Hoffman model KP 706 "Trans-Solar" transistor radio
date: label: date made
content: ca 1960
name: label: maker
content: Hoffman Electronics Corp.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Consumers could buy solar powered products within ten years of the invention of solar cells. Hoffman Electronics manufactured cells for satellites but company president H. Leslie Hoffman believed the sun could power other products. Hoffman already manufactured radios based on vacuum tube technology and decided that solar cells would work well with a radio that used transistors instead of tubes. His company introduced their first Trans-Solar portable radio in 1957 and sold several models in the next few years. Like the others, this model KP-706 could run on sunlight or batteries.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Characteristics: The solar panel is 12cm long X 3cm wide. A paper label inside the back reads: "Made in USA by Hoffman Electronics Corporation Consumer Products Division. Chassis 1123." It also lists the operating characteristics of the radio and solar panel. Label also has "THIS APPARATUS USES INVENTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES PATENTS LICENSED BY RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA. PATENT NUMBERS SUPPLIED UPON REQUEST." The radio has a black plastic case with a metal handle. "Hoffman Electronics Corp of Los Angeles, Calif." Label in battery bay: "Model KP 706 / Battery / type / 4 volt mercury / Hoffman H930003 / Mallory TR233R / or Equiv. / EIA code 207" and "Ser. No. X032637".
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: California, Los Angeles
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: See more items in
content: Communications
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Frank Stanton
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1269.01
label: accession number
content: 1979.1269
label: catalog number
content: 1979.1269.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Radio Receiver
label: Object Name
content: transistor radio
label: Other Terms
content: Radio Receiver; Radio
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: handle up: 5 in x 6 1/4 in x 1 3/4 in; 12.7 cm x 15.875 cm x 4.445 cm