In a Nutshell
Another perfect Christmas present to a friend collector, a close family member or to yourself

Introduction:
The Trans-Oceanic line of Zenith's shortwave radios is the most prolific line of portable radios ever built (the tube models were built from 1942 to 1962, and transistor models were built from 1957 to 1982), and extremely well documented (ref.s 1,2). The 600 series L600, R600, T600, Y600, A600 and B600 was manufactured between 1954 and 1962. For the first time it uses a linear slide-rule scale instead of the traditional airplane dial, and it uses a current control ballast tube ("Voltmatic Regulator" 50A1) for dealing with fluctuating AC power lines. The Y-600 (1955-57) is the third to last model of the tube line, which was the very last tube-powered portable radio built in the U.S. It uses the 6T41Z chassis. You can easily tell a Y600 from a A or B600, by observing that the second band goes from 4-8 MHz instead of 4-9 MHz. The Y-600L is the deLuxe version in a cabinet that is covered with brown "Genuine Top Grain Cowhide" (mine was made by the "Eagle-Ottawa Leather Company in Grand Haven, MI" (pict.27)), instead of the standard black leatherette. More than 269'000 exemplars of the 600 line were sold before 1962. The new Trans-Oceanics used transistors starting with the Royal 1000 (also for sale), and were introduced in 1957; the Royal 1000 was very expensive (275.-$ compared with 140.-$ for the B600) at the time and allowed the B600 a last respite of a few years. Today the prices are reversed, the older the better.

Additional information:
ref.1: http://www.zenithtrans-oceanic.portabletubes.co.uk/
ref.2: http://transoceanic.nostalgiaair.org/

About my Radio:
The 600 series of Trans-Oceanics has three features to watch for (more details under techies below):
    a. the 1L6 tube: always make sure it is not substituted by a 1R5, not mine (pict.21)
    b. the 50A1 tube: this tube is often substituted by a metal resistor, not mine (pict.s 21-23)
    c. the Selenium rectifier: this part (red on left in pict.20) often has to be replaced by a Si diode, not mine, since it is perfectly working
All original paperwork is included (pict.29). The radio plays fine (click on thumbnail 33), even some activity on short-wave and cellphone connection were tested (click on thumbnail 34). Please e-mail me (Kris) for any questions, ich spreche Deutsch, je parle Français.

For the techies only:
The plates and grids of tubes for portables need quite high voltages (60 up to 90 volts) which were provided by bulky batteries. The tubes have cathodes directly heated with DC from 1.4 volt batteries. The Y600 operates on battery or 115 Volt AC-DC current and has a retractable cord. Radio restorers hesitate to rebuild batteries for a Y-600 since these AC/DC radios are working fine on 115 Volt. One specialty of the Trans-Oceanics is the use of a 1L6 pentagrid converter tube in both the oscillator and the mixer. This tube was a special development for this radio and is not only scarce but also quite expensive and is often replaced by a 1R5 tube, compromising the high frequency sensitivity of the receiver. My Y-600L has a well testing 1L6 tube (pict.21, 2nd from left). The 6 in the 600 series stands for 6 tubes, the 6th being the ballast tube 50A1, which is actually not a tube but a couple of resistors built into a glass bulb. This "tube" is rare and expensive too. It is therefore common practice (even preventively) to replace it by an ordinary resistor (1kohm, 5watt), complemented by a 8.2Volt Zener diode stabilizing the heater string which is connected in series. My 50A1 is perfectly working (pict.23). The Y-600 also features a switchable phono input jack, which can be used to play back cellphones, mp3 players, etc..

Here are the specifications:

Please have a look at prices and more radios, phonographs and gramophones  here