After obtaining patent protection, the company held a news conference on June 30, 1948, at which a prototype transistor radio was demonstrated. The scientific team at Bell Laboratories responsible for the solid-state amplifier included William Shockley, Walter Houser Brattain, and John Bardeen. Vacuum tubes were also inefficient and fragile compared to transistors and had a limited lifetime.īell Laboratories demonstrated the first transistor on December 23, 1947. The need for a low voltage high current source to power the filaments of the tubes and high voltage for the anode potential typically required two batteries.
#Antique transistor radio for sale portable#
Although portable vacuum tube radios were produced, they were typically bulky and heavy. A transistor is a semiconductor device that amplifies and acts as an electronic switch.Ī seven-transistor Soviet Orljonok radio with the back open, showing parts.īefore the transistor was invented, radios used vacuum tubes. Beginning around 1980, however, cheap AM transistor radios were superseded initially by the boombox and the Sony Walkman, and later on by digitally-based devices with higher audio quality such as portable CD players, personal audio players, MP3 players and (eventually) by smartphones, many of which contain FM radios. The pocket size of transistor radios sparked a change in popular music listening habits, allowing people to listen to music anywhere they went. Billions of transistor radios are estimated to have been sold worldwide between the 1950s and 2012. Transistor radios are still commonly used as car radios.
The mass-market success of the smaller and cheaper Sony TR-63, released in 1957, led to the transistor radio becoming the most popular electronic communication device of the 1960s and 1970s. Following the invention of the transistor in 1947-which revolutionized the field of consumer electronics by introducing small but powerful, convenient hand-held devices-the Regency TR-1 was released in 1954 becoming the first commercial transistor radio. Prices are unpredictable and will depend on the condition of each set as well as other factors, and you need to be able to get to their Harpenden or Royal Wootton Bassett locations.A classic Emerson transistor radio, circa 1958Ī transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. The British Vintage Wireless Society holds regular auctions of radios. Vintage Radio Auctions in the UK British Vintage Wireless Society (BVWS) So a vintage radio that operates on LW and MW frequencies will still be useable. Many are still in a good and usable condition and, because they use standard components, can often be restored like new.Īlthough DAB is now the new standard for radio, FM and AM are still available and are likely to be for many years to come. They date from the 1930s onwards and, because they were very expensive at the time, were usually well looked after. When they were first released, valve radios and later transistor radios were often the main source of entertainment for a family. If you want to experience the real thing, however, there are still plenty of vintage radios around.
Many modern radios are produced in a retro style so they have the look of a vintage model combined with modern functionality, connectivity and performance.
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