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Asian Imported Transistor Radios 

1959-1970

In the 1960's the main Asian imports are from Japan. Major names like Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Sanyo later became household names for the American consumer. As  time went on they had become known for quality, good price and stylish. However there were many lessor known names that were originally made in Japan but their existence is often based on get a stylish product out make a profit then get out. Name brands like Juliette, Lloyds, Viscount, and Realtone were often name brands of import/export companies, that pushed low price and volume to make a profit.  By the late 1960's these lessor brands often went to other countries like Hong Kong, Okinawa and Taiwan to improve their profit margin. In time even the major Japanese brands  like American manufacturers earlier, resorted to importing their parts and assemblies from other parts of Asia to stay in competition.           

Japanese Brands made in Japan

Panasonic and Sony Transistor Radios

Panasonic Radios- ID numbering  PARENT Company Matsushita Electric)R-xxxx = AM radios   RF-xxxx= Multiband radios with FM band    MID 1960's R-1329 "Gladabout" Unusual Side Dial (L) R-225J National Panasonic Label AM/SW (R)
Panasonic R-1837 Twin Speaker High Sensitivity Radio
National (Panasonic) R-71 (1968), Six Transistor Tile Radio. The R-71 was a limited production radio. There were several versions. It was sold as a National (non North America sales), National-Panasonic and Panasonic (North America sales).
Sony Radios ID NumberingEarly 1960's  TR-xxx  AM and AM/SW Radios  TFM-xxxx AM/FM or FM radios
Mid to late 1960's   xRxxx = AM radio  xFxxx = AM/FM or radios with FMEarly 1960's Sony TR radios Left to right
TR-620 (1960)  TR-1816 (1965)  TR-86 (1959)  and TR-826 (1964)
TR-814 Multiband (1961)
Sony AM/FM Radios left to rightTFM-121 (1963)  TFM-825L (1964) with MW  3F77W (1966??)
Toshiba (Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd) 5TR-193 Lace Radio (1959). 5 Transistor Reflex Transistor Radio. Reflex radios used fewer parts to accomplish the same objective. However they were prone to potential instability due to the intricate feedback loops required to perform multiple functions. 
Toshiba (Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd) 8TM-300S. AM/SW Radio (1959-60). 8 Transistor Radio. Price in 1960 was $59.99. Very ornate looking radio. Toshiba made, 2S92A,  2S49,  2S53 (2), 2S54, and 2S22 (2) transistors used,
Very tight and extremely difficult to repair radio. Electrolytic capacitors which are the weakest link and very difficult to remove and require unmounting  the band selector switch.

ABOVE: unusual jack setup. Two jacks for earphones (bottom two) and top jack is a phono input.
Toshiba (Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd)  6TP-357 (1960)- 6 Transistor Radio. Year's smallest transistor radio at 3" X 3"X 1". Uses 3 UM-5 (N type) Cells.








A Class by Itself

Toshiba Baseball Radio


Toshiba 6TP-515A Baseball Transistor Radio (1962- Japan) Price in 1962 was $30. A 6 Transistor Radio  using 2SA52 Conv, 2SA53 and 2SA49 IF Amps, 2SB54 Audio Amp, and 2- 2SB56 Audio Ouput Amps, plus a 1S50 Det Diode. Has a fold out 3 baseball bat stand to place baseball shape radio just like a trophy display. A tube radio by Trophy in 1941 is fairly large. The Toshiba model is about the size of a real baseball and I believe it the first transistorized version
ABOVE: Shown with stand (not original)
ABOVE and BELOW: Box and contents.

Toshiba Corporation

Founded in 1939 as a merger of two Japanese electric companies. between Shibaura Seisaku-sho (founded in 1875) and Tokyo Denki (founded in 1890). Toshiba is a household name in Japan and has long been viewed as a symbol of the country's technological prowess. They were the first Japanese manufacturer to be licensed by Western Electric to design and manufacture transistors.
BELOW:Example of early Toshiba production germanium transistor model 2S25 and 2S56.
Toshiba  (Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd) Trancel 6PTR-243,  A 6 Transistor Radio (1959). Standard Superheterodyne Radio using Toshiba made  2S25, 2S52, 2S53, 2S54 and 2S56 (2) audio output, transistors plus an 1N60 diode. Trancel was Toshiba export model to North America. Within a couple of years the Trancel name was dropped. 
ABOVE: Feature slide rule dial. BELOW: Fold out stand was popular feature for shirt pocket radios.
Circuit board layout. Uses standard 9V battery.  NEDA number 006P type.



Unique symmetrical look. Station dial and push button band selector on top, with tuning and volume on each side. The speaker grille occupies the entire front.
ABOVE: With original carry case and earphone case.





