[Nooch]

I have a philco model 4144 tv.  Looking for part of the “philco” label
Missing from the front.  Also, it works but not sure  if an antenna will work to get channels?

[morzh]

When you say "it works", and other than the aerial there was, at the time, no other signal source - what does "works" mean?

[Nooch]

Getting “snow” when I turn it on.

[morzh]

Well.....if you are not sure anyone went through this set making sure the capacitors are all renewed etc, I would not turn it on.

Then again, you have to be sure there are TV stations that are pullable in where you are.
My dad in FL several years ago bought one of those amplifying antennaes, in Palm Coast, and was not able to pull anything anyway, so had to stick with Internet TV.

[MrFixr55]

Hi Nooch,

I am assuming that you are describing an old school TV with a CRT (picture tube) as opposed to an LCD TV.

If so, there is no currently broadcasted signal that the TV will receive, as all "over the air" TV is digital.

Do you have cable?

If so, your cable box should have an "RF Output" that will supply the correct NTSC analog signal to your TV.
This RF Output is either switchable between Channel 3 and Channel 4 or there will be a label stating the channel that the signal will appear. Get a length of coax with screw on "F" connectors and a "matching transformer" from Best Buy, Home Depot, etc. to connect your cable box to the VHF input of your TV. Set the TV's channel selector to whatever channel the RF Output of the cable box is set to. Fire it all up, use your fine tuning control, and adjust the horizontal, vertical, contrast and fine tuning as needed.

If you do not have cable, an old school VCR or VCR / DVD Combo Unit will have a similar RF Output. DVDs and Blue Ray DVDs do not have RF Outputs. To use a DVD or Blue Ray, you will need to get an RF Modulator (and in the case of the blue ray, an ATSC to NTSC adaptor).

Hope this helps.

[Nooch]

Thanks everyone! It’s definitely all original and I leave it unplugged. Appreciate all the input.

[David]

If you happen to have a old VCR player would work. Good luck getting it going. David

[morzh]

Well, the govt was distributing the D/A converters for free for almost a year.
Now you can buy them, they are not expensive, and will allow watching the DTV broadcasting on an old school TV with analog antenna input.

I believe there is some sort of law that people have to be able to watch free TV.
At least some folks are still watching it.

[Nooch]

Thank you

[MrFixr55]

Hi Nooch,

How old is this TV? Is it black and white or color?

If the TV is from the late 1960s or newer, it likely has "Orange Drop" or "butterfly" capacitors, and upon last powerup, you got no smoke, the electrolytics are at least not shorted. Some of the good ones can last a while, but the consensus is that it is always a good idea to replace them. If the TV is from the 1950s or older, then all the capacitors should be replaced. Paper -wax or ceramic covered paper-wax caps dry up and short after a many years.

Do you have antique radio repair experience? If not, you may want to leave checking this TV out to a pro. TVs have rather dangerous voltage levels. In addition, accidentally breaking a picture tube is very dangerous.

[Nooch]

I believe its a 56 Philco. I’ve called around and so far, no one has experience with these older tv’s so I haven’t found anyone to help me replace capacitors, etc. I’m in South Florida

[MrFixr55]

Hi Nooch,

When you did power it up and received "snow" did you hear a "rushing waterfall" sound through the speaker?
Do you hear any hum? Was the screen completely lit with the "Snow" with good brightness?

If this set has been used recently, continue using it. It would have been a good idea to "form" the electrolytic filter capacitors by slowly applying power through a "variac" (a variable output transformer), slowy increasing power from about 20 volts to full 20 Volts over a period of time. However, you already powered it up. If no smoke, good.

Barring the ability to service this yourself, you can try to run it, but do not leave the unit unsupervised. If the picture starts shrinking, especially horizontally, turn it OFF IMMEDIATELY

There are 4 possible signal sources that will allow you to actually watch this TV:

1. Your Cable Box should have an "RF Output". This This RF Output is for the old analog NTSC Standard which was replaced with the new digital ATSC Standard. To use this, you just need a length of Coas with "F Connectors and a "matching transformer that accepts the coax on one end and has 2 spade lugs to connect to the 2 "ANT" screws on the TV.
2. If you still have a working VCR and tapes, you can connect it to the TV using its RF Output
3. A "Digital Convertor" is available that will allow you to receive "over the air" Digital TV on an analog TV. They currently go for about $50 - $60. When the nation switched to digital TV, this obsoleted millions of analog TV sets amid much public outcry. The government issued cupons for free digital convertors to resolve this.
4. an RF convertor that will allow connection to a DVD Player. Very few if any free standing DVD players had RF outputs.

Give it a try. The set should still be serviced. you can get a vintage book on TV Servicing for the amateur from eBay. Some warnings (and forgive me for being repetitive):

Dangerous voltages- The TV employs voltages that can give you a dangerous or deadly shock, even after being off for a period of time. Capacitors are like little rechargeable batteries. Even if the shock is not deadly, your pulling away from the shock could cause to bang a hand or fall, causing further injury.

Several tubes in the set get extremely hot, such as the Horizontal Output tube, the damper and if a transformer powered set, the rectifier.

One of the biggest dangers is if the CRT (Picture Tube) is struck or falls out of the mount (that happened to me once) Older TVs that have a "window" in front of the tube have no integral implosion protection. If the bell or face of the tube is struck, it will shatter into many pieces. The bigger the tube, the bigger the danger. When I was a kid, I was working on our 1953 DuMont. This had a 21" 5 degree Picture tube. The thing was massive. I had the window out of the TV and for some reason, the tube fell out of its mount and imploded. There was glass from one end of the basement to the other (and this was a big house). I was standing at the side of the set. If I was standing in front or behind the set, I would not be typing this. I would be wearing dark glasses selling pencils on the street corner.

This is not stated to discourage you but a healthy respect for these things is necessary.

If you find it, please list the complete model and chassis number. The Schematic may be on the web somewhere. Take pictures of the set from the front, with the back on and with the back off. This will be helpful.

I have a list of TVs that I must tackle:
My Late Mom In Law's (a wonderful person) 1965 RCA CTC24 Color TV from my wife's childhood (last of the RCA "roundies")
A 1947 Admiral 24A125 10" TV Street Find (I took this but could not fit the RCA CTC7 color roundie that they were also throwing out
A 1947 RCA 721 given by a friend
My Grandparent's 1951 DuMont RA113
A 1956 RCA 14" Potable.
2 1958 17" RCA Portables.

And my bucket list project, a 1964 Lincoln Continental convertible, 4 Doors!