The Philco 48-1000 arrived!

[Tim]

Great find and good luck with it. Those are fantastic looking sets and certainly much more interesting than the wooden box designs that follow. There is also a variation of this set. The first 1000 produced had a bronze medallion on the lower right front proclaiming it as Philco's Inaugural TV receiver. Here is a close-up photo of the one on my set.

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by Tim

Great find and good luck with it. Those are fantastic looking sets and certainly much more interesting than the wooden box designs that follow. There is also a variation of this set. The first 1000 produced had a bronze medallion on the lower right front proclaiming it as Philco's Inaugural TV receiver. Here is a close-up photo of the one on my set.

Ooooooooh...DAT'S Purty, Too ! Drool, drool, drool...(grin) I virtually NEVER see exotica like that down here....

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by Tim

The first 1000 produced had a bronze medallion on the lower right front proclaiming it as Philco's Inaugural TV receiver. Here is a close-up photo of the one on my set.

That would be very cool to have one of the first 1000, I note it says 1947 on the medallion.
My serial number (at least I think it's a serial) is in the 6000 range, just curious if yours is 1000 or less, or perhaps they didn't start at zero.

[Tim]

The only number on the chassis is 110777 3. I am not sure how to interpret it. Maybe they started with 110001 and this is 777? Maybe the chassis got swapped sometime in its history?

The 3 is in a larger and different font so I think it is a run number, production line number or day of week?

I can send you scans of the original factory service manual with troubleshooting charts and also the 6 page installation manual that goes over unpacking, installation of CRT and adjustments if you PM your e-mail address.

[Eric H]

Tim, my chassis has a stick on label above and to the left of that socket that I think is a serial number, it has a G followed by spaces and then a four digit number.
RCA had a similar format but started their serials with a C (for Camden I hear), wonder what the G means?

[Tim]

Eric:

I have no sticker on mine. Guess it fell off. I do have a spare chassis with a silver sticker to the left of the socket with "XX 79091" on it. It has a faded stamped number 112252 below the socket. Do you have a stamped number similar to the one on mine?

[Eric H]

Mine has 011217705 stamped in that location, I have no idea what it means, maybe some type of date code?

[Tim]

Hmmm... Maybe Don Lindsly will show up and shed some light.

[bars&tone]

Originally Posted by Tim

Great find and good luck with it. Those are fantastic looking sets and certainly much more interesting than the wooden box designs that follow. There is also a variation of this set. The first 1000 produced had a bronze medallion on the lower right front proclaiming it as Philco's Inaugural TV receiver. Here is a close-up photo of the one on my set.

Thanks for the education and photos. The "Medallion" model is a new one on me.

[bars&tone]

Originally Posted by Eric H

OK, it's home.

Powered it up an the Variac and get sound (white noise anyhow) and high voltage, but no raster. CRT checks fair to middling but it should work okay.

The 1B3 was bad killing the HV and making the oscillator squeal, replaced it and the HV came up and the Osc quieted down. Ran it for a little bit and nothing blew up or smoked so probably a basic recap will get this one running.

Cabinet is good, not perfect but I think a little work with some 0000 Steel Wool will help a lot, there are some little white specks on the top and misc nicks and scratches but really nice considering.

The CRT is a Hytron replacement dated 1951, several other tubes are Hytrons also and dated 1951 52 so this set must have had an overhaul in 52 or 53, either the owner had it fixed or it was traded in and the shop rebuilt it and sold it.

Cool pick-up! Congratulations!

[Sandy G]

Any time I show off my '49 Zenith Porthole to "Civilians" they are ALWAYS amazed..Yeah, THEIR TVs are 80" HDTVs color, stereo, & all that...But They STILL marvel at a junky 63 yr old TV...Kinda makes it all worthwhile, you know what I mean ?!?

[hi_volt]

Sandy...IMHO your 63 year old TV is a lot better quality than anything you can buy now. It's still around and has survived. Similar to my old 61 VW Bus which just turned 52 and is driven daily. I have a bumper sticker on it that says "This car is over 50 years old. What will your car look like in 50 years?"

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by hi_volt

Sandy...IMHO your 63 year old TV is a lot better quality than anything you can buy now. It's still around and has survived. Similar to my old 61 VW Bus which just turned 52 and is driven daily. I have a bumper sticker on it that says "This car is over 50 years old. What will your car look like in 50 years?"

No Kiddin'....(grin)

[cwmoser]

Originally Posted by Tim

Great find and good luck with it. Those are fantastic looking sets and certainly much more interesting than the wooden box designs that follow. There is also a variation of this set. The first 1000 produced had a bronze medallion on the lower right front proclaiming it as Philco's Inaugural TV receiver. Here is a close-up photo of the one on my set.

I would suspect that the first 1000 produced were Code 122 Chassis.
Erik's is Code 125. Still *any* Philco 48-1000 is a collectible gem. Hope
I can get lucky at the ETV in May.

Carl

[cwmoser]

Originally Posted by Eric H

Mine has 011217705 stamped in that location, I have no idea what it means, maybe some type of date code?

This in getting interesting. My Philco 48-2500 has a similar
numbering scheme - it begins with "0112" -- 011206702

It would be good information to know what these numbers mean.
What is the chassis designation on your 48-2500?

Carl