There was a thread on ARF on how to do a crude emissions test with a battery a resistor or two and a DMM.

We have to see that. For years I've been trying to find anyone that could prove they existed. So far the only sighting reported has been in the Philco brochure, but never a photo of a real one.



http://www.videokarma.org/attachment...1&d=1540160658


EDIT: Oh, maybe I've mistaken your find. I'm guessing you are just referring to a standard Philco Townhouse, and not the Predicta room divider Townhouse.

http://file.vintageadbrowser.com/vlim8ccsj5li9q.jpg




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Sadly, Philco used the Townhouse name on various sets. The one I bought is not as pretty as your picture.

https://cdn.wallapop.com/images/1042...ctureSize=W640

I think Admiral Bob restored one of these that was pretty rough.

Ah, yes. I wouldn't call that one ugly. I'd gladly have something that unusual in my collection.

https://cdn.wallapop.com/images/1042...ctureSize=W640

.

I've seen shelving units like that. Pretty sure philco bought those from a third party.... might be possible to make one out of such a shelving unit and a less than perfect 17" predicta.

One made with a regular shelf would just be a FrankenTV and worthless.

I want to know if Philco ever actually produced them, as they had them in their advertising and brochures for 1960.

http://www.tvhistory.tv/1960-Philco-Brochure3.JPG

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OK, let's go with unusual then :)

Well, it's been a LOOOONG day but I'm back from Madrid with a nice haul:

12" Zenith BW with leather cabinet and the CRT loose from its mounts (US market model)
12" General Electrica Española BW in original avocado green cabinet, with factory-supplied vinyl logo cover
19" Philco Townhouse (pictured above, that is the actual set) with the line cord cut off but otherwise complete
12" Zenith BW as above but without leather and CRT where it should be (Spanish market model)
1966 Grundig teak console stereo with 6BQ5 amplifier, Dual record changer, and two Grundig reel-to-reel decks, complete with stereo microphone still in its factory box

These were all just appetizers, on to the main event:

I got the Predicta. CRT filament had continuity. It was sitting on a table, under a very dusty sheet in an otherwise empty flat in an old building. According to the woman who sold it to me, it belonged to an American who worked in the US embassy in the early 60s. He left it behind when he returned to the US. The flat has been empty ever since (there seemed to be an interesting story there but she wasn't forthcoming). She said the neither the flat nor the set have been touched since the early 60s. I'm inclined to believe her, considering there is not one scratch, nor blemish, nor pitted brass, nor rubbed-off knob-letter, anywhere on the set, with the exception of a 1/4" rub mark on top of the CRT housing, just in front of the brass band - you can feel it more than see it. The set was still plugged into a cute li'l bakelite stepdown transformer.

A few quick phone pics, I'll post better ones tomorrow once I move it out of the garage:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PS1wBWYzyXUeiTeM8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kvFi74Ne2mwYoDxE8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/q2BnsReV152u36i39

Sweet!

Ooh, you got a UHF equipped predicta. Rare in the USA, and probably the only one in your country.

If one of those 12" Zenith sets is covered in denim then the model name was the "sidekick"...IIRC there is one pictured under the counter on the back cover of Supertramp's "Breakfast In America" album.

I think you're right. It makes sense; I think they had switched to mostly UHF here by then, and the CCIR channel spacing would have rendered the VHF tuner useless anyway. The thing I'm surprised at is that these NTSC sets seem to have worked OK with CCIR signals, even though it was 50Hz vertical and 625 lines.


Nope, it's leather. I remember the denim ones, as well as the "Spirit of 76" sets with the Declaration of Independence plastered all over them.