TRANSISTOR MUSEUM Historic Transistor Photo Gallery
Transistor Size (7/16” X 3/8”) No Date Codes or Packaging Each Unit Hand Serialized on Back or Top	RCA TA165 TYPE Germanium Point Contact Transistor Medium Frequency Switching USAGE Developmental/Experimental DATE INTRODUCED 1951/52 CASE STYLES Amber or White Epoxy AVAILABILITY Rare (Limited Production)
HISTORIC NOTES The TA165 was the first RCA developmental point contact transistor. Early units were built by Bob Slade’s transistor group established at the Harrison NJ RCA Tube Division. Mr. Slade documented the development of this transistor in the article “A method for Improving the Electrical and Mechanical Stability of Point Contact Transistors”, by B.N. Slade, RCA Review, December, 1951. The first units were encased in an amber epoxy, while later units contained a white pigment. Several thousand of this type were built and the main purpose was to supply functioning transistors to RCA circuit engineers for developing devices such as radios. The case material is araldite epoxy, which, through time, allows moisture degradation of the transistor junctions - most currently existing units are not functional. The “TA” part of the model number was used by RCA to represent “developmental” transistors which were not yet ready for commercialization but were available for circuit development – “TA” stands for “Transistor Amplifier”. It is likely that the TA165 was the prototype for the commercialized 2N32 and the higher performing TA166 was the prototype for the 2N33. As of 2001, a TA166 was displayed at the Smithsonian Museum Information Age Exhibit as an example of important early transistor technology.
Copyright © 2002 by Jack Ward http://www.transistormuseum.com