Found this tonight on Craigslist. Going to visit on Tuesday.

Owner says it works and was listening to FM tonight. Says the CRT shows snow and owner is old enough to know what snow is. Speakers
remind me of the Philco Butterfly radio design. $100. Stop me before I buy or help me load it to a pickup truck.

Go for it, someone has to save some of these huge sets, I can't do it all myself. :D

Me neither Eric, I already have 3 color combos and no space. I found a gorgeous Moto color combo on CL the other day, I'd love to get it but uuuhh, no room at the inn.....or storage lockers.... Dave, if I were closer, I'd gladly lend a hand loading it and moving it.:D

On the plus side, that CRT is big enough to enjoy watching. And check out those jumbo speakers!

Phil Nelson

Well for a combo that definitely has some desirable styling. And it appears minty condition.

I've always like those green hammertone changers in the Philcos!

I've always like those green hammertone changers in the Philcos!

Yeah, those green Philco changers are kinda neat. I'm not sure why it seems Philco painted most/all of their record changers green for a while, but they do look nice. The one in this combo looks like one of those weird Philco 3-speed changers in which one edge of the records rest on a fixed support "arm" (which has hinged parts that you can flip in and out to adjust it for 12", 10" or 7" records), and the mechanism changes the records by tilting the entire center spindle in such a way the the bottom record just falls off the support arm and drops down the spindle. I believe these are sometimes called "nodder" changers (due to the "nodding" motion of the spindle), and I think Philco may have been the only company to produce changers of that type.

Is that a 1953 with a split chassis? Golden grid or something like that?
It same as a table-model set i have but a
C O M B O so you have to rescue that one!
I have factory schematics on those. if you get it PM and Ill send scan

I would be happy to help you load it in your truck if I was nearby. :)

Saw the set tonight. Seller has had it for a year or so in a rowhome they are rehabbing. The set came with the home...abandoned by the late 80 year or so seller and under a cover for the ages. They pushed it around till it became annoying to have around. Probably the set of the old owner. They used it for FM music while they did their work.

Set is close to perfect cosmetically. A few nicks and the speaker cloth is shrinking. May be able to save. And the seller did plug it in for a long time for 1953 music while they rehabbed. FM is crystal clear with no hum. Phono is missing the cartridge so I did not try.

TV is as you see it. Vertical shrinkage is as you see it. Real RF snow and no tube wiggle to test either. Split chassis as guessed. CRT is as bright as can be found.

I took a quick look inside. Quality dust and no service tags in sight. I did not look at date codes. The pix are in no order but what I saw.

DA

Nice! love those split chassis Philcos! 1951 model 1875/1876 perhaps? does it have the remote?

http://tvhistory.tv/1951-Philco-Brochure.jpg

jr

Hi All;
My folks had a split chassis 1953 Philco.. Their first TV as far as I know.. I loved it, and worked on it in my teens, by that time it wasn't working so well.. I wish I still had it, but its long gone.. How long did Philco make the split chassis ??
THANK YOU Marty

Those great tandem chassis Philco's helped me cut my TV repair teeth, along with some other rather unfortunate sets lol. love to have another to work on and watch. I do have what's left of a remote control reel, cable, and head from a deluxe 17 incher. The set got chucked out by a relative, darn it! :tears:

I know it's big, it's heavy. it's wood, but that set is in too good of shape to let it fall into the hands of the hackers!

If you can get it cheap (less than $100?) and at least keep it safe till it finds a good home that would be great.

Memo to self. Join TV/AA after you pick up the set Saturday. No more N-gauge trains either.

Owner will help lift it to the pickup truck and then to the ballpark for storage. It will join my Dumont 103, RCA Director, Philco 50T1443, CTC-11 (someone come and get this cheap) and one of those stilleto legged Orthophonic hi-fi sets. And my TK-31 on the bench getting some updating. This is the cosmetic one. Shell only. Modern guts. Don't tell management I have this stash in my shop.

My favorite part is having the engineers from the $8 million dollar HD tv truck knock on my door to see what I brought home lately. A few years ago I gave an engineer a pedestrian set and it rode back to Atlanta on the Turner Sports B-unit.

I'm encouraged by the RF snow and the RF side of the split being ok. Just the vertical to look at. Will clean, DeOx and test tubes first as this thing is trying to work. Caps after. I can't do any more damage. Jr...no remote on this set that I can see. Economy version. Thanks for the link to the brochure.

Stay tuned.

Congratulations on a really nice Philco.

It looks like a deluxe chassis: is it the four Video IF chassis for full bandwidth? With a 21" screen and if full bandwidth, it would be a joy to watch.

Also, you mentioned you have a TK-31? Is that the RCA TK-31 field I.O. camera? I'd like to know how you are doing with that!

Penthode...The TK-31 is a re-purposed rescue from a flood at my barn years ago. I did intend to do something with it but the flood ended that and I just have it for play now. And the Philco is a 17". Just right.

Old TK-31 photo and details from when I looked that young;

http://www.oldradio.com/archives/hardware/TV/tk31-kyw.jpg

Congratulations! You are helping to preserve a fine Philco piece in original condition.
TV/AA is about right.

Mission completed. It is home at the ballpark far away from the prying eyes of management. Dropped it off in the dark and will examine further on Tuesday. Plugged it in for a quick pickup truck rumble test and it passed with flying colors.

If it was a car it would be called a barn-find. I am more amazed at the response...and happy...to this in our community and all your encouragements. My thanks to you for flinging me deeper and deeper into hoarding. My tv hoarding reality show will debut in the fall shot by myself on my hoarded early 80's vidicon cameras and VCR's.

Philco 51-1875 details to follow.

Penthode...The TK-31 is a re-purposed rescue from a flood at my barn years ago. I did intend to do something with it but the flood ended that and I just have it for play now. Sorry, my mistake. I thought the original insides remain. I have a TK-30 which I plan to restore. I am still after some ITT/Cannon "K" connectors...

Old TK-31 photo and details from when I looked that young;

http://www.oldradio.com/archives/hardware/TV/tk31-kyw.jpg It looks great! Exactly what camera did you put inside?

As for the Philco, my mistake. So it uses a 17BP4? And is it the deluxe chassis with the four VIF stages, keyed AGC and DC coupling from the 2nd detector to the CRT?

Philco update. Took a look today at 50-T1875. Gave it an Old English wipedown and it looks great. Blew it out with an air can and still need to clean more. The FB looks fine. The 17BP4 is a replacement from Continental Electronics. No date code. The tubes have dates from late 1950 to mid-1964. The changer is missing the cartridge and will wait. I did find a guy in Phila that does great work on changers. Got a Moto badged VM done by him and it is perfect.

Penthode...the TK got a Panasonic 4x3 CCD from about 10 years ago that uses a multi-pin connector for power, has a genlock input and multiple dip switches for AGC, etc. It takes C-mount lenses and I use an old Sony zoom lens or fixed lenses from my 16mm Bolex. I built a platform for the camera with Velcro so I can move the camera around depending on the lens. I use a small proc amp to strip off the color. I'll take some pix and start a new thread for the TK down in broadcast gear.

So you mean im not the only one who has about 7 of those 80s video cameras and parts and lenses lying in a closet?

Even have a few of the convertible VCRs as well.

May be lookin to unload a couple in the midst of moving, and doing some cleaning..

SR