Hi

I ran across a Zenith 6G801 - an AM only AC/DC portable with a mini version of a wave magnet that pops up from the back of the set. It's gets high marks for being a cute looking set.

BUT... was this just Zenith pushing the marketing envelope? Did the scaled down versions of a wave magnet in the AM only radios actually make them perform better than any other run-of-the-mill portable radio circa late 40's early 50's? Or was this just a gimmick?

Rick,
I restored an AM only AC/DC Zenith 5L41 a while back, and it had a small detachable antenna with a suction cup long since hardened beyond use. It was approx 3" x 5", and heavy enough to have had a solid magnet inside or about a pound of wire. Nothing spectacular about the performance of the radio, but don't know what was inside the antenna enclosure. My suspicion is that Zenith found a way to improve performance with a magnet, and hence the name. My experience tells me that a larger area and more turns of wire works better, but with size constraints of these small portables, maybe fewer turns/smaller area could be enhanced with a pre-existing magnetic field. An interesting subject for further discussion on this Forum.

marv

:Hi
:
:I ran across a Zenith 6G801 - an AM only AC/DC portable with a mini version of a wave magnet that pops up from the back of the set. It's gets high marks for being a cute looking set.
:
:BUT... was this just Zenith pushing the marketing envelope? Did the scaled down versions of a wave magnet in the AM only radios actually make them perform better than any other run-of-the-mill portable radio circa late 40's early 50's? Or was this just a gimmick?
:

I think that Zenith was always proud of their radio sets reputation for good DXing performance(hence:the 'Long Distance' in their logo) and I've usually been impressed with it,especially in their higher end radios. I've read about Commander McDonald(who was president of Zenith and himself an avid radio buff) and his enlisting and support of Commander MacMillan(the arctic explorer). In the early days of radio,there was probably no better advertising than that of using the medium for the excitment of an arctic expedition that the world could tune in to. Zenith circuit design and material,to me always put performance ahead of cost. They had a number of engineering firsts for the industry in several electronics fields. Just well-thought-out and well-built radios and televisions.

I had read that the "wave Magnet" was just a sales gimmick, since the general public talks about how well a set "pulls in the stations". Zeniths generally do have great reception, though. Mark from Kalamazoo