Welcome to my Stratosphere page
It was around 1979-1980 when I first became aware of this fantastic radio while browsing through
Volume 6 of the John F. Rider manuals at a local TV repair shop. the shop owner was very nice
to me and let me borrow his manuals from time to time. I was only 12 years old then, but I had
learned alot about old radio circuits and tubes.
I wanted to find a Stratosphere, but I had NO idea what it looked like. As I started collecting radios
I asked around, but nobody knew anything about it. In 1985 while at the Findlay hamfest I asked
a guy who was selling radios if he had one for sale. he nearly fell on the ground laughing! Of course, I had
no idea how rare the radio was. Well, he told me all about it.
I still kept hopes that I would someday find one, and I did have two oppourtunities which ultimately fell
through. Over the years as I saw this radio soar in value, I pretty much gave up on owning one. Well, another
oppourtunity came up recently and I decided to bite the bullet and grab the proverbial bull by the horns.
This Stratosphere came from the Salt Lake City, Utah area. It originally was owned by a wealthy fellow by the name of
Skaggs who owned a chain of stores.
The Zenith Stratosphere model 1000Z was manufactured in two runs. After the first 100 sets were manufactured, Zenith engineers
revised the circuit and made a second run. My radio is from the second revised model 1000Z manufacturing run. You can spot
the differences as the revised model has two knobs at the top of the dial. The first run does not have these two knobs.
It is almost 100% original having only the electrolytic capacitors and one resistor replaced. The cabinet is in excellent
condition with only the finish being not so perfect. It does have wear and crazing, but not enough to warrant refinishing.
All the veneer is intact except for a small chip on the front, which will be the only repair I will do to the cabinet.
Unfortunately, the knobs are reproductions, but they look just like the originals. The two chassis and the speakers are in
excellent original condition.
I will be working on the chassis and very carefully removing each paper capacitor, taking the capacitor apart and installing
a modern capacitor within the original. It will look as if it is totally original under the chassis. This should bring the radio
up to its full capability.
Here is an essay of Zenith and the Stratospheres as well as other high end Zeniths.
Zenith Soars to the Stratosphere
Also, here is the circuit description for both versions of the 1000Z Stratosphere straight from the Zenith Service manual.
Circuit description, first version
Circuit description, second version
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