![]() ![]() The Paul Davis article, published in "The Southwestern Historical Quarterly" can be read in its entirety here:Ĭlassic tale of engineering teamwork on cutting-edge tech. If I can get the documentation scanned I may post that too. They used a tuning capacitor from a tube type portable battery set, had to wind their own IF transformers and so forth.Īttached is a letter he sent to me along with documentation on the development of the transistor. He talked about how they had trouble finding parts small enough for a pocket size transistor radio. He gave a talk on the design and development of the TR-1 at one of the club meetings and he displayed the prototype unit. I knew Paul Davis when we were both members of the Vintage Radio & Phonograph Society of Dallas, Texas. The project engineer at TI on the TR-1 was Paul Davis. After it was designed Regency took over the production of the unit. The TR-1 was designed and developed at Texas Instruments in Dallas Texas. Richard Koch was the engineer at Regency Electronics who headed the design of the first transistorized radio, the TR-1, introduced in 1954 Richard Koch, an oral history conducted in 1984 by Michael Wolff, IEEE History Center, Hoboken, NJ, USA. Listen to the recording (mentioned above) by Richard Koch to hear about the trials and tribulations of production of the Regency TR-1 For authenticity, I left the original capacitors in place, and wired new ones underneath the board. The extra few volts are still within tolerance. Both the collector-emitter, and base-emitter voltages max at 20, so 21 is well within the 15% normal tolerance level.īTW, I use two 12 volt miniature 23A batteries wired in series to power some of my sets. These cross to GE 2N169, which crosses to ECG 101. The schematic for the TR-1 displays that the collectors of each Transistor did indeed carry 21 volts. There were no nine volt "Transistor batteries" yet, so these were the closest in size and power that were available. I never really thought about that, as it's never come up here.įirst however, lets get the battery voltage correct they were not "21 and 1/2 volt", but rather 22-1/2 volt cells (which is one half of the old standard 45 volt radio batteries), and designed to be used in the pocket size tube hearing aids of the time. 'course I already knew this but wondered how a radio could run on that much power as the transistors max out at 18 volts, right? I never really though about it, does it have a special type of transistor? The Regency was the first transistor product for the mainstream. Adcock 1954 ID Number 1984.0040.01 accession number 1984.0040 catalog number 1984.0040.01 model number TR-1 Object Name radio receiver Physical Description red (case color) cardboard (box material) plastic (case material) Measurements receiver: 12.7 cm x 8.7 cm x 3.While looking back at a few old threads I noticed the TR-1 runs on a 21 and 1/2 volt battery. ![]() Capable of receiving AM stations, the radio cost about $50 (that would be almost $400 today.) Location Currently not on view Credit Line from Dr. The Regency model TR-1 contained four transistors. Work began in earnest in the spring of 1954, and this first Regency transistor radio was in stores for the Christmas season later that year. Planning began in 1951 between Idea and Texas Instruments, supplier of the transistors. A small, portable radio seemed a good opportunity, and a company called Idea Incorporated designed and produced the Regency. In 1953 hearing aids became the first commercial product to use transistors. As engineers learned how to use the new invention, plans were made for commercial products that could take advantage of the transistor's small size, energy efficiency, and rugged design. At first the US military bought all the transistors Bell Labs could make, and the company agreed to license other manufacturers. ![]() Bell publicly announced the new invention on 30 June 1948. The first laboratory demonstration took place on 23 December 1947. Building on war-time research, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, working with group leader William Shockley, developed a device they called a transistor. One goal was to find a replacement for fragile and energy-wasting vacuum tubes. Object Details Idea Incorporated Description During World War Two scientists and engineers at Bell Laboratories conducted research on many radar and radio devices. Despite mediocre performance, about 150000 units were sold. Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Art The Regency TR-1 was the first commercially manufactured transistor radio, introduced in 1954. ![]()
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