1-Transistor Radio

 

1-Transistor Radio

 

      At age 14, in 1956, I built a 1-transistor radio using the schematic from Radio-TV Experimenter magazine, and worked out the printed circuit pattern to minimize cross overs.  I used a Kepro printed-circuit kit to paint and etch the circuit design, using a chemical resist, with a small artist’s brush and chemically etching away the copper. 

      Then I drilled the holes, and mounted and inserted it into a red plastic cigarette case.  AM tuning was done by threading the ferrite core in and out of a coil capacitor.  There was no volume adjustment. 

      I was very exciting to tune in a station 450 miles away on a radio that I’d just made.  The design and parts were crude by today’s standards, but lent themselves to experimenting and learning electronics.  

 

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      This is not a product for sale to end users.  For questions, contact Steve Hines: