1956 Raytheon T-100:

3 3/8"H x 6 3/8"W x 2"D

Raytheon Corporation was in the transistor radio business for one single year, knowing that the real money is where the missiles are.

During that one-year period covering 1955-1956, Raytheon produced five transistor radio models: the 8TP, described in detail on another page here; the T-100 above; the T-101; the T-150, a slight variation on the T-100 in cabinet & chassis design; and a gross looking, leather covered thing the size of a small suitcase called the T-2500.

The T-100 is notable for being Raytheon's first plastic transistor, and it's a very popular set among transistor collectors. (As a personal note, I will admit here that I paid more for the T-100 shown above than I did for any other transistor in my collection -- although what that really means is that I didn't get as lucky on this set as I did on so many others...) In terms of marketing, it's interesting to note that this radio employs a total of 4 transistors. Raytheon's earlier and first transistor radio, the lunchbox-sized 8TP series by contrast, used eight transistors in its chassis to make it the first good-performing transistor radio and blowing the pants off the Regency TR-1, a four-transistor radio...

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© 2007 by Robert Davidson, transistors@abetterpage.com