"Philco Mystery Control"
 

http://www.philcorepairbench.com/mystery/index.htm

This was something new to me, I hope it's not completely old hat for all you guys. Very cool.

Very advanced for the time. I bet one of those and a corresponding radio goes for some big coin --especially if its a working setup!

Hi;
Yes Philco's "Mystery Control" was quite an amazing system. Attached are two photos of my unit with the remote control sitting on top. Also on top is the "recording microphone" for this set. This was Philco's model 41-616 from 1941 and was their primo piece. It included the Mystery Control, Home recording unit, and their "Beam of Light" phonograph playback system. It also had an automatic self sorting record changer, which meant you could place 10" and 12" records together in the same stack and the changer would detect the size and adjust the arm drop position accordingly.

The Mystery Control is a real marvel to behold. With this particular set you can change preset radio stations, change the function to play phonograph records, reject records, mute all sounds, adjust the volume louder, softer, or turn the set off. This can be done from a location anywhere up to about 35 feet away from the console. There is a fellow who has made a battery holder case that is an exact replica of the original battery for the remote. You can place modern batteries inside of this case and insert it into the remote as the original battery would have been mounted. It looks completely authentic and it works great and seems to last a long time.

The Beam of Light phonograph system is a whole other topic and is also quite an amazing Philco creation.

Cost on the Mystery Control systems is not as expensive as you might expect, although I think it would be quite rare to find one in working condition. It took me the better part of a year to get this console with all of it's various components working fully. The Mystery Control system was a real challenge since there are so many nuances and tricks to bring it back. But it was a fun and interesting challege all the way. It would appear that the remote control "box" is almost as expensive, if not more so, than the radio receiver that goes with it, and it seems quite rare to find a radio console and remote being sold together. Most folks don't even know what the remote is. I've seen it listed as a small radio receiver and even a wireless phone.

Anyway, just wanted to chime in with my two cents when I saw your post about Philco's "Mystery Control".

Bob.

Hey Bob:

That is a really nice radio that you have in your collection. You even have the microphone for the recorder! I have the 39-55 Mystery Control radio which was Philco's cheapest of 1939. I did get it to work but is seems that everything has to be aligned just right in the universe for it to work well. I also have a remote unit for the 1942 models. It uses a completely different cabinet design that I have never seen in an ad.

Steve

Bob, Thank you for the additional info and the pictures! Beautiful restoration of an amazing system.

Hi Steve;

Yes, you are absolutely right about everything in the universe needing to be in perfect alignment for the Mystery Control to work well. It took me several weeks of tweeking to get the maximum range from the remote, and even at that it depends on the time of day and weather conditions as to how well it will work. Of coarse I'm pushing it to it's limits. I'm sure Philco never planned on having the control 30 to 40 feet away from the receiver

I'd be curious to see what your 1942 remote looks like?

Thanks.
Bob.

Bob:

Here is a picture of it.

Steve

Ok, that didn't work. i guess I have to make the picture smaller.

Try this.

Hi Steve;

Very nice.....I've never seen this one before. It's much more "square" looking than the one we're all used to seeing which is more round and flowing in appearance.

I'd assume the 1942 model you have contains the same components inside? Is this the remote you use with your '39 Philco set?

Bob.

Hi Bob:

The '42 model uses the same mechanism and electronics as the earlier models. The one I use with my 39-55 is the common curved one. I have never actually fired this one up to see if it worked. For it to control my radio it would have to work very well as the control is here in California and the radio is in Wisconsin!

Steve

I've made a bunch of repro Mystery Pack batteries for people, but I have yet to see one in operation. Would love for someone to post a video.

I have a Mystery Control as well as one of those chrome microphones, which I picked up separately for a few bucks apiece at different swap meets. I'm not crazy about the styling of the radios that use the Mystery Control, so I have passed on more than one "control free" set that I ran across here and there.

I think the Controls were often separated from the radios over the years. I have gotten more than one email from someone asking me to identify a "little Philco radio with a telephone dial" that they found in a shop.

The control is interesting, but kind of a gimmick in my view, judged by the fact that other manufacturers didn't rush to copy it somehow. There are other examples in radio history.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

I own one in awful cosmetic shape, as well as a radio in rather nice condition that it will eventually control. I've overhauled the radio, but the cabinet on the mystery control is sort of falling apart. I did power it off my bench supplies and got results, but it wasn't consistant. Probably had more to do with the fact that the parts weren't actually assembled how they should have been. I wired up my signal generator to the rotor assembly to get the proper pulses, and I was able to control the set somewhat with it.