Paula
05-11-2006, 02:55 PM
[Note: I just visited this forum after being gone for a long while, and noticed that some of the threads had apparently been lost. This one I happened to have saved, so I thought I would re-post it for the benefit of others. By the way, I still have this radio in my office, where I listen to it every day.]
This radio is something of an overlooked classic. The Royal 820 is a 9-transistor, AM/FM portable receiver, featuring a simulated leather case, and (like many Zenith radios) above-average quality. (It is a direct descendent of the hulking Royal 2000, the first U.S.-made AM/FM portable.) Appearing in 1964, the 820 sold for around $80, and still used a hand-wired metal chassis.
The only reason I became interested in this radio is that I remember that my dad bought one way back when, to take with him on his various outdoor excursions. That particular radio had a hard (but active) life, and I imagine that it was unceremoniously disposed of sometime in the mid-seventies.
I refer to the 820, and similar fabric-covered radios, as “perishable” because of their relatively delicate and essentially unrepairable cases. Genuine leather-cased radios may have fared much better, but the vinyl ones often became so tattered and ratty looking, that they were seldom kept around once their owners got tired of looking at them. Wood can be refinished, metal can be repainted, and even plastic can be wet-sanded and polished, but what can you do with a cloth-covered radio? (...besides re-covering it, a difficult job requiring considerable skill and patience.)
The 820 pictured below was purchased on eBay for $4.99. I was the sole bidder on that purchase, as I was with two parts radios, one selling for $5.00, and the other for 99 cents.
Most of these radios are black, but this one has the less common beige covering:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/haplesspeanut/Radios/ZEN8204.jpg
This one needed a lot of cleaning, but the outside was in above-average condition. I salvaged knobs, antenna, dial scale, and battery case from the two parts radios, and now have a very nice looking (and sounding) radio, in an unusual color. I should mention that all three of these radios worked when I got them, though one had a broken on/off switch. This seems to be a common problem with this model. Of the four examples of this radio that I’ve ever had my hands on, two of them had bad on/off switches.
This radio is a great performer. It has nine transistors (“...uses ‘em all”), has three I.F. stages in the FM section, AFC, and push-pull class B audio output. Here’s a picture of the chassis. Notice the plug-in transistors, the steel-encased output transformer, five-section tuning cap, and seven I.F. transformers:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/haplesspeanut/Radios/ZEN8203.jpg
Here’s a shot of the underside of the chassis:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/haplesspeanut/Radios/ZEN8202.jpg
This is a nice radio to have if you want to take a radio along with you, but you still want something “vintage”. It may be plain-looking (I prefer to think of it as having a “clean design”), but it is a superb performer.
Paula
This radio is something of an overlooked classic. The Royal 820 is a 9-transistor, AM/FM portable receiver, featuring a simulated leather case, and (like many Zenith radios) above-average quality. (It is a direct descendent of the hulking Royal 2000, the first U.S.-made AM/FM portable.) Appearing in 1964, the 820 sold for around $80, and still used a hand-wired metal chassis.
The only reason I became interested in this radio is that I remember that my dad bought one way back when, to take with him on his various outdoor excursions. That particular radio had a hard (but active) life, and I imagine that it was unceremoniously disposed of sometime in the mid-seventies.
I refer to the 820, and similar fabric-covered radios, as “perishable” because of their relatively delicate and essentially unrepairable cases. Genuine leather-cased radios may have fared much better, but the vinyl ones often became so tattered and ratty looking, that they were seldom kept around once their owners got tired of looking at them. Wood can be refinished, metal can be repainted, and even plastic can be wet-sanded and polished, but what can you do with a cloth-covered radio? (...besides re-covering it, a difficult job requiring considerable skill and patience.)
The 820 pictured below was purchased on eBay for $4.99. I was the sole bidder on that purchase, as I was with two parts radios, one selling for $5.00, and the other for 99 cents.
Most of these radios are black, but this one has the less common beige covering:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/haplesspeanut/Radios/ZEN8204.jpg
This one needed a lot of cleaning, but the outside was in above-average condition. I salvaged knobs, antenna, dial scale, and battery case from the two parts radios, and now have a very nice looking (and sounding) radio, in an unusual color. I should mention that all three of these radios worked when I got them, though one had a broken on/off switch. This seems to be a common problem with this model. Of the four examples of this radio that I’ve ever had my hands on, two of them had bad on/off switches.
This radio is a great performer. It has nine transistors (“...uses ‘em all”), has three I.F. stages in the FM section, AFC, and push-pull class B audio output. Here’s a picture of the chassis. Notice the plug-in transistors, the steel-encased output transformer, five-section tuning cap, and seven I.F. transformers:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/haplesspeanut/Radios/ZEN8203.jpg
Here’s a shot of the underside of the chassis:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/haplesspeanut/Radios/ZEN8202.jpg
This is a nice radio to have if you want to take a radio along with you, but you still want something “vintage”. It may be plain-looking (I prefer to think of it as having a “clean design”), but it is a superb performer.
Paula