Six 1940 Philco tv's giveaway

[Paul Knaack]

I browsed through a local antique store this morning and picked up this Jan. of 1940 magazine of Radio and Television Mirror. I thought it was interesting that six new Philco tvs were given away. Does anyone know what models these would have been? I thought I had read somewhere that the 1948 48-1000 was Philcos first set.
http://imgur.com/a/F6HLr

[jr_tech]

Several pre-war Philcos shown here:

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

Wonder what some of the winners used them for?

jr

[decojoe67]

Common knowledge has always been that Philco's first line of production TV's was in 1948. I've seen a slew of photographs of earlier Philco prototype sets, but they were just that. I can only guess that these winners received limited pre-production sets. Maybe it was a promotion by Philco to give these sets away and get feedback to decide when to go into production. Sales of TV's were very poor in the pre-war days and there was a lot of problems both with the sets and the availability of programming. Most companies like Philco opted to wait until things got worked out, which was about 1948.

[tubesrule]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

Sales of TV's were very poor in the pre-war days and there was a lot of problems both with the sets and the availability of programming.

I'm not aware of any specific problems related to pre-war receiver design and operation. These sets performed fine for their times, and are on par with many early post-war sets.

This contest is certainly very interesting. As Dave A pointed out, why would they have a nationwide TV contest where only a few people could actually use the sets?.

[dtvmcdonald]

Originally Posted by tubesrule

I'm not aware of any specific problems related to pre-war receiver design and operation.

Indeed! Except for the bad paper caps, none of the parts in my two prewar TVs, a TRK12 and a TT-5, seem problematic. Of course, they don't
have flybacks. The HV oil caps are sealed and are at least OK.

Now about that TRK-12 radio ... the Rube Goldberg radio motor driven
system looks like it was designed become sparky, flaky, noisy, and
a general pain. The direct-drive pushbutton setup in the U-10
radio-phono that provides the TT-5's sound is much simpler and in fact
more reliable, not to mention cheaper.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by tubesrule

I'm not aware of any specific problems related to pre-war receiver design and operation. These sets performed fine for their times, and are on par with many early post-war sets...

It was not so much about the operation of the sets being a problem, but their reception. I've definitely read of annoying interference problems that pioneer TV watchers dealt with in the day that were eliminated in the post-war years. The general performance of pre-war sets was adequate, but with huge leaps made in electronics due to the war-effort, many bugs were worked out and advances made for post-war TV's. It is definitely noted that the 1946 RCA 630TS is a superior set compared to the 1939 TRK-12. Between the circuity improvements and the timing being right for the public to accept the new technology, TV in the USA was basically re-introduced in the post-war years.

[tubesrule]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

It was not so much about the operation of the sets being a problem, but their reception. I've definitely read of annoying interference problems that pioneer TV watchers dealt with in the day that were eliminated in the post-war years. The general performance of pre-war sets was adequate, but with huge leaps made in electronics due to the war-effort, many bugs were worked out and advances made for post-war TV's. It is definitely noted that the 1946 RCA 630TS is a superior set compared to the 1939 TRK-12. Between the circuity improvements and the timing being right for the public to accept the new technology, TV in the USA was basically re-introduced in the post-war years.

The only interference problems due to the design of the reciever I am aware of is from an anecdotal tale of the local oscillators in nearby sets interfering with each other. Other external interference sources would have been the same before and after the war. (ICE ignitions, diathermy, brushed motors, etc.) This in no way inferrers a lack of understanding on the part of the pre-war engineers or a limitation of the technology available to them. Most pre-war receivers lack an RF amp in front of the tuner, just like many post-war sets, as this was deemed unnecessary given most sets would be sold and used in a major metropolitan area.

There were really no technologies developed during the war that advanced the basic operation or performance of the receivers immediately post-war. The advances came in the form of miniaturization and cost reductions. While a 630TS is probably the pinnacle of immediate post-war design, it contains no technology that was not known, or could have been built pre-war for the right amount of money. Mass production and building to a certain price/performance target is what drove the technology. For instance, having a flyback power supply while technologically advanced and known before the war, provides no tangible operational advantage to the user over a mains derived supply. It does provide a cost and size advantage.

All this is to say a pre-war receiver like the TRK12, while not as technically advanced as a 630TS, will perform as good or better than many immediate post-war sets from the users point of view. Take for instance the ubiquitous VT71. These represent probably the most common design of post-war sets and their performance pales to many pre-war sets.

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

Several pre-war Philcos shown here:

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

Wonder what some of the winners used them for?

jr

What with the War and all, probably used them for Fish Tanks.

[Paul Knaack]

Oh, Thanks, I guess I don't know why I was thinking Philco did't make a prewar set. I should have checked the ETF first.

[Electronic M]

IIRC NTSC was standardized July of 1941, so sets predating that would be the makers standard. IIRC RCA and their friends were doing 441line and Philco was doing 800-900 line.

Looking at the ETF site that was not the only time that magazine gave away Philco TVs...I bet that a fair portion of the survivors are those give away sets.

[vts1134]

To the best of my knowledge the known surviving Philco prewar sets have exclusively come from the homes of Philco engineers. Other collectors have postulated that Philco had an open policy regarding engineers taking sets home when they were no longer needed for company purposes. This Philco prewar console came from the home of an engineer that had another prewar Philco tabletop in his bedroom. http://www.earlytelevision.org/philco_40-41.html

[David Roper]

800-900 lines? Clue us in on which TV station(s) were broadcasting "the 800-900 line standard" at the time....

[jr_tech]

Found this in Wikipedia... sounds as if Philco was indeed entertaining a higher definition standard...

"USA 1937-1941: 441 lines @ 30 f.p.s.(RCA) and 605 lines (Proposed by Philco)"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tele...ms_before_1940

Interesting...early American HDTV!

jr

[dtvmcdonald]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

Found this in Wikipedia... sounds as if Philco was indeed entertaining a higher definition standard...

"USA 1937-1941: 441 lines @ 30 f.p.s.(RCA) and 605 lines (Proposed by Philco)"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tele...ms_before_1940

Interesting...early American HDTV!

jr

605 is 5*11*11

shades of 819! TWO divide by 11's!

[Dave A]

Only 2 of the winners would have ever seen a picture. Snow for the rest. The second place winners did better with the radios.