Object Record
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2018.0011.0101h |
Object Name |
Transistor |
Description |
A black plastic and metal 2N107 transistor. The top of the transistor is black plastic and is circular, giving it the appearance of a top hat. The top has the General Electric logo printed on it in white. The right side of the cylinder has white text reading "2N107". Descending from the circular plastic portion are three silver colored wires/nodes. |
Date |
late 1960s |
Provenance |
Donor's stepfather Vernon Grimes helped develop the beep ball while volunteering for the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind in the late 1960s. Charles Fairbanks, an engineer at Mountain bell, initially came up with the concept and first prototype of the ball by placing a battery powered phone ringer into a softball. Grimes and other volunteers from the Telephone Pioneers of America (a non-profit comprised of retired phone company professionals) improved upon the device to make it usable to play a version of baseball for the blind and hard of sight. To fix the problem of the ball and interior electronic components breaking when being hit by a bat, the ball was inserted into a large 16-inch softball. The inside electronic parts became more refined with the addition of two electric circuit boards and more powerful batteries. With the improved ball, the sport became popular with its first World Series taking place in 1976. Beep Ball follows the basic rules of baseball, with some alterations such as a closer pitchers mount and a smaller field without a second base. |