circa 1959 Matsushita National AB-235
Coat pocket radio, thermosetting plastic cabinet
5 3/4 x 3 3/8 x 1 1/2 inches / 146 x 86 x 38 mm
Six transistors (National: MC101 (bright green can), OC45B (yellow), OC45C (yellow) OC71 (black), 2x OC72, + MA23 varistor (dark green), OA70 diode)
Superheterodyne circuit
Four 1.5-volt "AA" cells
Manufactured by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., Japan
White face, aluminum grille, gray body. Like many of the earlier Japanese transistor radios, this National has a thermosetting plastic cabinet.
This example dates from mid-1959, according to its electrolytics, but that doesn't help much in determining the original manufacture date of this model — thus my "circa 1959" designation.
Three of the transistors here (the black OC71 and the two yellow ones) look completely European in design. As Alan Kastner explains on his National AB-145 page, National bought transistor production rights from Philips Corp., and apparently it was the only Japanese manufacturer to have done so.
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