Sixty years ago, the editors of Popular Electronics had been flooded with inquiries after one of the Carl and Jerry stories included a transistorized pocket broadcast receiver, in which Carl and Jerry commented on the size and sensitivity of the receiver. The story neglected to give the brand name, and readers wanted to know what it was. It turns out that the boys were talking about the Regency portable that was featured here previously.

The flood of inquiries convinced the editors that “transistors are here to stay,” and as a result, the November issue began a feature called “Transistor Topics.” It included the receiver shown above, which was sent in by one Mr. R. Zarr of Brooklyn, New York, a one transistor regenerative receiver for the broadcast band, using the venerable CK722 transistor, which was advertised in the same issue for $1.25.

As shwon, the set would tune about 400 kHz of the broadcast band, the exact center of which was determined by adjusting the slug of the coil. The set had about the same sensitivity as a good crystal set, the great advantage being very good selectivity.

The editors noted that by substituting a CK760 transistor, the set could probably be made to oscillate up to about 4 or 5 MHz.

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