TR-55
The TR-55, released in 1955, was both Japan's and Sony's first commercially available transistor radio. The use of transistors allowed the device to be much smaller than earlier vacuum tube radios.
History
In the autumn of 1955, Morita met with a representative of the Bulova watch company in New York City. Bulova agreed to order 10,000 units on the condition they carry the Bulova name. Morita declined the deal.[4] Sony later signed a deal with New York importer Adolph Gross to distribute an improved and slightly more compact model, and in March 1957, the Sony TR-63 transistor radio would become Sony's first product sold in the US.[4] The TR-63 would not fit in existing shirt front pockets, so the company issued shirts with expanded pockets to salesmen so they could claim the product was "the world's first pocket sized transistor radio".[5]
Technical specifications
Powered by four AA batteries, the TR-55 used a
- (1) 2T51 (oscillator-mixer)
- (2) 2T52 (for IF)
- (1) 2T53 (AF driver)
- (1) 2T12
The TR-55's five transistors were designed in house by Sony, the technology having been licensed from Bell Labs. This made Sony the first company to produce commercial transistor radios from the ground up. American company Regency had launched their Regency TR-1 transistor radio earlier in 1954, but bought the transistors from Texas Instruments. Printed circuit boards were used, which was unusual for the time.[5][7]
Physical specifications
The speaker grille was made from punched aluminum, and its design was reportedly inspired by Lincoln Motor Company automobiles of the era. Although it was not as compact as originally intended, the relatively small size of the TR-55 was a novelty, and attracted the attention of Japanese consumers.[4][7]
See also
References
- ^ https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/sony_sony_tr52_tr_52_tr_52.html
- ^ Sony History Chapter6 Transistor's number used the suffix "seki"
- ISBN 0-618-12694-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-61480-183-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8165-1284-3.
- ^ "Model TR-55, Sony; Tokyo". Radiomuseum.org. RadioMuseum. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
- ^ a b "TR-55 Product Design". Sony.net. Sony. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
External links
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