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Here is what a complete collection of the Zenith Royal 500 (original case design) looks
like. Top row is both the original "A"models with chassis 7XT40...the maroon (all the maroon
cabinets through about serial number 30,000 were translucent) has serial number 00491...the black is serial 00016.
The tuning cap date code for both is 538 (38th week of 1955).
The second row down is the three "AB" also called hybrid models. These were produced
during the changeover from steel chassis hand wired direct tuning to the more modern printed circuit with vernier tuning They
are all chassis 7XT40Z1 (green label), and all have the narrow black station indicator line, the new knobs, vernier tuning
and the metal hand wired chassis. The black one is serial 92009, the maroon one is serial 93942, the white one is serial 126311.
That's right......a white, steel chassis, hand wired Zenith 500. The date codes on the tuning cap and transformers for these
three run from the 33rd to the 44th week of 1956. I've seen a few of these 'AB' models on ebay but only about 3
per year so there were probably only a few thousand were made.
The third shelf down is the familiar family of 5 of the "B" models, one in each color spanning
serial numbers from 107966 to 229866. These all have the 7ZT.... chassis, printed circuits, and vernier tuning.
The bottom shelf shows the three "D" models, serial numbers 468763, 632030 and 722770. There were other variants of the "D", early ones had the older wide speaker bezel, some had '500D' on the front and
others didn't.
I can now release the results of a study I've done on total production figures for the various
'500' models based on their frequency of appearance on Ebay. These figures are probably within 25% of correct.
500A.....115,000
500AB......5,000
500B.....200,000
500D.....250,000
500E.....300,000
500H.....250,000
Analysis from serial numbers is more difficult since Zenith was sharing serial numbers among
several models. For instance, the rare Royal 800 was numbered in the 500A group and the 700 and 750 appeared in the 500D group.
A similar analysis of the number of Solid State Trans-Oceanics is as follows.....
Royal 1000........90,000
Royal 3000......150,000
Royal 7000......150,000
R7000..............30,000
The figure for the Royal 1000 is very different than the 170,000 indicated by Bryant and Cones
from the Zenith records. There must be some explanation for the relative scarcity of 1000's on ebay. I'm basing my figure
on there being only 1/3 of the 1000's as there are of the 600 series (tube) TransOceanics and the Zenith records show 270,000
of those. Analysis of the serial numbers for the Royal 1000 and 3000 show that Zenith left large gaps and did not code the
numbers in a straight-forward way. For instance, the Royal 1000's have serial numbers starting at 6250523 in Oct. 1957
and running up to 6965134 in Dec. 1959. Then they start at 8154574 in early 1960 and go up to 8955863 in Aug. 1961. Then they
jump back to 2007523 in Oct. 1961 and run up to 2952529 by Feb. 1965. The Royal 3000's start with 2337679 on March 22, 1963
and run up to 3790386 on July 30, 1969. See if you can figure it out and email me if you get it.
Here is the earliest known Royal 500 to surface, serial #00016, probably from the first day
of regular production. It has no battery cover label and from the glossy appearance I'd say there never was one. This
radio has the black case and black 'rounded' top Sylvania transistors. The tuning cap code is 538. The output transformer
has no date code, just the part number 1463. The transistors are the rounded top Sylvania black ones coded 53 or
54. Note that the white capacitor normally seen to the left of the volume control is missing. Otherwise, #00016 appears identical
to #00491.
Okay guys, somewhere out there lurks a Royal 500 with a single digit serial number.......
Another research project of mine has been to identify the earliest of the Royal 1000 Trans-Oceanic receivers.
This photo illustrates some of the clues. For the first 3 years, the clear, more fragile battery case
was used. For the first 2 years, real leather covered the case and the words "genuine leather" appeared inside the upper front
door lid. For about 1 year, the antenna could not be lowered without depressing the 'push to release' button. For the first
few months, only the black RCA transistor set appeared in the chassis. The first month or so, there was no Royal 1000 lettering
on the back cover and the removeable wavemagnet cable was lashed to the battery case using the oversized nuts from the tube
era. Finally, for just a week or two, at the very beginning, the wavemagnet cable exited from the right hand side (viewed
from the back) of the wavemagnet. These earliest Royal 1000's had the 738 date code on the speaker and 731 on the tuning
capacitor. Another indicator from the first couple of weeks of production is the use of the 121-45 transistors for
the I.F. amplification. The sticker showing transistor locations will call for the 121-45 in those two locations. By December
'57, Zenith was specifying the 121-75 and 121-76. On various 1000's you can find interesting combinations of these early
production variations.
