Radio Era Archives Zenith Trans-Oceanic Rating System 

One of the most difficult things to do is to accurately describe the physical and electrical condition of a radio to a buyer or seller of Zenith Trans-Oceanic radios.  The physical condition is surely one of the most important things to collectors as is generally the case with most antiques.  So this rating system is based on heavy emphasis of physical condition and a very detailed level of description for physical condition and a point rating system for the balance of the radios' attributes.  So for the physical attributes, we would rate 50% emphasis and the electrical characteristics would be the balance of 50%.  

Physical Attributes - There are 10 possibilities with each one being worth 5 points each.  If a radio were rated as "good plus", the physical rating would be 25 points.  If the radio was a basket case, the physical rating would be 5 points only. There are various deductions based on the list below that would detract from say a "very good" radio that would be normally rated at 30 points so if it had a missing handle it would be derated to 25 points as illustrated in the table below.

Physical Rating Scale (maximum 50 points) - This scale works both for Zenith Trans-Oceanic Tube and Transistorized Radios

Use these numbers to best describe the physical condition:

1     Basket-Case - many rips in fabric, water damage, serious discoloration in fabric or leather, warpage of case due to water damage, very poor overall physical condition.  Lid may not fit properly and latch due to warpage.  Brass discoloration. Could have dents in case, could have missing parts.  Could have missing leather on the panels. 

2     Bad - not as many rips, minor water damage, bad discoloration in fabric or leather, some warpage in case, poor overall physical condition.  Lid may not fit properly and latch due to warpage.  Brass discoloration. On Transistorized models, not quite as bad as the description of Basket Case above.

3     Poor - some rips in fabric, perhaps some water damage or warpage, some discoloration in fabric or leather.  Brass discoloration. Aluminum case physical problems. 

4     Good Minus - no rips in fabric, no visible water damage, could have some very slight warpage, quite a few blemishes in fabric or leather.  Some brass discoloration.  Could have loose leather panels but could be re-glued.  Could have some shrinking of leather on the panels.  Usually has scratching on chrome or aluminum.

5     Good Plus - no rips in fabric, no visible water damage, no case or lid warpage, not as many blemishes in fabric or leather as Good Minus.  Could have some brass discoloration. can have "normal" bubbling of the chrome. The bubbling can be fairly prolific.  Can have scratching on aluminum or chrome.

6     Very Good - no rips in fabric, could have several blemishes in fabric or leather, just to the extent that you would know it had been used.  Would have less brass discoloration. Could have slight scratches on leather panels and could have minor bubbling on chrome. Can have minor scratching on aluminum or chrome.

7     Excellent - no rips, fewer blemishes in fabric or leather, slight brass discoloration. Could have very slight scratches on leather panels or very minor bubbling on chrome.

8     Excellent Plus - no rips, could have a few very slight blemishes in fabric or leather.  Would almost look new but not quite near mint condition.  Brass would be clean without discoloration.  No chrome or aluminum problems to speak of.

9     Near Mint - no flaws in the case of any kind, no rips in fabric, no brass discoloration of any kind, shows some very slight use compared to new out of the box condition. Very slight to no marks on leather panels, front or back.

10   Mint - no flaws in the case of any kind, no rips in fabric or leather, no discoloration of any kind, looks like it just came out of the factory box for the first time. Perfect Chrome, No bubbles.  Everything mint.

However there are deductions from the point total based on either things being missing or that would devalue the radio - see the list below:

There are two different sets of Physical Rating deductions.  One set for the tube radios (7G605, 8G005, G500, H500 and all 600 series models).  A second set is listed below for all transistorized models (Royal 1000 series, Royal 3000 series, Royal 7000 series and R-7000 series). 

Tube Model Deductions:

As an example, a near mint radio that has a knob missing and the suction cups missing would have a point total of 46 points.

Transistorized Model Deductions:

Electrical Rating Scale (maximum 50 points) - This scale works for both tube and transistorized radios.

The following 10 categories would be used to characterize the electrical aspects of the radio.  Each item is worth 5 points.  A perfectly operating radio on all bands with no hum and good sensitivity on all bands would rate 50 points.  Unlike the physical scale, there are no deductions in the electrical rating system.  These 10 conditions should describe any tube trans-oceanic radio.

1.   Radio is dead - makes no sound

2.   Radio makes a humming audio sound- nothing else can be heard

3.   Radio picks up some AM and/or FM stations but has hum in the audio -  no                    short-wave reception

4.   Radio works on the AM and/or FM Band with no hum - no short-wave bands

5.   Radio works with at least AM and/or FM Band and one short-wave band working

6.  Radio works on AM and/or FM band but 2-3 short-wave bands are working.

7.   Radio works on AM and/or FM band but 4-5 short-wave bands are working.

8.   Radio works on all bands with poor sensitivity, perhaps needs an alignment or could use some new tubes to help performance

9.   Radio works on all bands, both AM and shortwave with some reduced sensitivity - perhaps could use an alignment to peak it up to a 10 rating.

10. Radio works perfectly on all bands, has good sensitivity on both AM and short-wave bands - has good audio and no discernable hum.

HOW TO USE THESE TABLES

A mint condition radio out of a box that has every item that came with the radio and is working on all bands perfectly would have a rating of 50-50.  It would not be beneficial to report the radio as having a rating of 100 because only in this category would that mean anything.  If you had a radio that was "very good" and was working perfectly electrically, the rating would be 30-50.  This would tell the seller and buyer that electrically it was perfect, but only rated a 30 for physical attributes.  If this same radio had a cracked faceplate (typical in H500's, 600 series), the rating would be 27-50, which would tell the interested party that it could not be a "good plus" because there is no way that this category would merit 27 points and that something must be missing from the "very good" category to get downgraded to 27 points.

Now we will agree that this seems like a complicated system, but since there is no system in operation that we know of and since there has been no guideline on how to describe these unique radios, this system should go a long way to better identifying and classifying the condition of Zenith T/O radios so that all can readily understand what the real condition is.  

Anyone that wants to use this rating system may do so freely and link a hyperlink directly to this page so that someone can understand how you rated a specific radio.

We, at Radio Era Archives, will do the same and will use this rating on our own web-site as well as on our auctions on Ebay or other auction outlets.

We are interested in your comments about this rating system and please leave us some feedback about what you think or if you have suggestions as to make it better.

This rating system would only be good for both the tube and transistorized models.