The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum / Tales of the first transistor radio

**Posted by Chrisphen** September 30, 2024 11:49 am

The incredible story behind the first transistor radio.

**Posted by mace** September 30, 2024 2:54 pm

I got my first transistor radio for Christmas 1965.

**Posted by DeepTracks** September 30, 2024 3:35 pm

I have ZERO way of proving what I'm about to claim - but it's the truth.

Does anyone remember those early pocket-size transistor radios, and those slightly larger, that as part of their outside case marking would profess the number of transistors that were being employed? In other words, the more transistors the better. I do.

When I first became interested in repairing electronic stuff I would fix for my friends and family radios that had suffered being dropped - quite often cracking their circuit boards. I would solder-in wire jumpers across the cracked area and see them be made to work as well as they ever did. I found on moore than one occasion a so-labelled "X" number transistor radio that - YES, you could clearly see from the component side that there was a "X" head count of transistors, but upon flipping the circuit board over (o fix the unit) found that one or more of them had ALL of their (3) leads soldered together serving absolutely no purpose in the function of the radio except to fool those who looked inside to believe that they had got what they paid for.

I have to think that the transistors that were found like that were defective production devices but served the purpose of maintaining (visually) the advertised count - just to look good.

So technological truth was usurped my marketing lies.

My Zenith was not one of "those"..

Last edited by DeepTracks (September 30, 2024 3:36 pm)

**Posted by RadioActive** September 30, 2024 3:54 pm

This was my very first transistor radio, from a manufacturer called Koyo. No idea who they were, except it was a Japanese firm. In the mid-60s, it wasn't often that these had FM, but this one did.

To be truthful, it wasn't really mine originally. It was my mother's. But I was using it so much, it de facto became mine and she never tried to take it back.

It wasn't the best radio ever, but I loved that machine and it went everywhere with me -even attached to my bike with bungee cords, a kind of early MP3 portable if you will. Except for the commercials! As they say, you never forget your first!

Still have it all these years later as a keepsake, but I don't know if it still works.

**Posted by mojo55** September 30, 2024 3:54 pm

In 1959 I won my first transistor radio from CKEY. It was a pocket size 8 transistor, the Sony TR 86. I still have this radio for sentimental reasons though it no longer works. It had great selectivity and sensitivity for such a small radio but rapidly used up 9 volt batteries. I took it with me anytime I went out. Lots of gteat memories.

**Posted by Shorty Wave** October 1, 2024 8:31 am

Chrisphen wrote:
The incredible story behind the first transistor radio.

Interesting article, love the simplicity of the very red Regency TR-1! Thanks for sharing Chrisphen.

**Posted by Jacjames** October 1, 2024 10:42 am

Brings back a lot of memories...as a teen-ager in the fifties my first hobby was building transister radios. They all worked well considering how far away actual radio stations were from my home north of Kingston. A part of my life that I had completely forgotten or it just old age!

**Posted by turkeytop** October 1, 2024 8:15 pm

This was my first transistor radio around 1962. A Sony 5 transistor. I had a paper route delivering the Toronto Telegram. The radio was a prize for signing up a certain number of new subscribers.

**Posted by Ian** October 1, 2024 9:26 pm

It is surely not a coincidence that the growing popularity of UK pirate radio stations can be correlated with the availability of portable (and personal) transistor radios which meant the younger generation could cut their ties from the bulky, fixed family valve radios.(As I did).