4-tube Emerson 747 subminiature tube set,
3-tube / 2-transistor hybrid Emerson 838:

The circuitry of these two radios differs mostly in the 747's audio output tube being replaced by a pair of transistors in the 838. In the olden days of transistor manufacturing, radio-frequency transistors were a lot more difficult and costly to produce than were audio transistors...

The 4-tube 747 was produced in 1953. It may be the earliest American subminiature tube radio made by a major manufacturer, but don't quote me on that... (The first subminiature tube radio ever was the 1945(!) earphone-only Belmont Boulevard, which looked more like a hearing aid or a cigar tin than it did a radio.)

Emerson's hybrid 838 came out in the first half of 1955.

^ Back to top of page ^

© 2007 by Robert Davidson, transistors@abetterpage.com