Philco Safari scored
 

I've seen a few of these over the years but they either been out of my price range, poor condition or both. I finally got as lucky a few days ago (I think) and snagged this beauty with a $79.99 BIN :)

It just arrived this afternoon and I snapped a few photos. Here are some of those plus a few from the auction listing.

I haven't looked inside or tried to power it up yet.

All knobs are present and the leather is in decent condition.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2935/...683319ff_z.jpg https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/...25ba5336_z.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5193/...792622ea_z.jpg https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2910/...0b9b386a_z.jpg

I only see a few issues so far.

One side of the handle has broken loose.

The battery compartment has some corrosion. I imagine that's a common issue.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5153/...23dffe7a_z.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5278/...13298747_z.jpg

The visor won't stay up on it's own. I suspect something is missing :scratch2:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2931/...3f53c66c_z.jpg

Fingers crossed the CRT is good. I imagine replacement 2EP4s are nearly impossible to find.

Nice find
 

Hi Bob, The front cover flap is held in position by two coil compression springs with plastic like dowels pressing on the lid mount that are pocketed where the cover fits in. The good news is you can recreate these parts easily and they sit in under where the lid mounts (perfection can be achieved without a screw driver!). When I get back from the ETF convention or another Safari owner can send pictures of the parts you need. Hope the rest is ok.

Mine's a brown one like that, & the entire visor, & all its associated parts are MIA. But mine WORKS, so that's all right.

It might just make a raster if you bring it up on a variac. Mine did when I found it in a second-hand store many years ago.

The innards are a total brick. It's interesting to see how they designed the boards.

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

Both of mine worked ok... seems like many of these are still working with original parts, or just minor repairs. I'm guessing that Philco used high quality parts *and* these sets really were not used heavily. :scratch2:
Visors were missing on both of mine.

jr

Luckily once I got the cabinet apart the handle was a trivial fix. All I had to do was tighten down the screw.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2917/...323b6645_z.jpg

Aside from some cadmium oxide, it's pristine inside. It sure is a brick!
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2912/...63df38b14c.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5079/...dd588d536d.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5319/...eb6a8ae543.jpg

The CRT face has a faint brown rectangle burned into it. I hope it still has plenty of life left.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5483/...e578511692.jpg https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2927/...5093b195bc.jpg

Here's are some of the cool early transistors.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2923/...035c85fcb2.jpg https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2920/...5148428339.jpg

The seller had already powered it up so I figured I'd give it a shot. Bingo - a raster :)
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2921/...f8685d6582.jpg

After a little control tweaking, an image and sound too. Even with the brightness all the way down it's hard to get a good photo.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5072/...6d36b72b1d.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5079/...e672472e89.jpg

Finally, here it is with the visor installed. Weird hwo the image gets lager the further back you are.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5320/...2548b02984.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5510/...ea6cb4f057.jpg

I did a little detailing this afternoon and got the hood propped up with a couple bits of wood. I'll hunt around for some small compression springs.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5151/...74d7612a99.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5568/...67c801fde8.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5111/...206a8eda_z.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5076/...f248ee3f_z.jpg

Sweet set Bob! Now are we going to see other portables showing up such as the Singer and some Sonys?

My Safari is ANOTHER one I "Wow !" kids & non-TV types with.. It sits on a big console radio just PERFECTLY at the right distance away to look like its at least a 13, 14" picture..

Good on 'ya Bob! I bought one several years ago and was amazed at how big it was! I had gotten some of those Sony Watchman sets for pennies and always wanted the Safari.

They usually do work. I don't know who made the electrolytic capacitors but they are usually good. Some of the members of ARF have them and they have found the same thing, "They usually work".

I have looked for a black one and when I did see them, they are usually too expensive. One day, a black one will come along.

Thanks for sharing!

Its great to see these rescued by collectors rather than sitting in some "MCM curio collection".

I get a kick out of the channel knob, same one on a 1957 "Miss America" I once had.

Pardon the fuzzy picture, but the Safari and Watchman are shown here for comparison:

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment...3&d=1256351976

Yep, this one fired right up... later I just gave it a good control cleaning.

jr

$70 BIN/OBO gets you this one in Ontario http://www.ebay.com/itm/Philco-Safar...-/390844921253

Is chrome finish correct for the brown Safari?

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5151/...74d7612a99.jpg

IIRC all of the metal on the brown Safari should be brass colored, and all of the metal finish on the black model should be chrome. I must admit that the shiny chrome on those knobs looks a great deal better than the dull brass on my brown model.

jr

All I know is that's how they looked after a little polishing. They're not magnetic and I think they actually are brass just very shiny.