Philips Novorama 2
 

I got this Philips yesterday. I first found it at an online auction almost a month ago, and the seller was asking $35. The last two weeks i have looked at it several times, and yesterday i discovered that he had reduced the price to $25. I decided to go for it. After a short phone call i was on my way, and three hours later i had the TV in my apartment. When i picked it up, he told me he had powered it up last year, and it worked fine then, so i decided to give it a try with the variac. At 40% all the tubes were lit, no excessive current and no bad smell, so i turned it right up to 100%. After about 20 seconds the line output started to make some sounds, and after 5 more seconds the picture came up. I haven´t tested it properly yet, because the signals are very weak here, i doesn´t have cable and the set is VHF only so i can´t use a VCR. But i was able to get a weak signal with a long wire, so at least it seems to work.
It has a total of 20 tubes, no transistors (it may have, but i haven´t found any), remote control connection (wired, of course) and four(!) speakers. The electronics looks untouched, and the seller didn´t recall having any problems with it at any time. The cabinet looks almost like new, only some scratches on the left side and some on the top.

Wow ! LOVELY set ! Great score ! How old is it-late '60s, early '70s ? I LOVE the woodwork on European TVs, too...Our domestic stuff was pretty good way back in the beginning, but looked, I think, really BAD later on.

That set on the right corner... is that also a Philips? I remember seeing that style of set ( from different brands ) a lot when I was a kid. In fact, my first bedroom TV ( when I was very little ) was a 1974 B/W Philco almost identical to that one... I wish I have saved it many years ago, when it was stored - still in excellent cosmetic shape - in a small house on the back of my grandmother's home. In fact, it was sent to the dumpster just because no one wanted to repair it anymore...:dammit:

At least I saved the little 1978 Philco Ford portable, that was in the same place, and escaped being dumped probably because it was just taking to little space to bother.

As for Philips, I have a 1962 radio-phono combo and two TVs: an early 70's B/W hybrid and a 1985 color portable that was one of the very first here with remote control. I still want to put my hands on a tube-only Philips, the model I want was manufactured in a reasonable amount here between 1958/1960( when I found one in an AFFORDABLE price ):

*blinks* Um, don't VCR's output at channel 3 or 4? Channel's 3 and 4 are VHF channels.

In europe all such thing use ch36 as default, and are usually adjustable between 32 and 38. The only unit i can think of that uses ch3 or 4 is the old 8 bit Nintendo games.

Yes, this one is a Philips: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=104563

I have heard that the Philips K9 was the first fully transistorized european made TV, but i don´t know i that is correct.

Always something interesting on here! And I didn't know about the different outputs used on vcr's over there, either. The covering used on the bell of the crt is unique-what is that made of? Was that common?

I did not know that. (Obviously)

Well, at least you can bring in one channel.

I forgot to write that in the first post. It´s from 1962. The man i bought it from was the original owner, and he said the electronics were untouched. In other words, all original parts.

It looks like some kind of painted cardboard. I have no idea of why it is there, and i have never seen it before.

And, i just had to attach a picture of the key to the doors on the cabinet. It has the Philips badge in it!

Hahaha!!! This one has a key!!! Here some vintage TVs also were manufactured with keys, to prevent unauthorized use from maids and kids!