Motorola & Philco finds

[Jeffhs]

Originally posted by peverett
I happened to have the Sams photofact(1024) of this set(I have since sent it to Charlie). The set has a transistorized IF and some other solid state circuits if I remember correctly.

In the same folder is a Montgomery Wards B&W set that is completely solid state except for the HV rectifier. I also have three small Philco's and a Sylvania of similar vintage that are solid state except for the HV rectifier.

In, addition, in my workshop, I have a 1970 Sylvania table top square tube color TV that is solid state with the exception of the vertical and horizontal circuits. The Sam's for Charlies set was issued in 1969.

As you can see, solid state circuitry was fairly common in TVs of this era.

Oooops! Sorry about that. I didn't realize several manufacturers besides Motorola were making hybrid TVs in the '60s. Guess I've been away from the old sets too long. I was always under the impression that the first all-solid-state sets were the Moto works-in-a-drawer TVs, followed by RCA's original XL-100s, followed by Zenith's modular chassis, followed by most other manufacturers jumping on the bandwagon until all sets were eventually 100 percent solid state. (I do not consider TVs with tube HV rectifiers all solid state, even if the rest of the set has transistors and/or ICs; to me, these sets are still hybrids. If you want to split hairs even further, there may be people who consider any television set with a standard CRT as being a hybrid, even if every other tube in the set, including the HV rectifier, has been replaced by transistors and/or ICs.)

BTW, now I'm wondering. The original "XL-100" RCA TVs were 100-percent solid state, with the XL, of course, being an abbreviation for "X-tended life." That explains what the first RCA XL-100 label stood for. However, I have a 1999 RCA 19-inch set with "XL-100 Commercial Skip" plainly displayed at the top left corner of the cabinet, above the CRT. What, if anything, does the XL-100 stand for on my set? If I were a betting man (I'm not), I'd bet that's just another meaningless/useless marketing label, like Zenith, RCA(!), GE, Magnavox, et al.