Mystery magnifier
 

A visitor to the museum brought in a magnifier she bought at a flea market. It is only 7 1/2 inches wide, too small for a 7 inch set. Any ideas?

http://www.earlytelevision.org/mystery_magnifier.html

Is that 7 1/2 inches just the diameter of the magnifier, or does it include the diagonal measurement of the rectangular frame?

Obvious possibilities include the 5" Andera and RCA prewar sets, and maybe (less likely) the 3" Pilot TV.

Were there any 5" postwar sets?

Pilot TV: http://antiqueradios.com/forums/view...95678#p2395678

Although it's not the same one I was familiar with.

.

Maybe it is the same one I remember, I just can't see the full mounting setup from this old picture I saved from the internet in 2009:

Although I thought I remembered one version that was more octagonal and clipped to the grill differently.

I can't see how it would mount to a TV37, but it appears to be the same one in the thread referenced above:

http://antiqueradios.com/forums/view...95678#p2395678

As I mentioned on the ARF, it is for the 1948-49 3" Pilot TV37. A great find as it is much rarer than the set itself and worth as much. I haven't seen one come up for sale for many years. The metal tabs hang on the sets grill slats and the two stubs keep the bottom parallel.

The little metal clips hang on the horizontal plastic bars, and the two posts at the bottom tilt it to the correct angle.

Until the picture in the above post, I had never seen one of these with the Pilot * name on it and suspect that it was an aftermarket item made by someone else. It certainly was less likely to break the plastic bars than the one Pilot sold, which had to be slightly twisted to remove from the set, and if accidentally bumped -- Goodbye plastic front!

I wanted one for my Pilot back in 1963 during the short time it was my daily driver, but never could find one.

* The font used in the Antiqueradios example looks like a 1960s rub-off letter set to me, but cannot be sure from the photograph.

James

Yes, that's a Pilot magnifier. My TV-37 article has a couple of photos that I found somewhere.

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

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

The magnifier on my Pilot is an aftermarket item -- possibly home-made -- that stands on little legs that slide under the TV:

http://antiqueradio.org/art/PilotFirstLook02.jpg

So I guess there were aftermarket magnifiers for that set, as well as factory ones. A rare item in either case.

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

Period ads for aftermarket TV magnifiers in magazines usually mentioned that they started for 3" sets, so there likely was a few variations. I had the octagon one years ago that I wish I had kept, but I ended-up storing it in a box anyway. I was always afraid of bumping it on the set and ruining the bakelite grille. They have a bit of weight to them with the liquid filling. The version that's mounted on the metal stand that slides under the set is actually the most practical.