
About my Radio:
The radio is in mint cosmetic and technical condition, comparable with the two shown in ref.s 1 and 2. The G500, unlike the later 600 series, did not have a phono input. The former owner had custom-installed one, and turned the left-most tone control switch into a phono-radio switch (pict.26). So the radio accepts cellphones, mp3 players etc., like the later versions that have a factory installed phono plug/switch. Of the 5 original Zenith tubes the 1L6 has been replaced by a Marconi tube with better gain (pict.24). The original Se rectifier, that turned out to cause a too large voltage drop, has been left in place for optical reasons only, but electronically replaced by two Si diodes and a resistor (pict.28). Although being the oldest of the 6 TO's for sale, this is the only one where the suction cups still suck (pict.18). The radio plays loud and clear (click on thumbnail 33 to watch a video. Please
e-mail me (Kris) for any questions, ich spreche Deutsch, je parle Français.
For the techies only:
The plates and grids of tubes for portables need quite high voltages (60 up to 90 volts) which were provided by bulky batteries. The tubes have cathodes directly heated with DC from 1.4 volt batteries. The G500 operates on battery or 110 Volt AC-DC current and has a cord stored in the battery compartment. Radio restorers hesitate to rebuild batteries for the trans-oceanics since these AC/DC radios are working fine on 110 Volt. The G500 also features a phones jack at the back not to be confused with a phono jack in the later models. One specialty of the 500 and 600 series is the use of the 1L6 pentagrid converter tube in both the oscillator and the mixer. This tube is not only scarce but also quite expensive and is often replaced by a 1R5 tube, compromising the high frequency sensitivity of the receiver. My G500 is equipped with a brand-new NOS Marconi 1L6 tube. If you want to use the radio mainly for AM/BC, you can substitute the 1L6 with the 1R5 with no effect (you could then resell the 1L6 for about $30-50).