ABOVE: Twist both halves of the baseball opens the radio to access the 9 Volt Battery.
Toshiba (Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd) 15L-822F Multiband AM/SW1/SW2/FM (1968). 15 Transistor Radio with separate AC adapter that fits inside battery box, base and treble controls, lighted dial, coarse and fine tuning and signal strength meter. Transistors used: Toshiba made 2-2SA240, 4-2SA471 for FM; 2SA57, 2SA58 and 2-2SA49 for AM; 2-2SB54, 2SB56 and 2-2SB415 for AUDIO. 
ABOVE: All transistor circuit. Toshiba used separate AM and FM IF sections while the tuning and RF sections are integrated on one module. Band selection is done with push buttons. A separate section was provided for the audio stages. Alignment of AM band is fairly difficult, as high and low band AM adjustments interact a lot and IF transformer tuning affect band shifting significantly.
ABOVE: Rear panel has external FM and AM antenna. one can see the unique AC adapter below that fits directly over the battery compartment. BELOW: Past owner replaced light bulbs with LED's for the dial illumination.  Nice job upgrading.
Toshiba (Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd)  RC-1790F (1981): Handheld FM/AMn LCD Quartz Clockradio. with alarms. IC's and transistors. Uses 2 AAA cells.
BELOW: Lift the panel and all the clock and alarm settings. The red button is the clock light.
BELOW: Tuning and volume controls, earphone jack and clock light button. I found that the tuning and volume controls are prone to mistaken use.

More Sets made in Japan:

A Portable Table Transistor Radio


Sony 8F-31W (1968) JapanFM/AM 9 Transistor Table Radio (uses 4 D Cells)
Circuit layout. Notice that Sony has the circuits separated on individual boards. One board for the RF section, another for IF section and the remainder for audio.
BELOW:  Sanyo 10S-P10N Circuit board layout. Very densely packed.
Sanyo 10S-P10N  "Transcontinental" Multiband (1965')Sanyo Electric Co LTD, Osaka, Japan. Multiband 10 Transistor Radio.2- 2SA60, 2SA49, 2SB53, 4-2SB-54, and 2- 2SB22 transistors made by Toshiba.
Band 1: 535 - 1605 KHz, Band 2: 2 - 6 MHz and Band 3: 6 - 18 MHz. Uses 3 separate tuned circuits.
BELOW: Has dial light for dim light viewing.

American Brands made or partly assembled in Asia 

RCA Radios- Made by Hitachi LTD in Japan and Taiwan 

By the mid 1960's most USA and Canada brands were wholly made and designed in Japan and later Taiwan. RCA  and Hitachi  had a manufacturing and technology agreement to provide designs and new products shared by both. One of the best examples of these partnerships is RCA introducing the first total solid state video consumer camera, was mostly from Hitachi research. Hitachi and RCA had a long time partnership in making and marketing electronics, including VCRs  and the first CCD pickup consumer video camera called the "Small Wonder" in the mid 1980s.

About Hitachi Ltd,

The company is active in a range of industries, including digital systems, power and renewable energy solutions, railway systems, healthcare products, and financial systems. Founded in 1910 in Ibaraki Prefecture by electrical engineer Namihei Odaira, Hitachi's first product was Japan's inaugural 4-kilowatt induction motor, designed for copper mining.Originally an in-house venture of Fusanosuke Kuhara's mining company, Hitachi became independent in 1911 and moved its headquarters to Tokyo in 1918. The company's name 'Hitachi', combining the kanji for 'sun' (日, hi) and 'rise' (立, tachi), was coined by Odaira. (from Wikipedia)


VIBRA Line
The Vibra  series was RCA's line of radios with styling that was more stylish or faddish. 
RCA RVM657R (1968) VIBRA Series. 9 Transistor FM/AM  AC-Battery Portable. Made for RCA by Hitachi LTD in Taiwan. The late 60s brought back the camera style radio introduced by Sonora  (KG-41) in 1939-40. Many sets had the woodgrain look on the cabinets and cases.
 BELOW: Excellent battery and AC cord storage. FM-AM band selector switch is on the back. Radio has no AFC mode.
BELOW- Straightforward parts layout. Larger speaker would be nicer for richer sound..
PORTABLE RADIOS
Portable Siblings (1969-70)RCA RZM 177T "Huntsman" FM/AM AC-Battery PortableRCA RZG 133E "Globetrotter" TRF AM AC-Battery Portable
Leather cabinets were still popular.  These are good examples of better quality radios in this style. Both made in Japan by Hitachi LTD.
RCA RZM 177T "Huntsman" FM/AM AC-Battery Portable.  Deluxe Volume and Tone controls.  FM has AFC switch for smoother tuning. Operates on AC or 4 "C" cells.
RCA RZG 133E "Globetrotter" TRF AM AC-Battery Portable. Deluxe Volume and Tone controls. Operates on AC or 4 "C" cells.
RCA RZG-104 (J or Y): (1969) 6 Transistor Standard Broadcast. Made in Hong Kong. -Y= White / Havest Yellow back and -J= Charcoal Gray / White back. 
LEFT RZG-104J (Gray-White) and RIGHT RZG-104Y (White-Harvest Yellow).
Some -Y versions had the trim painted gold instead of silver and selling it as the 50th Anniversary of RCA Special. (RCA 1919-1969)



