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November 1953 QST
 Table of Contents
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles
from
QST, published December 1915 - present (visit ARRL
for info). All copyrights hereby acknowledged.
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 "If you're not using transistors already,
chances are you'll consider them for amplifiers and oscillators in future circuits."
So says the line in an advertisement for General Electric vacuum-sealed transistors
in a 1953 edition of QST magazine. To say the claim was prescient is an understatement.
A lot of people resisted the switch to transistors for many years - especially hobbyists
who had grown accustomed to working with vacuum tubes. Maybe GE figured pitching
the newfangled devices as being "vacuum-sealed" would help the hardliners soften
their opposition to them. Not mentioned in the ad is that these three transistors
- the
2N43, 2N44, and 2N45 - are all germanium-based. It wasn't until
May of 1954 that
Texas Instruments (TI) announced the commercial availability of
grown-junction silicon transistors.
General Electric Advertisement
 • They're brand-new ...
• space-misers ...
• long-lived, with stable performance ...
G-E Vacuum-Sealed Transistors
Colpitts Oscillator using a G-E junction transistor. Note extreme simplicity
of circuit.
Best Yet For Your Compact New Rig!
If you're not using transistors already, chances are you'll consider them for
amplifiers and oscillators in future circuits. And G.E. has ready for you a new,
better product - vacuum-sealed junction transistors, with all-welded metal construction.
Tiny But Tough! Look at the picture! G.E.'s new transistors are under 1/2 inch
wide, with a seated height even less. Yet power ratings are up to 3 times those
of other types ... the new construction make possible a collector dissipation of
150 mw.
Advantages: G-E vacuum-sealed transistors are moisture-proof ... free from solder-flux
contamination ... operate perfectly at all temperatures from hard-frozen ice to
boiling water ... will outlast your equipment, with stable performance right on
through their life.
See Your G-E Tube Distributor for facts and prices. Radio amateurs with G.E.
helped design these new transistors - added assurance they will meet ham needs for
maximum space-saving and circuit simplicity! General Electric Company, Tube Department,
Schenectady 5, N. Y.
2N43 with high gain
2N44 with medium-to-high gain
2N45 with medium gain
Be Sure to Nominate Your Candidate for the 1953 Edison Award!
Only those amateurs will be eligible whose names are submitted to the judges
by letter. Terms of the Award were published on this page in September. Your letter
may win the trophy and gift for a friend who has rendered important service ...
and your cooperation will help build wider recognition of the valuable work which
all amateurs are doing in the public interest.
Electronic Tubes of All Types for the Radio Amateur
General Electric
1878 -1953
75 Years of Electrical Progress
Diamond Anniversary
Posted March 22, 2023
(updated from original post
on 1/9/2017)
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