[Jayce]

After a couple weeks of no responses to my emails and phone calls, I decided to stop in personally at the shop in Barberton to see if the Philco A-361 console was still there. Turns out the shop had changed hands and the Philco was still there and priced $50 lower than it had been in the ad! So, I snagged a nice Philco A-361 console that seems to check out on transformer and even picks up a few stations when brought up on reduced power. Shows plenty of good signs. Cabinet does have a few blemishes, including a crack above the dial that seems caused by poor wood. Speaker looks good except one spot I repaired at the edge of the cone. Actually looked like the paper was simply too thin and wore away over the years. I think with a recap, and a good realignment, this will be a nice set from a unique time in radio history. Chuck: Do you have any paper work on this model I can order?

P.S. The one picture came out dark and grainy, I don't know why. Radio looks better than that!

   

   

[NostalgiaRadioTime]

Neat "car radio in a console cabinet" set. I've often wondered if the knobs on these were later used on the 1201's and hippo models after the war? I've never seen a real clear picture of them, but they do appear to be similar.

[Jayce]

While the knobs look a bit like the ones on the Hippo, they are different animals. There is a plastic knob mounted in front of a metal ring. The ring behind the volume knob is actually a tone control while the one behind the tuning knob is just decoration. I've noticed that the tuning knob has shrunk and warped, causing it to be hard to get off the shaft. Also, the shaft rusted some where it made contact with the plastic while the volume knob and shaft are just fine. Not sure what plastic they used, but it is actually transluscent as light will shine through it!

[NostalgiaRadioTime]

Interesting. Thanks for clearing that up. Looking forward to seeing your progress as you restore this beauty!

[VntgRads]

Be careful when you get around to cleaning the dial lens. The numbering and the lines on the back side will come off very easily. I learned the hard way.

Craig R.

[Jayce]

Thanks for the advice. The dial lens looks decent, so I will just let it be.

[Squire]

I like it! That's definitely a conversation piece, but it's also a very nice looking radio! Congrats and enjoy the restoration!

[Jayce]

More good news with this radio. Tested the tubes and all were very good except the 7B8 tube which read a bit weak. Luckily, I had a better 'Genuine Philco' 7B8 in my stash to swap into the radio. I must say, these loktals are fairly durable tubes overall. Both dial bulbs are blown, but everything else checks out so far. One question I have is cleaning the slug tuners on these units. As I said earlier, it will tune some stations on low power, but it's VERY touchy and I am suspecting dirt and crap in the tuner. Is there a safe way to clean these or should I simply use compressed air to get the worst of the gunk out of the tuning coils and slugs?

[Scottb]

Are these rare? There is one at an antique shop that has been there for years.

[Arran]

Are these rare? There is one at an antique shop that has been there for years.

 Not really, they seem to turn up on a fairly regular basis, what makes them interesting is the history behind them. There is another similar set that Philco made out of a MoPar car radio, in a chairside or coffee table style cabinet. Both are somewhat on the crude side since Philco was attempting to use up left over Ford and Chrysler car radios by converting them to AC operation.
Regards
Arran