Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 9 hours ago
We looked at THIS radio awhile back--a radio with the brand name "Solar" that wasn't solar at all. They just used the word.. as a brand. But there WERE solar radios in the 1950s. Admiral's first transistor radio, in 1956, had a solar option. You could buy, at extra cost, a "Sun Power Pak" that would power your Admiral by the sun. Hoffman Electronics followed in 1957 with their 411 series, in all these great colors. These early solar radios were expensive, so not many were sold and today they are quite rare. There are videos on this channel all about these early Admiral and Hoffman solar radios.
What we're looking at today is Hoffman's second transistor radio, the 1958 "Trans-Solar"--a smaller, less expensive and quite popular radio that also came in those great Hoffman colors. But what we're looking at specifically is a mystery radio in that series of which only one is known to exist.
This Hoffman model has on the back a slide switch for choosing between solar power and battery power. You use solar power--which is free, of course--when you can, and switch to battery power when you can't. The solar cells are quite sensitive and you can actually play this radio indoors under a lamp. Or at least you can under an incandescent lamp.
Now here's another example of this model, the same RP-706 Hoffman radio...but where are the solar cells? Instead of those cells, there's a blank matching red panel where those cells would normally be. And on the back the solar/battery switch is there, but it is glued in the battery position and so can't be moved. Did this radio leave the factory this way? I believe it did. Everything about it says "factory" to me, most especially the perfect color and fit of the blank panel that substitutes for the solar panel. Then why, you may ask, does it say "Trans-Solar" right on the front just like the solar models? Well, if Hoffman did issue any quantity of these radios like this, without the solar cell panel, there must have been some internal debate at Hoffman about the front nameplate saying "Trans-Solar." Do we remake this nameplate? Do we block out the word "solar" somehow?... Their conclusion was, apparently, not to worry about it. They must have concluded, just as THESE people did with their "Solar" branding, that the name "Trans-Solar" doesn't specifically, exactly, say that the radio is solar powered. It's just a name, right? What's in a name?
"From outer space research.. come the Hoffman solar cells.. that give FREE power to this Trans-Solar radio." And you can get one of these radios free with the purchase of a Hoffman TV. It's the "Only Radio of its Kind on Earth."
We looked at THIS radio awhile back--a radio with the brand name "Solar" that wasn't solar at all. They just used the word.. as a brand. But there WERE solar radios in the 1950s. Admiral's first transistor radio, in 1956, had a solar option. You could buy, at extra cost, a "Sun Power Pak" that would power your Admiral by the sun. Hoffman Electronics followed in 1957 with their 411 series, in all these great colors. These early solar radios were expensive, so not many were sold and today they are quite rare. There are videos on this channel all about these early Admiral and Hoffman solar radios.
What we're looking at today is Hoffman's second transistor radio, the 1958 "Trans-Solar"--a smaller, less expensive and quite popular radio that also came in those great Hoffman colors. But what we're looking at specifically is a mystery radio in that series of which only one is known to exist.
This Hoffman model has on the back a slide switch for choosing between solar power and battery power. You use solar power--which is free, of course--when you can, and switch to battery power when you can't. The solar cells are quite sensitive and you can actually play this radio indoors under a lamp. Or at least you can under an incandescent lamp.
Now here's another example of this model, the same RP-706 Hoffman radio...but where are the solar cells? Instead of those cells, there's a blank matching red panel where those cells would normally be. And on the back the solar/battery switch is there, but it is glued in the battery position and so can't be moved. Did this radio leave the factory this way? I believe it did. Everything about it says "factory" to me, most especially the perfect color and fit of the blank panel that substitutes for the solar panel. Then why, you may ask, does it say "Trans-Solar" right on the front just like the solar models? Well, if Hoffman did issue any quantity of these radios like this, without the solar cell panel, there must have been some internal debate at Hoffman about the front nameplate saying "Trans-Solar." Do we remake this nameplate? Do we block out the word "solar" somehow?... Their conclusion was, apparently, not to worry about it. They must have concluded, just as THESE people did with their "Solar" branding, that the name "Trans-Solar" doesn't specifically, exactly, say that the radio is solar powered. It's just a name, right? What's in a name?
"From outer space research.. come the Hoffman solar cells.. that give FREE power to this Trans-Solar radio." And you can get one of these radios free with the purchase of a Hoffman TV. It's the "Only Radio of its Kind on Earth."
