[Eeyore]

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Arny Krueger" wrote
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in

It was scaled down from the RCA 40411, which was a 100
volt device, VS a 60 volt, cheaper
device.

AFAIK the 40411 was introduced several years after the
introduction of the 2N3055. I think that there were at
least two years of the RCA solid state book with the
2N305x family in them, before the 404xx family was added.

To shed a little more light:

http://www.ck722museum.com/history/r...isel_Page3.htm

"After several chip design changes and some significant package cost
reductions the 2N1486 and 2N1490 migrated into the 2N3054 and 2N3055 which
became industry workhorse standards. The package redesigns were done by Milt
Grimes. The 2N3055 was the first multi-amp silicon power transistor to sell
for less than one dollar! It was a huge success in the power supply market.
In 1965, the team of Design, Production, and Applications engineers who
launched these devices got RCA Electronic Components Achievement Awards,
which were quite generous."

I'm not an IEEE member, but this relevant article is online for those who
a

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/lo...rnumber=960371

"
The 2N3055: a case history
Ellis, J.N.; Osadchy, V.S.
Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on
Volume 48, Issue 11, Nov 2001 Page(s):2477 - 2484
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/16.960371

Summary:The 2N3055 power transistor was introduced by the Radio Corporation
of America (RCA) in the early 1960s. It was one of the first silicon power
transistors, offered unrivalled second breakdown immunity and found many
applications particularly in audio power amplifiers and linear power
supplies. Other companies tried to copy it with varying degrees of success:
one company acknowledges it now by naming a power MOSFET after it. We trace
its history, manufacture and eventual decline against pressure from
competing technologies. Modern simulation tools have been used to
investigate the operation of the device which illustrate its good, and not
so good, features. We also relate its geometry to a SPICE model. Neither of
these tools would have been available to the original developers. We propose
that this transistor be given a place in the archives of history, ranked
alongside other famous devices of the 20th century such as the 300B tube
"

Orange ? or was it Wem ? made probably the world's first SS 1kW amplifier using them IIRC. I
was called the Killerwatt or somesuch. Because the supply rails were so low the load had to be
something like one or two ohms, unheard of in those days, but acheived simply by multiple
paralleled speakers.

Graham