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#1
10-18-2009, 06:43 PM
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Picked up a 1980 Quasar Portable.
Found this at a Thrift for $5 so I couldn't leave it, what the heck, it's almost 30 years old!
It goes well with the white 15" Toshiba I found a while back. I like these Mod styled sets from that period. This was built in Japan by Panasonic (Matsushita) in June 1980 and it still works well with the exception of the control pots being stuck with dried grease. I did a very minor touch up of the grey scale but the tube seems strong. As the picture show it's in really good shape, there are a few minor blemishes that would probably buff out and it's kind of dirty but it's not discolored much like a lot of white plastic of the era. Last edited by Eric H; 10-18-2009 at 06:47 PM. 
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#3
10-18-2009, 11:47 PM
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They are nice sets - my dad's got one (Panasonic-badged) in his kitchen from about 1981 or 82. He needed one that would fit on the shelf. I was able to pick it up at Goodwill before they stopped selling TVs. A greyscale adjustment and pot cleaning was all it needed. It's got a great picture. His is woodgrain, but I like the white cases - used to have a B/W portable that looked similar.
-Jim
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#4
10-19-2009, 12:48 AM
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Wow deja vu! I had a white 80's Panasonic that my dad bought new when we lived in Michigan still. Figures considering 80's Quasar was just a Matsushita Panasonic anyway... Who are they trying to fool, lol.. The Panasonic lost IF signals and just a blank grey raster and a 60 cycle hum from the speaker.. My dad trashed it sometime in the mid 90's.
__________________
Honey, turn on the tv.. I'm cold!
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#5
10-19-2009, 12:48 AM
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Nice set! I've seen several of these with the Panasonic name and they all had great pictures. I think these were popular with the travel trailer / motorhome crowd.
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#6
10-19-2009, 01:52 PM
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I took it apart this morning, not too dirty inside but it's dusty and stinks of cig smoke.
I decided the only way it was going to get really clean was to give it a bath sooo... I filled the sink with warm water and a little Purple Cleaner, (undiluted Purple Cleaner will dissolve Bakelite) and tossed the chassis in. It came out clean and all the labels survived intact. Everything on it is metal, plastic or rubber so getting it wet for a brief period shouldn't be a problem as long as I dry it our for a week or so. The front control pots turn freely if you can grab them by the shaft but when it's in the cabinet and you have to turn them by pushing on one side of the knob they are really stiff (this is before washing them) does anyone have any ideas what I should lube them with, Silicone? Tuner Grease? I was wondering if I should take them apart and put grease on the insides or just shoot some control cleaner/lube through the holes? These have plastic shafts and metal housings, perhaps that special lube used for sliding controls would work?
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#7
10-19-2009, 07:09 PM
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Eric -
If I remember correctly, the center of the knob has a small hole in it which is supposed to engage a pin or peg on the front panel, providing a point for the knob to rotate about. If that is missing, the act of turning the knob results in quite a bit of sideways pressure on the shaft. My dad's set is missing a couple of them and it makes adjustment a little touchy on those. The ones with the peg intact turn quite freely. You might want to see if those are missing on yours and if you can fabricate something to support the knobs. I don't know what one would lubricate them with, although I would think that regular contact cleaner/lube should be okay. -Jim
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#8
10-19-2009, 08:41 PM
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Jim, I noticed the hole in the knobs and wondered if they were supposed to be supported by anything, that would make sense if they were supported on two sides.
I didn't notice any pins on the cabinet face, wonder if it got bumped at some time and knocked them all off? It's at work now, I'll have a closer look tomorrow.
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#9
10-21-2009, 09:47 PM
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Jim, this set doesn't have any tabs, never did.
I took the pots apart and cleaned out the old grease, re lubed them with some Permatex, Ceramic Extreme Brake Parts Lubricant, it's a thick gooey synthetic so it wont deteriorate plastic or rubber. They work pretty smoothly now as long as you don't push upwards too hard on the knobs.
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#10
10-21-2009, 09:50 PM
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Instant on feature?
One more thing I noticed.
If you put the VHF tuner in the UHF position then turn the UHF tuner one click below Ch 14 it shuts the set off, except for the CRT heater which I can still see glowing, turn the tuner back to 14 or back to VHF and it pops right back on. Turning off the power switch shuts it down completely including the CRT heater. I'm assuming this is a normal feature I stumbled on by accident and not a fault??
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#11
11-02-2009, 11:51 PM
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Wow, does anyone know for sure? That has got to be one of the best instant-on implementation features I've ever heard of. Nice set!
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Great score, Eric!
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