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Philco Model 249 made in England
#1

I wonder if anyone has any information or experience with this model.  My internet searches are coming up with nothing.  I ran into this down the street from where I live set on a porch to be thrown out.  I was going to take it but the homeowner said it had been out in he rain for a long time. It's at least 3 feet long.


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#2

Welcome to the Phorum, fklown!  That's one heck of a Philco 'yardstick' you've got there!  Could you possibly post a closer view of the system, and any labels still on it.  A photo of the chassis would be helpful too.  Our folks here will help figure this one out.  Personally, I've never seen this set before.
I've seen worse examples of water damage than can be easily seen in your photograph.  DO NOT PLUG IT IN!  Make sure it is totally dry inside and out and thoroughly inspect all components before thinking of applying power to the set.  Being made in England it's possible that it is a 230 volt set ... more reason to go through it completely.  Take care.  - Gary

"Don't pity the dead, pity the living, above all, those living without love."
Professor Albus Dumbledore
Gary - Westland Michigan
#3

Gary - Thanks for responding!  I hadn't actually taken possession of it at the time of my post but since you said it was unusual I went back and snagged it.  It has a turntable in it.  I added some photos.  = Tom


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#4

Wow! Now that is something! I’ve never seen a Philco like that, but it’s pretty mid-century.

Joseph

Philco 46-480
Philco 49-906
#5

Neat looking set, definitely Euro- style. I am guessing that this is solidstate due to the vent holes (or lack thereof, and the particleboard sides put it in the very late 50s to 60s. The turntable is a Garrard, and seems to be somewhere between the Model RC88 and Model A and the 40 Mark 2 or 40B series turntables that were so popular here in the 1960 sand early 70s. the model A and RC80 series supported the stack of records from the passive "spindle" and the device at the left rear, in which a knife "pushed the records off the cliff" of the spindle. Your turntable has an arm that holds the records on the spindle and another arm that senses the presence and size of records on the spindle. These changers took over the USA market from Voice of Music, BSR and Collaro, as well as turntables manufactured by the radio manufacturers (RCA and Philco used to manufacture their own turntables).

It appears from the labeling on the back that the radio has a dual range power supply.

Send more pix as you disassemble it. Especially send pix of the tone arm and cartridge. If the cartridge is magnetic, it will be nicer sounding than crystal cartridges. One issue will be power line frequency. Unless specifically marketed for export, the turntable was designed for 50 Hz and will run plenty fast on 60 Hz, changing both speed and pitch of a record. This will not be an issue for the radio.

"Do Justly, love Mercy and walk humbly with your God"- Micah 6:8
"Let us begin to do good"- St. Francis

Best Regards, 

MrFixr55
#6

Did Garrard produce stand-alone turntables? The reason I ask is, when I was a kid my grandfather gave me a KLH Model 20 which also had a Garrard turntable. But I e never seen any stand-alone audio equipment branded as Garrard.

Sadly I gave that Model 20 to a cousin. Don’t know what ever became of it. But it needed some work.

Joseph

Philco 46-480
Philco 49-906
#7

Yes, Garrard was well-regarded for its standalones.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#8

Well, I’ll be! I learned something.

Joseph

Philco 46-480
Philco 49-906
#9

Thanks for the information MrFixr55.   It's tube amplification and not solid state.

TOM


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#10

It looks like it may have a stereo amplifier, at least for the phonograph section, likely EL84s/6BQ5s, or the series string equivalents. I could not find a listing for this model number but I think it's probably from the early 60s as there were other British Philco sets with similar black slide rule dials. Other then the cabinet damage, due to the particleboard ends getting water damaged, it looks pretty complete, fortunately it looks like the top and the bottom are made out of something else, either boards or plywood, the cabinet probably had screw on legs at one time, either metal or wood.
I think if I would have found it I would have taken it home too, and try fixing it up, Garrards were common enough record changers that you can still find NOS parts for them, the rest is going to be the usual things, capacitors, resistors, and tubes, assuming the coils and transformers are still good. The tubes are going to be common types from that era.
Regards
Arran




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