Questions about Zenith Porthole Combo

[Carmine]

Yesterday I purchased a Zenith Porthole Combo... I really don't know a whole lot about these sets. (Even though I've had a 19" version sitting around my basement for about a decade. It needs a total resto and I never have the time.)

Anyways, I was told this set "kinda" works, so on a gamble I bought this monster combo because I figured it would make a good friend for my '67 Zenith Emperor Combo. The cabinet styles are close enough they can be in the same room, and they're both TOL sets I figure.



I could tell the set had some work done at least within the past 20 years, because the power cord has been replaced with something sorta modern, there were extra tubes and power transformers in a box, along with a few old caps. The guy I bought it from had apparently fired it up recently, although he was pretty much a jerk who wouldn't even hold the door for the guys moving it out. He knew nothing else about it, and had bought it at an estate sale.

So on a gamble, I fired it up and waited for smoke. Instead I got very nice, hum-free reception on both AM and FM. The tuner string is broken so I can't yet change the stations, but the auto-mode presets (not mechanical like a car radio! WOW!) are set for local stations. The green tuning eye also does its thing.



Next I moved on to the Cobra-matic record player. It spins on its own, amp works, although Dean Martin sounds a little slower than usual (I used one of my least-favorite Dino records, which means it's still a better album than most, lol.) I really have no idea how to operate this rather complex mechanism. I assume at least one of the tone arms is for 78s, the other for 33/45s. For the photos, I put both of them on the album just to confuse my friends. Or maybe this is to play Beatles albums backwards?



Counting on my luck everywhere else, I decided to power up the TV, watching the back for smoke, fire and explosions while my girlfriend watched the screen for any signs of life. She saw light on the screen before I spotted any disasters. I came around the front and saw a decent raster (shrunken and obviously not showing any signals).



So here are a few questions:

1) Why is there a display on the right which only shows channel 2, while the left shows channel 3-13 and a blank spot?

2) What is the momentary contact switch under the screen? I know they used to put a conventional switch to go from round to square picture, but I don't see how a momentary switch would do this?

3) What year is this beast from? I'm guessing '49.

I love that I've been collecting old TVs since I was a kid, and I still find weird stuff I've never seen before!