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Old 4th Aug 2016, 2:26 pm   #30
Maarten
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Haarlem, Netherlands
Posts: 4,185
Default Re: 1948/1949 Philips type 520A television and radio

Not based on typography but on the construction of the Philips code system, the digit behind the . is the revision number. If the design is changed, it is incremented. After it reaches 9, a new code number is used.

It is indeed true that various different type plates were used for different destination markets, but they had a different code number within the same series and not simply a different revision number. As far as suffixes go, I'm not exactly sure why and how they were used. Speculation says the /A may have something to do with the pre-printed M which may or may not have been pre-printed at the same time the rest of the plate was printed.

To illustrate, some similar code numbers of type plates:
A1 871 99 "PHILIPS Made in Holland/Importe de Hollande" with Nemko/Demko approval marks (used on some 1948/1949 export radios)
A1 871 99.0 "PHILIPS Made in Holland/Importe de Hollande" with Nemko/Demko approval marks (used on various general market and export sets around 1940-1947)
A1 871 991 "PHILIPS Made in Holland/Importe de Hollande" with Nemko/Demko approval marks (used on some 1947-1948 models for general markets)
A1 872 23.0/A the plate on the 520A/15 from around 1949
A1 872 27.2 plate on GM4198 measuring equipment

The code number series starting with A1 wasn't used for very long (approximately 10 years with a war in between) so those are the only examples I have but the same principle applies to other type plates and in general to all code numbers from the early 1930's to the early 1960's. I don't know the (probably small) differences between the various A1 871 99 versions so I'll have to compare pictures.
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