[blake3801]

Hey everyone, new to the classic radio game. I’m being gifted a Model 41-280 from the in-laws, and from what I’ve seen online, these have 4 dials, but the one I have here has 5. The faceplate is missing, so I can only assume, for now, what the right 4 are, but the furthest left has me puzzled. Any ideas? Thanks!    

[GarySP]

Welcome to the Phorum, blake3801! The right four knobs are correct for this set. The fifth knob on the left is an add-on. Will need photos of the chassis and wiring to determine what they were trying to accomplish here. Take care and BE HEALTHY! Gary

P.S. I deleted the duplicate post.

[morzh]

Have fun.

This is my thread on that same radio. Bought in 2014, restored in 2017.

https://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthrea...ght=41-280

Be prepared to deal with rubber wiring; in mine it wasn't so bad.

[willits18]

For the dial you can try Radio Daze
www.radiodaze.com

[MrFixr55]

Hi Blake,

Welcome to the Philco Phorum and to this hobby. Lots of phine phriendly pholks phull of Philco phacts and phun. (See a pattern here?)

Please take a moment to read the Phorum Rules, and the thread "What NOT to post in the Phorum". Also post a little about yourself in the "Introduce yourself" Phorum Topic.

Please keep us posted on your progress in restoring this radio, using the thread that you started. Our Philco Gallery and Philco Library have much info. And of course, the members are more than happy to jump in and help. As you see, Morzh as actually restored one of these.

For your convenience, here is a link to the schematic from our library:
https://philcoradio.com/library/download...20Book.pdf

You will have to analyze and compare to the schematic but my guess is that someone added a "radio-phono" switch. Since these sets have a reasonable amount of output power from the twin 41s in Push Pull and a nice (for the time) 10" or 12" speaker, it was common to add a "Phono jack" and switch to the set. One giveaway is that the knob does not match the other knobs (looks RCA-ish to me) The other giveaway is that it is not "symmetrical" or placed in the middle of the set.

How to deal with it? I think that it will take much cabinet work to remove it and patch the hole, therfore center it in line with the others as best that you can. It could probably be considered a legitimate "mod", as it was likely done within 10 years of the set's manufacture.

One of the buttons may have been marked "Phono or TV", as Philco had a scheme to receive TV sound or Phono audio "The Wireless Way" from Philco phonos or TVs that had a built in AM transmitter to "broadcast" sound to the radio. (Commercial TV was rolled out in 1939, only to be curtailed at the start of WWII). This saved the customer (and Philco) the relative expense of an expensive amplifier and speaker having the quality of the one built into the radio, but at the expense of a relatively simple transmitter and the reduction in sound quality of a transmitter vs direct audio from the source to the radio.

My recommendation is to keep the radio - phono switch, because this set will sound very nice with input from an MP3 player, CD or Tape player, Bluetooth from your phone, etc. AM right now is a relative wasteland for music and the band is polluted by so much interference from lighting, computers, the "Internet of Things", etc. There is so much "Old Time" radio programming, short "Soundies" of big band songs (the ancestors of music videos), etc. One website "Rat Patrol Radio has news of World War II and announces the time in "Eastern War Time". So connect your computer to it, pull up one of the many classic radio programs, Glen Miller, Cab Calloway, Andrews Sisters, Artie Shaw, Dorsey Brothers or other Big Band "Soundies" and have a 1940s party!!

[Paul Philco322]

The Fifth Knob, like the third wheel. Could be a novel. Good luck with that beast. Paul

[vinzer]

could be a power swich they offten did not work any more.