Wow, a Bendix!
 

That's a nice set - I especially like the pushbutton tuning.

Before this one, I had never seen a TV this old with push-button tuning. I can't help wondering how the channel selection is done, whether by tuned circuits (individual channel strips selected by the front-panel buttons) or a motor-driven standard rotary turret tuner, with a mechanism to stop it at the precise channel listed on the button. However, I cannot for the life of me imagine how the latter could be achieved with a push-button tuning system in the 1950s, unless a very intricate indexing mechanism is used. Hmmm. :scratch2:

I have an slightly newer Bendix - it's a good set. They're pretty straightforward and well done.

wow thats nice and only 3 hrs away. if i had more room id be all over that.

I had a mid-50s Bendix table set several years ago, it had a bad fly and the cabinet needed work, so I ended up parting it out ...

The 1948 Hallicrafters 505 (aka T-54) has pushbutton tuning. I assumed it was a cost-saving measure. Inside is a bank of cheap looking switches.

Phil Nelson

http://antiqueradio.org/art/halli50500.jpg

Either that, Phil, or MAYBE it was a way of trying to make their TV "Stand Out" from all the rest...Something w/THAT many impressive looking buttons HAD to be better than just a couple of big ol' dumb knobs, right ? Kinda like all those radios we've all seen from this era that had HUGE cases, w/"Flying Buttress" styling, only slightly less impressive in style & size than the Chrysler Bldg..And inside, is a rinky-dink AA5, no better-or worse- than fifty-eleven other sets of the same time frame.

I have the table model version of that set, the "Fiesta" Model 235M1. It is an extremely well built chassis, and works very well. The console version is well worth adding to someone's collection. (Not my set, and I do not know the seller)

A tabletop with doors --now I've seen everything! :)

Phil

Speaking of TV sets with doors, I wonder if any manufacturer ever fitted a power switch to shut the set off when the doors are closed.

And for "pushbutton tuning", wonder if any manufacturer ever fitted heart shaped cams on a tuning mechanism, like those on pre-war AM radios with "press the button downwards to change the station" mechanical presets.
http://www.geocities.com/wa2ise/radios/utrf1.jpghttp://www.geocities.com/wa2ise/radios/a62-508.jpg

Not to get too far off topic, but some tube portable radios have lids that turn the set on when opened, off when shut.

Same battery-conserving goal as the Zenith TransOceanics whose volume can be turned down very low, but not completely silent.

Phil

[QUOTE=wa2ise;2955323]Speaking of TV sets with doors, I wonder if any manufacturer ever fitted a power switch to shut the set off when the doors are closed.

QUOTE]

The JVC Video Capsule shuts off when you fold the lid down.

Neat looking table-top set John!

Hey there, Smoky Pond! Thanks, I have always thought the Bendix push botton TV one of my favorites. That you, Matt? Hows that 648PV treating you these days?