As I’ve mentioned, I’m an electrical engineer and I’ve been specifying semiconductors (transistors) since 1980. I became interested in replicating an OWK ANH saber in mid-October of 2005, an exciting time for parts identification. I was intrigued by the revelation that the 2 “control buttons” had been identified as TO-39 cased transistors (TO – transistor outline).
James Kenobi had an interesting RPF post where he showed close ups of the two transistors.
Pic originally posted by James Kenobi.
He also overlaid, at an angle, the logo for NEC (Nippon Electric Corp). When I first saw that composite, it seemed that NEC was probably the correct manufacturer. However, the more I thought about it, the more questions arose. The first thing I considered was the angled logo. Semiconductor manufactures are very protective of there logos. Their marketing departments go to great lengths to develop an easily recognizable image, thatÂ’s then trade marked and copyrighted. See
LOGOs . Also, after researching several new and old transistor databooks, I could not find any NEC manufactured device that began with “MA”, so I decided to rule out NEC.
Looking at the transistor on the left (first picture), it does sort of appear that the logo looks like an “N” followed by a subscript “2”. As far as I’ve been able to find out, there’s never been a logo of this style, and none of the known manufacturers that did use a stylized “N”, had a logo that looked like that.
After studying the transistor thatÂ’s a little more legible, it seems apparent to me that the right edge is severely damaged and that the markings have been scuffed. Transistors markings of that era were either rubber stamped or screened with ink. Looking closely at the image, it seems as if thereÂ’s a streak across the logo (see the blue line on the picture below).
MA909a
I concluded that the transistor could very likely be a Motorola device. I found a 1969 Motorola databook and, low and behold, there was a whole series of TO-5 cased transistors that start with “MA”. TO-5 and TO-39 are the same case size, but the TO-5 leads are an inch longer. The actual transistor shown here is an MA909. Note the similarity in the fonts. The 552 is a date code, probably signifying the 52nd week of 1965 or possibly 1975. The date code on the originals is completely obliterated.
I can’t adequately explain what many have taken to be a “2” beneath the logo. This seems to appear in both original transistor images. I highly suspect that it’s simply a triangular shaped stamping artifact from a worn stamping mechanism and not relevant to the logo itself. I’m hoping that if more original transistors of the series can be found, one will have a similar defect.
There were many transistors (now obsolete) in that original “MA” series. Their part numbers were:
MA100, MA101,
MA112 through MA117,
MA200 through MA206,
MA286 through MA288,
MA881 through MA889,
MA909, MA910.
Since the numbers past the “MA” on the prop transistors are totally unreadable, any two of the above could have been what was used.
Beware if you decide to try and find obsolete devices. Most of the obsolete transistor dealers have very large minimum purchases ($300 and up). One vendorÂ’s website claimed to have 140,000 of the MA200 in stock. When I contacted them requesting a picture of the device, they magically were all sold :confused . (I still canÂ’t quite figure who would need 140,000 obsolete 40 year old germanium transistors :lol .) Also, if one is not careful, a modern superseded part might be substituted that will have a totally different manufacturer and part number. (Try buying an old transistor from FryÂ’s Electronics).
The other transistor on my saber, even though it is a Motorola “MA’ series device, bares very little resemblance to the ones on the original prop. The logo is a much more defined Motorola “batwing”. The font of the part number is also different.
Thanks wackychimp for hosting.
ATL Kenobi
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