[Ampico-kid]

I have a Philco BOL (Beam of Light) system that I've been working on for some time now and have gotten all of the mechanical problems resolved in the Webster Chicago Deluxe Changer, and am now concentrating on the actual BOL phonograph arm. The restoration is pretty straight forward and simple except for the photo cell. As with many of the BOL photo cells, the one in my unit is totally dead. I've been scouring the Internet in the hopes of finding a suitable replacement and have come up empty handed.

I understand that West-Tech now rebuilds these sytems and I contacted Gib in the hopes of purchasing a cell from him. After initially making contact, he chose not to reply when I asked if I might purchase a photo cell. Apparently he's only interested in doing a complete rebuild job. I understand that, but have already done all of the work and only need the photo cell to complete the job.

At the suggestion of someone else...I tried removing the solar cell from a cheap handheld calculator and installed that. Although it did work, the performance left much to be desired. The original Philco photo cell size, by the way is approx. 1/4" X 7/8" by about 1/16" thick.

Does anyone have a line on where to find these very rare little buggers?

Any help/leads would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Bob.