|
By now transistors had ousted valves in hearing aids and some all-transistor 'personal portables' had appeared. But the transistor was still incapable of equalling valve performance at the higher frequencies and some of these sets had valves in the RF and IF stages, with transistors in the AF section. For point-to-point radio-telegraphy the tele-printer had been steadily replacing older methods. Accuracy and speed had been progressively improved by refined and highly developed methods of 'cleaning up' the received wave form.
We were able to take our courage in both hands and assert that the British television receiver was virtually standardised at last. 'For the first time it is possible to put forward a general description of a receiver which will apply with remarkable accuracy to the great majority of modern sets'. The 'straight' RF amplifier had disappeared some years earlier and tubes were getting bigger; 17-in was now the most popular.
In brief: Decca introduced 'true-motion' radar, Ampex television tape recorder announced; Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain awarded Nobel Prize for work on transistors.
| 