Motorola "works in a drawer" color set wanted

[rcafan]

Many Years a go I bought a Mototola "works in a drawer rectangular color
TV" It wasn't a great set, but is was small and decent. I seem to recall it may have been partially solid state.

I would like to acquire one for my collection, Don't think I have seen one
on Ebay either, Somebody out there possibly can provide a lead or has one to sell. Thanks

[GeorgeJetson]

What does that set look like?,I don't think I've ever seen one before.

[GeorgeJetson]

I googled it and found a video of a 1970 Quasar works in a drawer tv and it just looks like an ordinary console set..why is it called "works in a drawer"?
I was expecting the screen to fold down into a cabinet!

[radiotvnut]

Because the chassis slides out the front, like a drawer. These sets were designed using modules that could be replaced for easy service. The first WID models, which were branded "Quasar" by Motorola, came out in '67 and were fully solid state (except for the HV rectifier tube). Actually, these were the first solid state color TV's that were sold in the US.

There were also tube/transistor hybrid versions of the WID sets. There were still some WID sets built, even after Matsushita bought the consumer electronics division of Motorola in '74. I think the WID concept was phased out by 1980.

[GeorgeJetson]

"radiotvnut"
Thanks for the explanation,I thought it folded up!
Why did Motorola change it's televisions brand name to Quasar?

[bgadow]

Quasar started out as a name just for their modular TV chassis. In 1974/75 Motorola decided to get out of the consumer electronics business and sold those lines to Matsushita (Panasonic.) The Japanese company changed the name of the business to Quasar.

There have been a couple people on VK in the last 6 months or so talking about these sets, maybe one is available? I still have a few chassis' for them, so far unclaimed. rcafan, what part of the country are you in?

[old_tv_nut]

The Quasar brand name for Motorola TVs was invented by the same marketing guru who came up with the "hole in the handle" electric carving knife. At the time, people weren't familiar with the word, usually couldn't remember how to spell or pronounce it exactly (Koohar? Qohar? kwazer?), but it was unique enough that they could recognize it when confronted with the correct name, and therefore could ask about it at the appliance store without confusing it with anything else (oh, you mean "Quasar").

[reeferman]

I read in a trade journal the name was adopted because Quasars were starting to make a big splash on the astronomy scene (though first discovered late 50's early 60's). It was a catchy name that lent itself to the space race (like RCA did with the PC boards). Most of the ones I worked on were junk, though better than their EGP predecessors.

[heathkit tv]

Quasar et al wasn't the only works in the drawer set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3473760...n/photostream/

[ggregg]

An old time tech told me that starting in about the late 70's or early 80's most Quasars started having problems with oxidation with the connections on the boards which would create all kinds of problems including intermittant issues (ie set was moved and problem went away for a while). Board replacement was expensive and many sets were junked at that time. He hated working on them because you had to go through all the board connections before you knew if you had some other problem or not. He said some shops would not work on them at all after a while.

[miniman82]

For as long as I can remember, Grandpa on Mom's side had a Quasar console TV sitting in his living room. I can remember watching cartoons on it as a kid, and I can remember he was pretty proud of it. Didn't even want to junk it when the CRT started to go south, just kept on running it. The remote for that thing was huge as I recall, never had to worry about misplacing it. Gramps on Dad's side was always an RCA man, we still have the last one he bought- a CTC-169 Home Theater.

[GeorgeJetson]

Thanks everyone for all the information as to how the name "quasar" came about.

This site is amazing!,so much knowledge.

[old_coot88]

"Quasar" was a razzle-dazzle moniker much like Zenith's "Stratosphere" of an earlier era. But unlike the Stratosphere radios, Quasar TVs were junk from service/maintanence perspective, primarily with nuisance issues like intermittent connections. Gad, we dreaded having to work on them and to having to carry a dedicated module caddy in the truck. The later hybrid Quasars were not as bad as the first gen.

Quasar represented the industry's first major push into modularization (though Setchell-Carlson had been a minor player earlier). Those in the know recognized it as portending the demise of the old and honored craft of discrete-component troubleshooting. The "handwriting was on the wall". That was part of the old-school guys' disdain for them. Bill(oc)

[oldtvman]

ebay just had a quasar on auction nobody bid on it.

[classicradios]

http://www.youtube.com/user/wurly110...67/spZ5X-AAaH8

Youtube video showing a commercial for "Works in a Drawer" I transferred these commercials from 16mm film.