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Regency TR-1

 

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Regency TR-1



 
 
The Regency TR-1, announced on October 18, 1954 by the Regency Division of I.D.E.A (Industrial Development Engineering Associates of Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the Capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, Indianapolis , Indiana the Unigov, at 795,458 in 2006....
) and put on sale in November 1954 was the first practical transistor radio made in any significant numbers. Patented by, Dr. Heinz De Koster, Ph.D. of physics, a Dutch employee of the company. It cost $49.95 (the equivalent of roughly $364 in year-2006 dollars) and sold about 150,000 units.

The TR-1 used four Texas NPN transistors and had to be powered by a 22.5 Volt battery, since the only way to get adequate radio frequency
Radio frequency

Radio frequency is a frequency or rate of oscillation within the range of about 3 Hz to 300 GHz. This range corresponds to frequency of alternating current electrical signals used to produce and detect radio waves....
 performance out of early transistors was to run them close to their collector-to-emitter breakdown voltage.






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The Regency TR-1, announced on October 18, 1954 by the Regency Division of I.D.E.A (Industrial Development Engineering Associates of Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the Capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, Indianapolis , Indiana the Unigov, at 795,458 in 2006....
) and put on sale in November 1954 was the first practical transistor radio made in any significant numbers. Patented by, Dr. Heinz De Koster, Ph.D. of physics, a Dutch employee of the company. It cost $49.95 (the equivalent of roughly $364 in year-2006 dollars) and sold about 150,000 units.

The TR-1 used four Texas NPN transistors and had to be powered by a 22.5 Volt battery, since the only way to get adequate radio frequency
Radio frequency

Radio frequency is a frequency or rate of oscillation within the range of about 3 Hz to 300 GHz. This range corresponds to frequency of alternating current electrical signals used to produce and detect radio waves....
 performance out of early transistors was to run them close to their collector-to-emitter breakdown voltage. This made the TR-1 very expensive to run, and it was far more popular for its novelty or status value than its actual performance, rather in the fashion of the first MP3 players.

Still, aside from its indifferent performance, the TR-1 was a very advanced product for its time, using printed circuit board
Printed circuit board

A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using Conductor pathways, or signal traces, industrial etchinged from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate....
s, and what were then considered micro-miniature components.