Transistor Terminology Puzzle
November 1958 Radio News

November 1958 Radio & TV News
November 1958 Radio & TV News Cover - RF Cafe[Table of Contents]

Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Radio & Television News, published 1919-1959. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

The opening line of this Transistor Terminology Puzzle states it is the tenth anniversary of the invention of the transistor, but that is because the crossword appeared in a 1958 issue of Radio & TV News magazine. It was just before Christmas of 1947 that Drs. John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain and William Shockley announced their discovery from Bell Laboratories. Note that 1947 is eleven years earlier, not ten. However, the theme of this crossword seems to reference the bipolar junction transistor (BJT), which was developed in 1948 - hence the 10th anniversary claim. The first transistor was a point contact type. Print out the page and have a go at it.

Transistor Terminology Puzzle

By John A. Comstock

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the development of the transistor by three Bell Telephone Laboratories' scientists. Have you kept up with this revolutionary component? Test your knowledge.

Transistor Terminology Puzzle, November 1958 Radio News - RF Cafe

Across

1.  Semiconductor which is neither "p" nor "n," containing roughly an equal number of electrons and holes. 

5.  Current carriers in a semiconductor which are positively charged.

8.  Parameter letters symbol representing a transistor's power output.

9.  Maximum inverse voltage rating which a transistor can withstand without breakdown.

10.  Collector cut-off current.

12.  Semiconductor material found most often in rectifiers.

15.  Symbol for transistor operating temperature.

16.  D.C. collector current.

18.  Transistor input impedance.

19.  Forward current ratio (input a.c. open-circuited) .

20.  Junction of "n" and "p" areas in a semiconductor.

22.  Metal button alloyed into base wafer of an alloy-type transistor.

23.  A number of these particles carry current, specifically electrons and holes.

25.  Parameter letters symbol for transistor output impedance.

27.  One of the electrodes of a field-effect transistor.

31.  Current carriers of a negative polarity.

32.  Letters symbol for d.c. supply voltage base-to-emitter.

Down

1.  Small addition to semiconductor, usually a donor or an acceptor.

2.  Imperfections in a crystal which snare current carriers.

3.  A transistorized preamp should generate minimum _____________.

4.  Parameter symbol for emitter cut-off current.

5.  Four-layer transistor with built-in amplifier for a collector.

6.  That portion of cut-off current caused by surface effects.

7.  Semiconductor commonly used in transistors and crystal diodes.

11.  Location of transistor barrier.

13.  Electrode of a transistor corresponding to vacuum tube's cathode.

14.  Intrinsic region-type transistor with "n"-type emitter and collector and "p"-type base (Abbr.).

17.  Runaway condition in which transistor's heat dissipation increases with higher temperature at such a rate that temperature keeps rising.

21.  Parameter symbol for common emitter power gain.

24.  Small current flowing opposite to normal in a diode when an opposing potential is applied.

25.  Reverse voltage at which a large current begins to flow, caused by crystal breakdown.

26.  Impurity used intentionally to produce an "n"-type semiconductor.

28.  One of the electrodes of a transistor.

29.  Letters symbol for emitter-to-base d.c. voltage.

30.  Letters symbol used to represent common base output admittance (input a.c. open-circuited).

32.  Symbol for transistor's junction temperature.

(Solution at bottom)


Here are other electronics-themed crossword puzzles from vintage electronics magazines (RF Cafe Crosswords here):

- April 1964 Popular Electronics

- November 1962 Electronics World

- March 1962 Popular Electronics

- September 1958 Radio & TV News

- October 1957 Popular Electronics

- November 1957 Popular Electronics

- January 1974 Popular Electronics

- November 1958 Popular Electronics

- January 1965 Electronics World

- November 1960 Electronics World

- January 1960 Electronics World

- December 1957 Popular Electronics

- February 1966 Popular Electronics

- September 1957 Popular Electronics

- December 1960 Popular Electronics

- August 1958 Popular Electronics

- July 1960 Electronics World

- September 1965 Electronics World

- August 1962 Electronics World

- May 1958 Radio News

- November 1958 Radio News

- April 1963 Electronics World

- July 1961 Electronics World

- July 1963 Electronics World

- May 1967 Electronics World

- August 1960 Popular Electronics

- March 1973 Popular Electronics

- June 1966 Popular Electronics

- April 1959 Popular Electronics

- January 1963 Electronics World

- October 1961 Electronics World

- December 1965 Electronics World

- September 1960 Electronics World

- July 1958 Radio & TV News

- April 1967 QST

- April 1960 Electronics World

- October 1963 Electronics World

- May 1963 Electronics World

- October 1960 Electronics World

- July 1971 Radio-Electronics

- May 1959 Electronics World

- May 1963 Electronics World

- April 1966 Popular Electronics

- May 1961 Electronics World

- August 1958 Radio News

- July 1945 Radio-Craft

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer to Puzzle

 

Transistor Terminology Puzzle Solution, November 1958 Radio News - RF Cafe

 

 

Posted November 7, 2019