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Historical
Background
In mid 1955, General Electric (GE) introduced the famous
PNP 2N107 hobbyist/experimenter transistor. This device was an instant
success with young hobbyists and remained popular for two decades, evolving
through many different case styles and dropping dramatically in cost. In
the 1960s, the Electronic Transistors Company (ETCO) of Flushing NY became a second source supplier of the 2N107. There were countless construction project
articles using the 2N107 published in electronics hobbyist magazines
throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and many of today’s engineers remember
building their first radio or audio amplifier with one of these unique
transistors.
GE
first introduced the 2N107 in 1955 with the classic “pinched-top” metal
case. By 1957, the more modern “top-hat” was used. In the 1960s and 1970s,
ETCO sold the 2N107 in the standard silver TO-5 case. Several radio supply
companies (Radio Shack, Lafayette, Poly-Paks) sold unlabeled 2N107 style
devices for many years. (See photo at above right for comparison of the
various case styles). If you were an electronics hobbyist in the 1950s,
1960s and 1970s, then likely you well remember the transistor radio circuit
you built with this historic device!
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