The Woody Look with painted on Rosewood. A fairly sensitive radio on both bands.
RCA RZA-218Y belowMuch more stylish than many of the RCA radios sold during that time. This was their top tier AM table radio for 1969-70 model year,
BELOW: This set has a TRF long distance front end design like their portable Globe Trotter. However RCA table sets of that time period always had simple audio stages, using a power transistor operating as a Class A amplifier which got as hot as a vacuum tube but they saved 2 transistors, some resistors and less assembly. A very good performing and nice looking set with a low cost audio output stage, "go figure!"


Compared with the RZA-218Y above, this is a mid line AM set. The electronics is the same as the entry level. The only difference is this one adds slide rule tuning compared to rotary tuning on the entry model. Same simple audio stage as the RZA-218Y top line.
Nothing fancy and rather plain looking.AM sets by now were less desirable than FM-AM sets and were nicer looking.
BELOW: Printed wired board. Notice the Hitachi LOGO at the top. 
Added Deluxe Feature. Installed 2 Neon Lamps for the dial illumination so I can see the dial at night and easier tuning during the day.
The circuit board layout of the RZA-201 is identical to the RZA-206. The only difference is the tuning mechanism.

CLOCK RADIOS
RCA  RZD 412R (1969)  Rosewood Woodgrain Cabinet Clock Radio with illuminated clock. Made in Taiwan by Hitachi LTD. Same design as the RZA 201B but with a clock. Features alarm setting for buzzer or radio wake up and 0-60 min sleep timer.
ABOVE: 50th Anniversary radio had poor volume. Recapped the radio and now works really good. The silicon transistors are the early plastic transistors  with the obsolete TO-105 and 106 packages. Audio power output are the two large CS9013's, Audio amp CS1340, IF amps are unknown white/green dot and OSC is the CS1340. These were made by Fairchild and used in house numbers, probably surplus 2N series transistors, that Fairchild needed to get rid of  as the case style was obsolete.


Pretty much like any basic 6 transistor radio without any cost cutting engineering inside, during this time period. Tuned circuits matched well. Very selective as stations 10KHz apart come in solid, and sensitive for a radio of this type.



1969-1970RCA RZA series of AM Table Radios














RCA RZA-218Y 1969-70  Twin Speaker 6 Transistor AC operated Table Radio. Made for RCA by Hitachi  LTD of Japan. Uses Hitachi JJEDIC#s 2SC460 RF, 3 X 2SC454 Converter and IF Amps, 2SC458 Audio Driver and 2SC685A Power Amplifier.
Historical collecting note regarding this model: About three years earlier RCA produced the RVA-728Y(SHOWN BELOW) with an identical cabinet and styling. It was an AM/FM twin speaker radio. 
ABOVE: RVA-728Y AM/FM (circa 1967-68) no in my collection. BELOW: RZA-218Y AM-TRF (1970)










RCA RZA-206A (1969-70) 4 Transistor AC Operated Table Radio with slide rule tuning. Uses  Hitachi transistors JJEDEC#s 3 X 2SC454  for converter, IF and Audio Amplifiers and 2SC685A Power Amplifier. Made for RCA by Hitachi LTD, Japan..




















RCA RZA-201B (1969-70) 4 Transistor AC Operated Table Radio. Uses  Hitachi made JJEDEC#s 3 X 2SC454  for converter, IF and Audio Amplifiers and 2SC685A Power Amplifier. Made for RCA by Hitachi LTD, Japan.. RCA's  most basic AM table radio. Uses direct tuning, but other than that it is no different than the RZA-206A above.

Shown below, the RZA-201 and RZA-206 are basically electronically identical. Only difference is the tuning method, cabinet style and cabinet colors.






















Added Deluxe Feature. BELOW: Installed 2 Neon Lamps for the dial illumination so I can see the dial at night and easier tuning during the day.

