TRANSISTOR MUSEUM Historic Transistor Photo Gallery
Transistor Size (3/8” X 7/16”) Date Code 7-12 (1957 Week 12) Foldover Cardboard Packaging	RAYTHEON CK793 TYPE Silicon PNP Alloy Junction Low Frequency Amplifier/Switching in High Temperature Environments USAGE Military DATE INTRODUCED 1957 CASE STYLES Red Metal AVAILABILITY Rare (Limited Production)
HISTORIC NOTES The Raytheon CK793 (and the lower performing CK790 and CK791) were the first commercial silicon transistors developed by Raytheon. In 1957, silicon technology was still “in development” and Raytheon introduced this series of transistors to address the military requirements of a high temperature environment (silicon performs much better than germanium at elevated temperatures). Raytheon chose the alloy junction process for its first silicon transistors, which resulted in a very low yield. These transistors were expensive when first released, with the 1957 Federated catalog listing the CK793 for $92 dollars. In 1958, the CK793 was released by Raytheon as the 2N329.
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