The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 97, July 1993 - April, 1994 Page: 63
754 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Breakthrough Breadboard
ductor industry in being able to produce such devices, especially in the
large quantities that would be needed for a mass-produced radio. To
vividly demonstrate the company's leadership in new transistor design,
Pat pointed out that it was TI's intention, in parallel with completing the
development and initial large-scale production of these new RF transis-
tors, to develop a pocket-sized, all-transistor radio that could be mass-
produced and sold to consumers in the very near future.
It was made clear that the full resources of the Semiconductor Depart-
ment would be available to support the radio design project. This in-
cluded the technical support of the semiconductor design group under
Dr. Willis Adcock, an outstanding pioneer in development. They would
supply our radio development project with the latest RF transistors, and
we would test them in actual circuits which we would design. Working as
a team, we would supply each other design and test result data on a daily
(or even hourly) basis, and thus speed up work on both projects.
Pat further explained that the initial goal of our project was to devel-
op a "breadboard" feasibility model transistorized radio that was fully op-
erable over the broadcast band from 550 to i6oo kHz, comparable to
vacuum tube radios in sensitivity ("station-getting" ability) and sound
output, and capable of being packaged in a pocket-sized case.8
The feasibility model would be used to demonstrate to an established
consumer radio manufacturing company that TI could produce and
supply RF transistors in the immediate future. It was expected that the
radio manufacturer would then, without delay, begin producing the first
transistorized radios, and they would contain TI transistors exclusively.
This would help prove to the world, especially the world of companies
which use transistors, that little-known (at that time) TI was a leader in
the semiconductor business and a desirable source for advanced design
versions of such components.
I was informed that I could choose anyone at TI I wished to have as-
signed to the radio development project. Without hesitation, I selected
Roger Webster as the lead design engineer. He had been a key designer
and had done an excellent job on several recent low-frequency transistor
circuit development projects. For example, Roger had developed a tran-
sistorized version of a vacuum tube device for the Army in less than
three months, which a whole team of engineers at a competing company
had been unable to do in a year's time. Two other engineers chosen for
the original breadboard feasibility model radio design team were Ed
8 The term "breadboard" model is commonly used by engineers to describe the first design
model of a new electronic circuit because the parts involved are not neatly packaged. They are
fastened to a board and wired together in a manner which makes it easy for the engineer to
make changes as needed in arriving at a final design. I am told that in the pioneering days of ra-
dio, real breadboards were used.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 97, July 1993 - April, 1994, periodical, 1994; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117154/m1/91/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.