![]() The term TRF was a throwback to the days of the tuned radio frequency radios and referred specifically to Radio Shack’s addition of an extra RF amplifier ahead of the converter stage. Obviously, this required more circuitry and, consequently, more expense.Įnter the Radio Shack TRFs. Better, more sensitive radios added a third stage, an RF amplifier operating ahead of the converter stage. ![]() This was standard design practice during the vacuum tube and transistor eras. Entry level (read cheap) radios were limited to two stages consisting of a converter and an oscillator. Eventually, designers hit on the idea of mechanically connecting all the RF stages together so tuning could be accomplished with a single knob.įast forward to the standard AM radios of a later generation. As amplifier stages became cascaded in two or three stages, this became a real problem, as each stage had to produce the correct frequency before anything could be heard. In the early days of radio, the term referred to the necessity for the operator to manually put an RF amplifier stage on frequency by adjusting the value of a variable capacitor or inductor. TRF stands for tuned radio frequency receiver. ![]() These radios were commonly known by their sobriquet “TRF.” Initially applied by Radio Shack itself, the term stuck. I remember them being very popular among National Radio Club members of the time. These were identified respectively by their Radio Shack stock numbers 12-655 and subsequently the 12-656A. In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, Radio Shack provided an attractive answer to this conundrum for medium wave DXers. At the same time, most of us don’t want to sacrifice any more capability than necessary. There has always been an interest in DXing on the cheap. Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Colegrove, for the following guest post: Remembering the Radio Shack TRFs
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