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Philco Model 46-350 Portable Radio (1946)
This was a very popular portable model in its day and consequently is very easy to find
nowadays for a reasonable price. Move the mouse over the image to see it with the roll-up
door closed.
It uses 6-tubes and covers the broadcast band. The tube line-up is 1T4 (RF stage), 1R5
(converter), 1T4 (IF), 1U5 (2nd det, avc, 1st AF), 3Q5GT (power), 117Z3 (rectifier). The set
runs on either batteries or the ac line. When the power cord is run through a notch in the
back cover and the cover is closed, ac power is activated, otherwise it uses battery power.
The use of an RF stage makes this set extremely lively. I've found it will pull in normally very
weak signals strongly enough to completely capture the AVC and render the playing volume
almost as loud as on strong local stations. One way I use to judge the performance of a
radio is to listen to the effectiveness of the AVC. Turn on any modern good-performance
AM radio (a car radio is a good example) and note how, as you tune through stations, local
or distant, the volume in the speaker remains basically the same between them - you don't
need to keep on adjusting the volume as you tune through the dial. Now do the same with
an early tube radio with AVC and on most sets you'll notice a lot more variation in loudness
due to the poorer variable mu and gain characteristics of the early tubes and the lower
overall reserve gain in the set. Of course, if you listen to an early model without AVC and
you don't adjust the volume, you'll get blasted when tuning from a weak station to a strong
one! Generally, the addition of extra gain stages, either in the IF or RF, will improve AVC
action. Also, miniature tubes have improved characteristics for AVC when compared with
earlier generation ones. For a portable, this model is certainly very good, aided by its use
of miniature tubes and an RF amplifier.
This radio is often found with the leather handle strap broken at one end or missing
entirely. This one was no exception, but I did later find a very good handle on a junker set
that I swapped onto it. There are also reproduction straps available, such as the one shown
on the philcorepairbench resource links page.
nowadays for a reasonable price. Move the mouse over the image to see it with the roll-up
door closed.
It uses 6-tubes and covers the broadcast band. The tube line-up is 1T4 (RF stage), 1R5
(converter), 1T4 (IF), 1U5 (2nd det, avc, 1st AF), 3Q5GT (power), 117Z3 (rectifier). The set
runs on either batteries or the ac line. When the power cord is run through a notch in the
back cover and the cover is closed, ac power is activated, otherwise it uses battery power.
The use of an RF stage makes this set extremely lively. I've found it will pull in normally very
weak signals strongly enough to completely capture the AVC and render the playing volume
almost as loud as on strong local stations. One way I use to judge the performance of a
radio is to listen to the effectiveness of the AVC. Turn on any modern good-performance
AM radio (a car radio is a good example) and note how, as you tune through stations, local
or distant, the volume in the speaker remains basically the same between them - you don't
need to keep on adjusting the volume as you tune through the dial. Now do the same with
an early tube radio with AVC and on most sets you'll notice a lot more variation in loudness
due to the poorer variable mu and gain characteristics of the early tubes and the lower
overall reserve gain in the set. Of course, if you listen to an early model without AVC and
you don't adjust the volume, you'll get blasted when tuning from a weak station to a strong
one! Generally, the addition of extra gain stages, either in the IF or RF, will improve AVC
action. Also, miniature tubes have improved characteristics for AVC when compared with
earlier generation ones. For a portable, this model is certainly very good, aided by its use
of miniature tubes and an RF amplifier.
This radio is often found with the leather handle strap broken at one end or missing
entirely. This one was no exception, but I did later find a very good handle on a junker set
that I swapped onto it. There are also reproduction straps available, such as the one shown
on the philcorepairbench resource links page.
Move cursor over image to see door close
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