Masthead

1949 Philco 50-702T
1948 Philco 50-702T

The old man's TV—I don't know where he got it from. The problem with having a 7" screen in a huge cabinet (compared to the screen size) is that it ends up being a novelty. I've seen it play a couple times: the image is weak and ghostly, like a reflection on a windowpane; and of course these days if I wanted to watch something, I'd have to hook it up to a VCR or something with an RF output that would inject the signal straight into the antenna, which is a bit of work for something I'd probably watch for 30 seconds, smile, nod, and then shut off again for another decade.

This is a 1949/1950 702T (or T702, depending on your source). The 701 has a plastic cabinet with a lot more angles and, IMO, a chintzier appearance; I prefer wood cabinets. The year's fairly easy because for awhile Philco did a very sensible thing and incorporated the model year into their model numbers.

According to a price list at earlytelevision.org, this sold for $189.50 in 1949.

According to the old man, this one has an electrostatic tube; no yoke. It also splits the video and audio and runs them through separate IFs. Due to tuning constraints, "do you want a good picture or good sound?" Because you can't have both.

Radiola Guy has a nice little write-up on it with more photos.

Current Status: noisy audio; needs a filter capacitor.