Philco 1958 17" TV memories.

[jonnybear]

Back in the 50s there was a TV rental company in Exeter called Western Radio
They used to rent white Philco 17" televisions, when I went to work for Robinson Rentals in the 60s I was confronted with hundreds if not thousands of these sets in various forms some with wooden cases some in plastic covered steel.
which had come from a previous takeover of Western Radio, my question is where have they all gone, I can honestly say I have never seen one not even a picture of one since.
John

[Nuvistor]

This was listed on a UK site, presume it was a UK set, does this look anything like some of the sets you came across?

[jonnybear]

Originally Posted by Nuvistor

This was listed on a UK site, presume it was a UK set, does this look anything like some of the sets you came across?

Hi Frank
Yes they were UK sets the white ones were slimline models the wooden ones were slightly deeper, from what I can remember the slimline were 110 deg the controls were on the top, the screen surround was moulded, they were quite retro at the time, the picture you uploaded is unfortunately nothing like these sets,the nearest I can find on the net is the American slender 17".
John

[llama]

Hi John - how sure are you about those dates? Not looked it up but 1958 seems a bit early for 110 degree tubes.

You've peaked my interest because my Dad picked up a smart Philco at a sale in the early '60s. Its cabinet was moulded ply, it was quite slimline and had its controls on the top. Its model number was something like 1100 or maybe 1010. It was faulty and I found an inductor near the vision output stage had been physically damaged being near the top rear corner of the set. I think I just shorted it out or maybe found the break. It had an ECC82 frame oscillator which I remember because its frame hold was always a bit weak.
Lovely looking set for the time - no idea what happened to it.
Graham

[Nuvistor]

17inch 110 degree crts were available in 1959, eg. Pye PV110 shown in Jan 1959 WW. Other makes can be found later in the year.
Sylvania USA had 110 degree crts available in 1957, could this set have a USA crt?

[thermionic]

There was a Philco ‘Slender Seventeener 2’, launched late 1959, the model number being 1010......

SimonT.

[jonnybear]

Just dug out some old paperwork I haven't seen for a long time and lo and behold I came across the model number and the later variant, the white one was a Philco 1019 the later variant Philco 1030 which had a dark red surround with white red check vynal case.both used the same chassis.
John

[Nuvistor]

Any photos with the paperwork?

[jonnybear]

Hi Frank
That is the unfortunate thing,I had a list back in the 60s with a few notes, no
pictures, wished I had kept one or ten, probably a collectors item now, In the middle late 60s
they were being skipped by the hundreds.With a little foresight and the space we would all be millionaires.Simon they do look similar but think they were the American version.
The same Philco chassis was also used in a Robinson Rentals wooden cased version.
John

[electronicskip]

Philco used to make 17" Predicta TVs in 1959 would it be the same tube?

[Heatercathodeshort]

The model was the 1019. It always had it's I.Fs twiddled. Knobs on top, brass support bar at front bottom. Very American appearance. The final Philco receivers produced just before the Thorn take over of the British Philco operation was the Codenta series. J.

[Colourstar]

Here's my rather scruffy example of a Philco 1030, which may bring back some memories for you.

Steve

[Heatercathodeshort]

This is the MK 2 version model 1010 of the original 'Slender Seventeener' model 1000. The original version employed the Mullard 90 degree AW43-80 CRT. The later version pictured here, the AW43-88 110 degree.

Looking through the manuals reveals a wide range of much better quality wooden cased models from the mid 50s.

The first Thorn badged and I believe the only model Thorn produced with the Philco logo was the incredible 19" and 23"1100 range employing the Thorn 700 chassis [1961] and torch beam operated remote control of sound mute and motor driven channel selector.

The system sounds horrendous but was very reliable using capacitors, relays and ORP12 photo electric cells. No valves employed! I seem to remember AC ripple on one of the relays but it was a long time ago.

The second picture shows the model A 1557 again showing it's American styling.

A popular 17" model from the 50's was the A1967. It could be fitted with a motor driven channel selector as an optional extra operated by a cable.

I must admit I was a young lad at the time and always associated all metal cabinet models with dislike.

The Emerson E700 series from around the same period with metal shell cabinets were rotten models and were to be avoided for refurbishment and resale, unless you enjoyed attending to FOC guarantee repairs..

1958-1962 was a crazy period for TV design. Regards, John.

PS That is a Codenta Steve.

[jonnybear]

Thanks all for contribution, I had forgotten about the 1010 yes I worked on a few of these, the wooden cased RR sets used the 90deg tube so would be a clone of the 1010, seem to remember them eating 2 watt carbon resistors,
Thanks for the Picture of the 1030 Steve, remember them well.
We used to quite like the Philco's of that era as you didn't have to wear a truss to carry them about,
Those were the days when part of your tool kit was a rag and window cleaner and spare eht caps to replace ones that had tracked due to damp & nicotine, that applied to all TVs back then.
getting back on the suject I would still like to see if any of the 1019 sets survived.
John

[Nuvistor]

Originally Posted by Heatercathodeshort

The model was the 1019. It always had it's I.Fs twiddled. J.

Any reason for that?

[Cobaltblue]

Curious to know where Western Radio were based (Address in Exeter)

Cheers

Mike T

[jonnybear]

Originally Posted by Cobaltblue

Curious to know where Western Radio were based (Address in Exeter)

Cheers

Mike T

Hi Mike
They were based in Queen Street Exeter on the left hand side of the pannier market entrance, long before the rebuild I think it was a Whimpy bar afterwards.
John

[Heatercathodeshort]

Originally Posted by Nuvistor

Any reason for that?

Literally every 'metal shell' Philco had twiddled I.F. cores and often had to be tediously drilled out before new cores could be fitted and the circuits aligned.

They had a poor AGC system with no control on the R.F. side of the tuner [PCC84] The common sound and vision amp was a straight EF80 rather than the vari-mu EF85.

The channel selector knob had a sloped bottom that operated a microswitch that switched in a manual preset to adjust the gain of the PCC84 cascode R.F. amplifier on Band 1 only. It was shorted out by the channel selector knob when switched to Band 3.

This often created sound on vision and vision on sound effects creating the perfect excuse for the phantom twiddler to carry out his work. Other than this fault they were quite reliable and when installed on a decent stable aerial performed very well.

The 21" version the 1021 was designed for wall mounting but I never encountered this. Maybe in Hampstead..
Regards, John.

PS Hello Frank, Your post 2. I have never seen one of these Philco models and it's 'tea cart' trolley very popular in the US for a short period. Is it an American picture? J.

[jonnybear]

The channel selector knob had a sloped bottom that operated a microswitch that switched in a manual preset to adjust the gain of the PCC84 cascode R.F. amplifier on Band 1 only. It was shorted out by the channel selector knob when switched to Band 3.

This often created sound on vision and vision on sound effects creating the perfect excuse for the phantom twiddler to carry out his work. Other than this fault they were quite reliable and when installed on a decent stable aerial performed very well.

This jogged my memory regarding sound on vision, this was a later version with a convex case with controls either side of the tube, an irate customer complained of picture jumping in unison with the sound then exploding glass everywhere.
after exchanging the set with an upgrade to keep customer happy the set was returned to the bench for examination,culprit was a pint beer mug amongst the tube remnants handle of glass was intact.
John

[Nuvistor]

Originally Posted by Heatercathodeshort

PS Hello Frank, Your post 2. I have never seen one of these Philco models and it's 'tea cart' trolley very popular in the US for a short period. Is it an American picture? J.

The auction web site it was on was UK and priced in £, that’s all I know and of course I can’t find it again.