Philco 48-1001 - 1948 vintage

[Dave A]

Found this on Phila. CL a few weeks ago for $100. Finally got it last night. An aspiring architect found it in a house she was rehabing. She saved it, held it for a few years and now it had to go for space.

"It had snow the last time I tried it". The words you do not want to hear. The copper visible through the power cord should be a clue.

A soft start on the Variac proved her right (with the same cord) and it came up with sweep but vertically challenged and dim. The dim faded to nothing after 10 minutes. Every control was noisy or ineffective.

Another try today was better. Still no cleaning or chassis removal. The vertical adjustments worked today and got the snow full screen. The Beltron got the CRT from .3ma with no life to .85ma with a good life test. The dust-o-meter says this is all original.

With no inspection of the underside, this is amazing that it tries to work after 50 years. Perhaps some previous work I have yet to find, but what a soldier. At work I have about 30 dead plasmas after only 4 years. Another thread for another day.

It's antenna inputs are the early Philco 4-pin connector. The wider 2 pins are the LF (ch 2-6) and the narrower 2 pins are the HF (ch 7-13). I did not try to force a signal in tonight.

My house is in the middle of major remodeling, so the pix are of the the set in the worst of conditions on my living room floor with a small lamp nearby with no signal available tonight. If they post in order, the pix are pre and post Beltron. The rest of the story will be a while.

It also has the Philco 8-position tuner of the day. The tech would tune the set for the local channels on the nearest position on the tuner. No fine tuning for the customer. Mine is set for Philadelphia in the day. Ch's 3, 6, 10, 12. And 12 did not appear for long after this set was mfgd but the tab is there. A later addition?

And if anyone has a spare Philco 4-pin connector available, let me know.

Dave A