UHF CONVERTER
Walsco 2000 "Imperial"

   

The Walsco Electronics Company (Walter L. Schott Co.) was a maker of tools, parts & servicing aids for audio, radio & TV, plus early UHF antennas. It was a bit unusual among TV accessory makers in that it was based in Los Angeles, at a time when the majority of electronics companies tended to be based in New York or Chicago, and most TV stations were east of the Mississippi. However, there was a long history of television pioneering in California, dating to before WWII, so Walsco continued a proud tradition.

Appearing in late 1953, the model 2000 Imperial converter appears to be the only UHF converter that Walsco made. It came in two cabinet colors: a Bakelite cabinet version in the usual "mahogany" brown, and an otherwise-identical white Plaskon version. The large round gold reverse-painted dial gives it a substantial appearance. The circuit uses the usual 6AF4 oscillator and a 6BK7 in a Cascode IF amplifier arrangement, with a selenium rectifier for the B+.

However, it is one of very few UHF converter I know of that has a "click-stop" tuner. A large "turret" assembly rotates four ceramic disks each carrying 8 inductors to tune groups of ten channels. The operation is very much like VHF TV tuners of the period. Individual channels are selected by adjusting the "fine tuning" control, which moves dielectric vanes in the oscillator and 2-stage preselector. A somewhat complex double dial-string arrangement transfers motion from the knob to the tuner and its dial.

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Updated August 30, 2022