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.
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.
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