Publications of historical importance
rescued from obscurity and posted on the web for the benefit of all hamkind.
Here's a PDF image scan of the historic Sylvania products booklet,
28 Uses for Junction Transistors. This little booklet, from 1955,
introduced amateurs and hobbyists to the famous 2N35, 2N34, and 2N68 junction
transistors. It is hard for us today to appreciate how revolutionary was
the introduction of the transistor to the hobby world.
Whereas the first Raytheon publication was mostly a collection of reprints
from electronic magazines their second effort in 1957 was a much more considered
and deliberate text,
Raytheon Transistor Applications Volume II. As it says on the
cover, "All New Circuits with complete how-to-do-it instructions." Volume
II makes it apparent that the first volume was just thrown together. For
instance, the first 17 pages of Volume II cover transistor basics and a section
on Practical Circuit Design with subsections on Amplifiers, Breadboarding & Bias
Measurement, Interstage Coupling, DC Stabilization, Distortion, Oscillators,
Transistor Installation, Etched Circuit Boards, Testing Transistors, and Power
Supplies for transistor circuits. It also uses other transistors
besides the CK722.
Here is a Raytheon reprint of an April
1952, article by John A. Doremus of Motorola originally appearing in the
Radio-Electronic Engineering section of Radio & Electronic News.
The article, "Point-Contact
and Junction Transistors," is an introductory piece presenting the
physics and potential of the new devices. Doremus predicts a
bright future for the little components now that "five manufacturers are
already 'in the business.' These are Western Electric, General Electric, Raytheon,
Sylvania, and RCA." In the reprint, Raytheon added
data sheets for the CK721 and CK722 transistors.
Here is a marvelous little publication on
the brand new technology of
Tunnel Diodes. Published by General Electric Research
Laboratory in November, 1959, this concise 24-page booklet carried
monographs by Dr. Malcolm H. Hebb, Dr. Jerome J. Tiemann, and H. B.
Fancher describing the quantum physics behind the tunnel diode along
with applications for this technology. Many thanks go to Dave
Schoepf, W2GHZ, for making this document available.
In 1952, Sylvania published a little
booklet entitled
Crystal Diode Circuit Kinks: More New Uses for Germanium Diodes.
Since it is billed as "More New Uses," there is the implication that
other circuits had been previously published. If so, I'd very much
like to find the earlier publication (or publications).
Nevertheless, the little 36-page booklet is filled with simple circuits
using 1N34, 1N35, 1N54, 1N56, and 1N58 germanium diodes. Some of
the published circuits are of more than historical interest. They
could be put to ready use on my workbench today!
Here is the Sylvania booklet,
40 Uses for Germanium Diodes. This may have precede the
above title although the booklet itself carries no date anywhere.
The circuits described in this publication are not your ordinary
hobby-demonstration circuits. They include schematics for such
things as "Compact Series-Shunt Impulse Noise Limiter," "Low-Voltage
Bias Supply," and an "External Modulator for Signal Generators."
G-E Ham News: This link
leads to the issues of G-E Ham News that are referenced in my
article, "Crystal Radio to the Rescue" that appeared in the January,
2010, issue of The AWA Journal. That particular article
describes "Operation Crystal," a competition sponsored by the General
Electric Electronic Tube Division for amateurs to develop creative
crystal set receivers that could be used during a time of national
disaster that shut down the commercial power grid. It may be
humorous now, but in 1955 the fear of nuclear Armageddon was very real.