Philco Safari scored

[bandersen]

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.



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.


The visor won't stay up on it's own. I suspect something is missing


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

[Red Raster]

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.

[Sandy G]

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

[Phil Nelson]

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

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

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.

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.
Visors were missing on both of mine.

jr

[bandersen]

Luckily once I got the cabinet apart the handle was a trivial fix. All I had to do was tighten down the screw.


Aside from some cadmium oxide, it's pristine inside. It sure is a brick!


The CRT face has a faint brown rectangle burned into it. I hope it still has plenty of life left.


Here's are some of the cool early transistors.


The seller had already powered it up so I figured I'd give it a shot. Bingo - a raster


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.


Finally, here it is with the visor installed. Weird hwo the image gets lager the further back you are.

[bandersen]

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.

[mpatoray]

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

[Sandy G]

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..

[kvflyer]

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!

[DavGoodlin]

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.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by kvflyer

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.

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

Originally Posted by kvflyer

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".

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

jr

[bandersen]

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

[jr_tech]

Is chrome finish correct for the brown Safari?



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

[bandersen]

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.