Working Vintage 1948 Pilot Candid Model TV37 3 Inch TV Table Top

  • Working Vintage 1948 Pilot Candid Model TV37 3 Inch TV Table Top
  • First things first - It works. I plugged it in and hooked up cable. No work has been done.
  • Video on YouTube.

    • I picked this up from an estate sale of a long time radio collector.
    • Sold as is - no returns. Please look at pictures and ask questions.
    • The case has scuffs and scrapes from a lot of years of use. Overall looks good. See pictures.
    • The front bezel, screen, knobs, labels all look great
    • Plug and cord are original and in good condition.
    • I tuned it in to two TV stations. Picture and sound for both. Not tested further.

    • In 1948 there were several thousand television sets in America. 
    • 90% of the people had never seen a television.

    • Thanks to Phil's Old Radios at antiqueradio.org included is a copy of the Pilot instruction 
    • manual, Sam's Photofact, and Riders manuals.
    • The Pilot TV-37 "Candid" is an unusual vintage television. With a tiny 3-inch picture tube, 
    • it is barely watchable by modern standards, but the TV-37's compact size and unusual 
    • design make it a favorite of collectors.

    • Pilot introduced the TV-37 in 1948, at the then-amazingly low price of $99. 
    • Most 1940s TVs sold for hundreds of dollars, the cost of a decent automobile. 
    • Pilot made this set for only a few years, but sold a lot of them during that time. 
    • The TV is housed in a streamlined cabinet with a wooden base and an upper case made of pressboard. 
    • The entire TV is only 14 inches wide, 13 inches deep, and 9.5 inches high, the size of a large table radio. 
    • Most of the upper case is perforated for ventilation.
    • The front controls are simple: power/volume, brightness, tuning, and contrast. 
    • The tuner control includes a high/low switch, which lets you select two tuning ranges. 
    • The low range is channels 2-6 and the high range is channels 7-13.
    • Unlike most TV tuners, the Pilot's is continuously variable. 
    • Instead of clicking from one station to the next, it turns smoothly like a radio tuner. 
    • This was a cost-saving measure; the Pilot tuner contains far fewer parts than other TV tuners. 
    • Its construction is similar to a radio tuner, using air variable capacitors, pulleys and strings.

    • From radiomusem.org:
    • For model Pilot Candid TV37, Pilot Electric Mfg. Co. (Radio Corp.); Brooklyn (NY)
       
      Country: United States of America (USA)
      Manufacturer / Brand: Pilot Electric Mfg. Co. (Radio Corp.); Brooklyn (NY)
      alternative name
      		Pilot Radio & Television || Pilot Radio and Tube || Pilot Radio Corporation
      Year: 1948 perfect modelCategory: Television Receiver (TV) or Monitor
      Valves / Tubes21: 3KP4 12AT7 12AT7 12AT7 6AU6 6AU6 6AU6 6AU6 6AU6 6AL5 35B5 6BA6 
      6AU6 12SN7GT 12SN7GT12SN7GT 12SN7GT
      Reception principle
      to an article
      Super-Heterodyne (Super in general)
      Wave bandsVHF/UHF (see notes for details)
      Details
      Power type and voltageAlternating Current supply (AC) / 105-120 Volt
      LoudspeakerElectro Magnetic Dynamic LS (moving-coil with field excitation coil) / Ø 10 cm = 3.9 inch
      Power out
      from Radiomuseum.orgModel: Pilot Candid TV37 - Pilot Electric Mfg. Co. Radio
      MaterialVarious materials
      ShapeTablemodel, low profile (big size).
      Dimensions (WHD)16 x 11 x 16 inch / 406 x 279 x 406 mm
      Notes

      Portable US TV Set, 3" Pic. Tube from Pilot Radio Corporation. 

      The advertising was heavily targeted to college students and the set was sold for $99.95. 

      It has a continuous tuner and tuned channels 2 -13 in two bands. 

      The designer was Werner F. Auerbach who explained the small screen in an 

      IEEE-Interview as a question of costs. Two and a half years after, 

      Motorola could compete with it with a 5" screen.

    Pictures are part of the description

    #W555


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