Here are the articles I've written for the Antique Radio Classified.
Hoyt Electrical Instrument Works..July 1997
Radio Shack Flavoradios.............June 2002
Picnic Portables of the late 30's...June 2003
Last Stand for Tube Radios.........Feb 2004
Shirt Pocket Transistor Scam.....April 2005
Cordless Table Radios................Nov 2005
Stewart-Warner 9160 Midgets..March 2006
Flavoradio Update.................March 2008
Zenith Royal 500 Family............July 2008
Tiny Consoles......................October 2008
Zenith Royal 1000 Trans-Oceanic...November 2008
HandWired Radios of the 60's......February 2009
ZENITH Royal 810 (Royal 51)
This is the unsung hero of the Zenith line. In his book 'Zenith Transistor Radios, Evolution of a Classic'
Norm Smith traces the development of the am transistor line at Zenith, from the original 500, through the superb 500H and
the many other radios produced in that first decade, the heyday of the American transistor. He accounts for the development
of fm from the Royal 2000 through the 880 and 820, all finely engineered, great performing fm portables. He finishes his text
at 1965, just short of the release of the Royal 810 in 1966. This is the first am/fm portable from Zenith small enough to
be coat pocketable. Heavily built, in Chicago, with the Holland transistors, chassis 9NT41Z8, the model 810 and model 51 are
identical twins (as are the 820 and 76). You have to go on Ebay, spend about $35.00 and get one to see what a top performing
receiver this is. The case has a great feel, like the Motorola X15, lots of chrome and steel in this one. Nine transistors,
a lot of hand wiring, transformer driven push-pull output....this was an expensive set to produce, especially in 1966 when
the price competition from Japan was fierce. The rf and if amplifier design is similar to the legendary 500H. This is
the radio I carry for picnics, boating, or porch sitting. Well...shouldn't you have one?
The Radio Shack (Realistic) Flavoradio was a production item from 1972 through 2001, a 30 year run. The
original case design shown in the picture was the model 12-166 and ran through 1986. This was a 5 transistor set (12-166A
had 6). The case design appears to have been inspired by the earlier Westinghouse 'little gem' known as the refrigerator radio.
The 15 years of the original case design (1972-1986) is evidently the longest production run for any model radio ever built.
What possesed Radio Shack to continue on with an AM only receiver is anybody's guess but they redesigned the case in 1987
and again around 1995, this last time employing an integrated circuit, but still AM only. The eleven colors
shown here also may have set a record for the widest color choice of any production radio. (The Philip Collins book shows
the Addison A2A in eleven colors and the ARC Nov. 2008 issue shows the Philco PT-10C advertised in 55 color combinations.
We're still investigating whether all of these were actually produced). When Radio Shack removed the flavoradio from the catalog
for 2002, blackberry was the only flavor left and it was the last AM only radio to be produced anywhere, the end of an
era of AM only radios begun in 1921 with Federal, Kennedy, and the gang, a remarkable legacy for a cute little
am radio.
If anyone has ever seen or actually has a flavoradio with a white back, or, an all white flavoradio, please
email me. Maybe we can figure out where they were marketed. Radio Shack HQ isn't talking.
You should really support the Antique Radio Classified by subscribing and perhaps sending an
article. Use the link below.
Visit Antique Radio Classified Bob McGarrah's very informative Zenith 500 pages If you have a Zenith Royal 1000 Trans-Oceanic, please report the 7 digit serial number, chassis
number and a couple of date codes to keywestmac@verizon.net
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A personal note about my brother, James E. "Jim" MacArthur, who died of a heart attack in July, 2002. He
was a regional sales manager for International Harvester construction equipment division through the 70's and 80's. While
in Fresno he often quoted a colorful fellow named Price. One of his colleagues was Mel Anderson. He sailed often on a
big C&C named Night Train owned by Blair Vetter. When I-H sold to Dresser and finally Komatsu, Jim came to Key West and had
10 really good years.
Since his passsing, we've heard from several of his good friends, tho' we're sure he knew many more people
well. He was a great visitor, a great brother and we miss him. (phil and will macarthur)