1952 Motorola Bakelite tv
 

My next set I chose to restore is a 1952 Bakelite Motorola 17" set. It has the optional UHF tuner in the middle of the set. It's a very unusual set in the way it's laid out. I put in what capacitors I have and will order the rest. The flyback is mounted underneath with a spring loaded access door on top to reach the 1G3 rectifier.

Here is the underside of the chassis. This uses a 17hp4, which is philco branded. Obviously changed at one point. I'll need to fabricate a yoke cover because the old one is dusentigrating.

Unusual, for sure! What jug does it use? It almost looks too flat-sided for a 17".

jr

It uses a 17HP4.

Here is the underside with the flyback cover removed.

Here is the odd spring loaded door to reach the hv rectifier from the top of the chassis.

Neat, I love Bakelite sets. There's one on eBay right now that I thought had the wrong knobs but apparently not.

I posted that one on ARF. It's pricey, but in real nice condition. That bakelite all polished-up, on a hairpin-legged table with a nice set of rabbit-ears on top -you have a real classic mid-century piece!

Here's a little better picture of the set. The UHF tuner is the gold knob in the center.

I still got one of these sets sitting in the trunk of my car in the garage.. :D

SR

I have one too (model 17T3) but the CRT is necked :(
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7260/...d10f830cf7.jpg

That's a bummer on your crt. Hopefully you find a replacement for it. This set is built like a tank and uses a thick Bakelite cabinet. The UHF tuner assembly and flyback cover is made out of copper, which is different to see. St. Louis didn't get a UHF station until '65/66, so either this came from another city or there was a heck of a salesperson behind the counter that day. It's possible they bought the UHF tuner later, but I doubt it.

The parts are just copper plated like the chassis.
Motorola made that set, with minor variations for about four model years. They made that same set with a metal cabinet, painted all kinds of fancy, decorator colors. The UHF tuner is really a convertor. You had to set the set on channel 5 and flip the lever to the UHF position.
The set shown, is probably the last of the bakelite models. IIRC, the earlier chassis didn't have the trap door for the 1B3. The chassis had to be removed to replace the 6AF4 tube. In this area, UHF was used a lot, so you were lucky to get 6 months out of a 6AF4.
The UHF tuner was either factory installed or dealer installed.

A list in the Jan '54 Radio Electronics shows KSTM ch 36 in St Louis and WTVI ch 54 Listed as St Louis-Belleville. Like many of the early UHF pioneers, I suspect that they did not survive long (or changed channels) after more VHF stations were put on the air in the area.

jr

A little history of "The Big Mo" here:

http://www.dougquick.com/stlouisTVghosts2.html
.

The cabinet is polished and the parts are in order.