Frank Dresser wrote:

"jtaylor" wrote in message
et.ca...
When I was little(r), almost all small portable radios used 9-volt
batteries. There were some, of course, that used AA's (or even 1 AA; I
had
an am portable with 1 AA cell that we snuck into school when
something-or-other REALLY important to schoolboys was going on), but now I
don't have & don't know of any radio that uses 9V batteries.

Why were they needed in the first place? The 9-volt package has a lot
more
package and a lot less mWatthrs in it. Was it because of the voltage -
did
the existing solid-state tech not work so well at 3V?



The existing solid state worked well enough at 6V. Zenith was making shirt
pocket portables in 1956 which were powered by 4AAs. The Zenith radio was
expensive, but the battery replacement was cheap.

I'll guess the reason most of the 1950s transistor radios started used 9V
batteries is because the lower price manufacturers wanted to get by with the
cheapest transistors which would do the job.

I suppose it's also possible the battery manufacturers were giving the low
end transistor radio manufacturers free batteries in order to later sell
short life, high profit replacement batteries.

As a side issue, many of the cheap American small transistor radios of the
fifties and early sixties used a cylinderical battery which contained a
stack of six round 1.5V cells. The Japanese companies prefered the now
familiar rectangular battery which had a stack of 6 rectangular cells, much
like the cells used in the B batteries of vacuum tube portables. Both of
the 9V batteries were lousy batteries and it's unfortunate that either
became the standard for transistor radios.

Frank Dresser


Weight and convenience. Flip the case open, unsnap the old battery
and snap in the new one, close the lid and you're done. Less chance of
someone using one or more old cells that would die and leak, as well.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida