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Transistor pinouts

:

2/4/1997 1:46 PM

Transistor pinouts

Okay, this is driving me nuts.

TO-92 pinouts for NPN transistors should be (looking straight at the
flat side of the transistor) emitter, base, collector, going from
left to right. Right?

So, I'm testing these 2SC828's and 1815's to look for hfe. They LOOK
like TO-92's, snell and taste like em. But they only test good if the
pins are connected (L to R) emitter - collector - base.

My ineptness with the meter doesn't seem to be the issue. Everything
else, even the old PNP germaniums test fine (found a source for bubble
pack assortments of TO-1 style Ge; big variety; one of the 2SB172's
came up with an hfe of 450 - almost Fuzz Face territory). It's just these oddball Japanese transistors.

So, mavens, is my take on this accurate? Are there really transistors that
look like TO-92's but aren't?

2/6/1997 7:13 AM

Simply put, yes.

The "to-92" label applies to anything that looks like a to-92, just as 16 pin DIP applies to any dual in line with sixteen leads. Similarly, the signals on
the leads may be any way the manufacturer assigns them.

ECB is a reasonably common pin basing for the to-92, although from about 2N3904 numbers on, US manufacturers all used EBC. There are earlier US made 2N's with ECB. The Japanese used ECB also.

Your meter work is correct.

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