Radios I Have Known

The Zenith Circle of Sound non-clock AM/FM radio

Zenith H421W table radio

In another article, I wrote about my Zenith Circle of Sound clock radio, the one that's been with me for almost 30 years, most of that time with a broken clock. On eBay a few years ago, I found this radio's clockless brother: the Zenith H421W. (The clock radio's model number was C472-W3. No doubt buried in the midst of Zenith's now-defunct Chicago headquarters is an explanation of these model numbers.) It seems to be a fairly shameless repurposing of the clock-radio chassis and cabinet. For example, the snooze button on the clock radio, which is on the top of the unit, has been replaced by an on/off switch. Press to turn it on, press again to turn it off.

The front of the radio looks unbalanced, mainly because the radio dial and controls are the same place they were on the clock radio. The clock has been replaced by a plate, part fake woodgrain, and part logo.

What's that red light on the dial pointer? It's something that Zenith called Target Tuning. It's a tuning indicator, telling you when you've tuned a station right on the center of the signal. It works on both AM and FM. It's not really a signal strength indicator, but it indeed accurately indicates the center of the signal's transmitting channel. That's one thing in this radio that wasn't on the clock radio.

The back light is dim, but still works. The cabinet has a crack in it; but the cabinets on these radios were not always the most durable. AM and FM reception are similar to the unit's clock-radio brother.

I got it for $25, which may be a few dollars more than it's really worth, but since it's so similar to the clock radio that I've owned for a long time, I decided that I wanted it. I love little variations like this.

Posted June 19, 2011