Philco Prewar Television

This set was originally built around 1939, as it is identical to pictures in news releases for that year, it was probably used in the engineering department for testing as many modifications from the original 1939 design were made. There are two pencil dates written on the chassis - November 1942. There is a serial number 55719 stamped on the rear of the chassis, and the number 55725 is on the focus coil assembly, it could mean that 25 or more of these sets were built, or it could mean nothing. Original pictures of the 1940 and 1942 sets show a tuner with 5 pushbuttons and a fine tune control below the buttons, another picture of a 1942 console shows a 6 position rotary tuner still with the fine tuning control. Based on the hole cutouts in the chassis it appears that this set had the pushbutton style tuner originally. The set was modified around 1947 to use the new 8 channel tuner that was to be used in the 1948 production sets. It was more than likely done by engineering at Philco as very little damage was done with the upgrade, the original oscillator and mixer tube sockets are still installed, the cutout for the new tuner was made so not to disturb the original parts. This is the only one known to exist.

Custom 6" CRT, you can plainly see the "bent" gun construction. CRT is enclosed in a protective canvas bag. Other than the standard Philco labeling on the base there are no other markings on the tube. The number 274 is inked on the gun assembly. The tube looks exactly like a smaller version of the 10AP4 that Philco used in their 10" 1942 trial sets.

Year: 1939/42	Deflection: Magnetic
Production: ?	Focus: Magnetic
Original Price: N/A	HV Type: AC Mains
Tube Count: 20	CRT: Custom 6"