Other USA Brands

Some USA major manufacturers, decided to open foreign divisions using the parent name.
Zenith F450P2 (Late 1960s) Mustard Yellow AM FM Clock Radio (Made in Korea)
Hoffman 711 (1962) similar to Sharp FX-401: Hoffman Electronics, Los Angeles. 11 Transistor FM/AM Radio made by Sharp Electronics, Japan. Has local-dx switch, tone switch, external AM antenna, earphone / external speaker jacks and external power supply connection.
Transistors used (all made by Hitachi LTD)- 2 X 2SA235, 3 X 2SA80, 2 X 2SB75, 2 X 2SB70, 2SA12, and 2SA15.
ABOVE: Original parts before repair.The FM transformers from left to right Blue, Pink, Maroon, Green and Orange (Ratio Det). Above the Blue one is the FM Osc Coil. The AM transformers are from left to right Yellow (ANT coil), Yellow, Red (Osc Coil), White and Black.
Arvin 57R22 (1967-8): Arvin Industries, Columbus OH.  Four Transistor AC Operated Clock Radio with dial light. There is a non clock version, that features a twin speaker.Transistors used (Arvin PNs) 99101 Converter, 99103 IF, 99201 Audio and 99252 Power Output. All Japanese made transistors.
Dial light is unique. At night you can see the smaller clock face. BELOW: The radio side is packed fairly tight.
ABOVE: Location of controls foe DX-LOCAL, Tone, AC Adapter, and Earphones. BELOW: Hoffman had a completely dead FM section. The Final FM IF transistor 2SA80 was bad. Had a 2N2189 transistor that worked just fine and even looks like the original (on the left). Other bad parts were the speaker, some electrolytic's and a 2SA235 FM oscillator transistor with a soon the break off wire lead. Replace with the same.
2N2189 installed below.
ABOVE: The radio board. The power transistor is mounted to the aluminum heat sink. The board is very tightly assembled. First 1960s set I have using 1/2 W carbon film resistors. A mixture of Japanese and American parts.

The Transistor Radio Flood

By the mid 1960's radios were being made from other parts of Asia, notably Hong Kong, Taiwan and Okinawa. Radios coming out of these areas were for the most part low cost and lower quality sets, that appealed to bargain conscious consumers. These sets were often found at discount stores, drug stores and even food markets. In general radios coming from here were generic models with the brand name added on.


TRANSISTOR INFLATION SELLING SCHEME


During rise of transistor radio manufacturing in Hong Kong and Taiwan, "transistor inflation" began, a misleading advertising ploy to sell more transistor radios! These sets were usually low end sets to be sold at discount, department, drug and grocery stores.  They advertise with titles taunting high transistor counts between 10 to 15 transistors. The ads often boast a high suggested price but on sale for a very low price as if the store was having a big sale. These sets were often basic 5 to 6 transistor sets with extra transistors added in parallel with a transistor or configured as a diode as a detector and bias setting. Early sets were basically modified designs with extra transistors added, but later models were stripped down designs eliminating audio and IF transformers to drop costs and replacing them with recycled transistor rejects from transistor manufacturers. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission later put an end to transistor inflation schemes to lure consumers.

Jade J-171 (Hong Kong- 1966-67)The Jade is a seven transistor unit. Plays adequately but if you open it up it was made with the cheapest parts available. The transistors are unmarked TO-5 and TO-39 transistors (probably US transistor rejects) and there is a lack of component uniformity which gives you a hint of how they got their parts. Jade brand lasted about 10 years. 
ABOVE: Notice that all the transistors are coded by the color of the heat shrink tubing used for identifying the transistors for assembly. Doesn't appear to be a parts reduction design. Blue= Audio output,  Black= Audio input, Orange= IF Amp, Gray= RF-Conv and Green= Detector.









Viscount DeluxeMetal front face, uses round knobs, has HI-LO tone control and can run off 9 Volt AC adapter. This model uses only 8mA during no signal operation. A pretty good sounding and decent performing radio and definitely better built. Uses the same Fairchild plastic dot transistors. Had to replace all the electrolytic capacitors, but otherwise no other repairs made.
14 Transistors. How many are actually used?
Notice the absence of input and output audio transformers, but has a full complement of IF transformers. Probably a 14 transistor radio with 6 transistor performance.

A Personal Note


My first transistor radio was a black Jade J-171. They were being sold for under $6. They came in two colors, black and teal (turquoise). Came with a 9 volt battery. This model had no earphone jack. I took this radio with me where I can, listening to the LA Dodgers games. I dropped the radio so many times, that the case was full of cracks, but the radio kept working.

              



Viscount Deluxe 14 Transistor (Taiwan)
View of the 14 Transistors (Black Circles). The larger transistors are audio transistors. Transistors used are, 2- CD0099PC, 3- CS1168F, 4- CD0014N, CS1169, CS1172H, CD1171I, CD1172F  and an unmarked unit. I cannot find any info on these, so these were probably custom Fairchild numbers to supply the radio makers. Fairchild early epitaxial transistors were the epoxy dot TO-105 style which was quickly replaced with TO-92, forcing Fairchild to dump these transistors. I have seen these transistors in many off brand and bargain transistor radios.

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