Philco on eBay
 

Someone here who can pick this up needs to save this Philco 51-PT-1208!

This uses the rare 12WP4 with the 3/4' neck, that CRT will not survive shipping!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Philco-T...QQcmdZViewItem

Done, I hope ! Wish me luck , please. It will have a gentle, slow, ride home in the back seat of my station wagon. It looks really cherry.

Thanks For The Heads Up !!

Bob Hodge In Syracuse,N. Y.

I wonder how this set got from the factory to the local TV shop, then. :scratch2:

If all else fails, that TV can be converted to use a 12KP4 with good results.

Don

But Don, that would spoil all the fun. :D

CRT's and shipping
 

Remember that most sets had the CRT shipped separately from the cabinet and chassis. Otherwise, one good drop could easily snap the neck from the bulb .

The dealer had a tech go with the set and install the tube in the customers home. Customer service really meant something then ! :D

Even if the CRT in this set were to be defective, it doesn't deserve to be broken for obvious reasons.

The 1208s were a low end product and were delivered completely assembled. There was no room for extra cost at any point in the value chain. New twelve inch TVs were intended as second sets and apartment TVs by 1951.

They have a built in tunable antenna, compact size and light weight. The customer could take the TV with them. While quite fragile out of the cabinet, the CRTs were relatively sturdy when properly mounted in the cabinet.

If shipping, I suggest packing face down in several inches of bubble wrap top and bottom. Mark the carton "glass" and "end up", and "do not stack". Either double box or a protective box on the top end of the box over the CRT neck.

Don

Thanks Don ,

I was always under the impression that anything with a round CRt was old enough to have been shipped that way by what old literature I've read..

What you say makes sense.

I'm still hopefull of getting it though as it would be a 10 minute drive to pick it up. The rabbit ears antenna he's listing came with it when the seller bought it and I'd like to keep them together if possible..It just seems right to me.

Best !

Bob

These guys know what they are talking about!
 

That CRT must come out.
Let us not be lazy.

That CRT should be handled as little as possible. Removing it will pose more risk than leaving it where it's been for 55 years. Philco CRT mounting assemblies were among the best. I doubt there's a safer way to pack it. I have bought new 12WP4s about 50 years ago. They were packed in special 12 inch picture tube boxes.

If you remove the tube, you will need to figure out how to package it. It has a fragile neck and a fragile vacuum tip on the side of the tube and must be handled like a giant wine glass. Less handling is better, even on the bench. At Philco, we fashioned adapters so we could work on the chassis using test jigs without involving the picture tube.

I do recommend removing some CRTs, like early 10 inch RCA tubes, because they just sort of lay in place and are not secured. They are almost guaranteed to break. It is a judgment call, based on the particular TV.

I have gotten 1208s via common carrier, with normal packing, and everything arrived intact. Perhaps I've been lucky.

If transporting the TV yourself, I recommend rear seat, face down, on a thick blanket so you don't damage the controls. Make sure the chassis is bolted, seatbelt, and it will be stable.

Good luck. That's a fun TV with several innovations for its time, and also its share of idiosyncrasies.

Don

Most of the early sets I've seen had a well secured crt. Philco, Admiral, Zenith-they are generally well strapped down. I am amazed that the 3 "loose-mount" RCA sets I have made it this far in life without a broken crt. The people I bought them from paid them no special care-those picture tubes were just sort of hanging by the yoke. Scary.

I still would be very nervous about shipping any complete tv set. When they were new they would have been handled with kid gloves from factory to the customer's home, because if they were damaged some guy was going to be in deep trouble. But today, you had better plan on that package being dropped 8' off a loading dock, onto its corner, onto concrete. Can you pack it well enough to survive that?

Looks like you got it!

The original guy who bid it up then retracted, andy3196 is now NARU, wonder if he got booted for retracting his bid?

I think that andy guy is the same guy that bid on one of my sets and didnt pay beacuse he thought the bid was intentionally pushed up!

Philco On Ebay
 

Yes, And Thanks Again !! I'll try and return the favour.

It was a pleasant experience all around. Unfortunate about the bidder who got bounced..

I've never seen one of this model before. The seller found it in an estate sale in Liverpool N.Y. and picked it up during the last couple of hours.
He probably saved it from going in the junkpile. It was a " make an offer " type of sale.

The chassis is the cleanest I've seen in many a year. Not a speck of rust or discoloration anywhere, almost no dust.. All but 2 of the original back screws still holding the back on.
The phenolic coupling with the actuator cam for the fine tuning mechanism is broken in 3 places, but is all there. It's been repaired before. A little superglue should get it back together permanently.

According to the Sams folder, it was also sold as a combination phonograph and radio set. Any idea how many sets which used this chassis were made?

I'll try and post some pictures once I figure out how to do it..

All My Best !!!

Sincerly,
Bob

:thmbsp:

andy3196 has been buying a lot of cheap Predicta parts and televisions. I have only one encounter with him and he was pretty rude.


polaraman