First solid state color tv set
 

Hello,

please can you tell me which brand and chassis was the first solid state color tv set in the U.S.?

- Eckhard

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I don't know if it was first overall but there was the RCA CTC-40 chassis in what, 1969 or so? also the RCA 2000.

I think it was the Motorola.. I used to think it was the 1968 RCA CTC-47 in the G-2000, which actually predated the CTC-40. Not sure why they did that. In fact, the CTC-40 has a 3A3 in it. Magnavox had an early SS set too. Zenith, as usual, was late with theirs in '72 with the 25DC56.

Charles

My guess would be the 1969 RCA G2000 had the first 100% solid state chassis.
The ctc 47 had a quadrupler for the hi voltage instead of a rectifier tube.
The Motorola was the first with a solid state chassis but still had a rectifier tube for the high voltage. If you need the model #s, I can post them for you.
Ed

Aside from the rectifier the Motorola certainly won...when did they start using those solid state plug-in rectifiers? I'm pretty sure Sylvania had a solid state set on the market before the sixties were out but after the RCA.

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Thanks for all replies. I have asked because in Europe, the East German "Color20", made in 1969, was recognized as the first solid state color tv set. But as far as I know, the Motorola Quasar had to be the earlier solid state color tv set.
Every detailed information is wellcome!

- Eckhard

The model # on the RCA G2000 is G2000, Must have been a big deal in 1969 cause it really does have a nice picture. Some 38 years later, I am finding some really strange problems with the ctc 47 chassis. The silver foil caps are all bad and I had to replace them. 300 something pounds of trouble, But still worth it.

The Motorola model # is WL852EW and the chassis # is TS915. {Works in the drawer} Now here the interesting part on the motorola. The one I own is made in 1968 and I could swear that motorola made a solid state works in the drawer in 1966. IIRC I had repaired one in the 80's and thought it was made 66. Do any of the guys here have a works in the drawer made in 1966?
Could be I am wrong.
When I was a kid I thought the TV ads for the works in the drawer where so cool. I wanted one in the 70s but could never afford one, But did find a broken one in the 80s and still have it.
The picture is weird because I am still working on the 2000 and can not move it. Not to mention that I have the 2000 ripped apart.
Ed

GE also made a solid state high voltage rectifier. It was a big black thing that sorta looked like a tube. I pulled one out of a rca set thinking it was the wrong part.
Ed

I'm far from an expert on the subject; my experience begins with the mid 70s stuff, but I do remember working on a few of those early works-in-a-drawer sets, and I always thought the oldest ones were made in '66. And my feeble memory is telling me that they did use a tube (3A3?) for the HV. And they were built like a battleship.

Didn't the works in a drawer sets first come out as a solid state set for the first model year, then go back to a tube hybrid for a while before the second solid state attempt?

Bill R

The rectifier tube in the TS915 is a 3BN2, But in the early version it could have been a 3A3. You are right, The chassis is built like a battleship.
ED

Yes they did, But I think they made the solid state chassis for a couple years. IIRC The horz and vertical tubes where on the power supply chassis instead of in the drawer.
Ed

Here are a couple solid state rectifiers. The one on the left is a Motorola; I can't make out the numbers stamped on it. The other one is a GE; the box says it replaces 3AT2, 3AW2, 3BL2, 3BM2 & 3BN2. There is a warning on the side of the box stating that the HV must be adjusted after replacement.