Proceedings
FALL 2020
2020 VIRTUAL AWARDS PROGRAM & TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM
SARNOFF CITATION
Robert Rouleau
Norman Pearl
VIVIAN CARR AWARD INSIDE: 2020 Honors & Awards + New Fellows RCA Launches New Interview Series Dr. Joe Taylor Makes First Moonbounce Contact Using FT8 SPECIAL SECTION: 100 Years of KDKA
Emily Calandrelli 1
Going Virtual! December 1-3
We are excited to move the Tech Forum to a virtual event allowing even more people to “attend” this valuable meeting where industry leaders address the challenges of the ever-changing landscape of emergency communications. TOPICS-AT-A-GLANCE
• 9-1-1 Practitioner Perspectives • Well-being for 9-1-1 Professionals • Cybersecurity • FirstNet • Location Accuracy • Call Center Software
• Public Safety Spectrum • Mapping and GIS in Emergency Response • Next Generation 9-1-1 • Utilizing data in 9-1-1 • Updates from the FCC
Register Today Online @ techforum.apcointl.org Registration Fees FULL/ASSOCIATE APCO MEMBERS - $25 NON-MEMBERS/ONLINE APCO MEMBERS - $200 (FIRST 25 NON-MEMBERS REGISTER FOR ONLY $100!) CORPORATE/COMMERCIAL ATTENDEES - $300
and learn more about the event, please visit techforum.apcointl.org. | www.radioclubofamerica.org 2To register FALL 2020 PROCEEDINGS
2020 BOARD LISTING PRESIDENT Carroll L. Hollingsworth* EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT John Facella, P.E.* VICE PRESIDENT Nathan "Chip" Cohen, Ph.D.* VICE PRESIDENT/COUNSEL Chester "Barney" Scholl, Jr.* CO-COUNSEL John Stratton*
THE PROCEEDINGS FALL 2020 | Volume 91, Number 2
The Radio Club of America, Inc. Honoring the Past, Committed to the Future
HEADQUARTERS OFFICE: 13570 Grove Drive #302 Maple Grove MN 55311 | (612) 405-2012 amy@radioclubofamerica.org | www.radioclubofamerica.org
TREASURER Ronald J. Jakubowski*
CONTENTS
SECRETARY Margaret J. Lyons, PE, PMP*
From Your President............................................................................................................ 4
DIRECTORS Robert Balais David P. Bart* Ernie Blair James Breakall, Ph.D. Charles Kirmuss Stephanie McCall* Bruce R. McIntyre Ray Novak Carole Perry Paul Scutieri Dr. Julio Urbina Elaine Walsh* William Waugamann Larry Weber PRESIDENTS EMERITI Steven L. Aldinger Gaetano “Tom” Amoscato Sandra Black John “Jack” Brennan Phillip M. Casciano Mercy S. Contreras Timothy Duffy Mal Gurian Bruce R. McIntyre Stan Reubenstein Anthony “Tony” Sabino, Jr. Raymond C. Trott, P.E. STAFF Amy Beckham, Executive Secretary Sue Sack, Financial Reporting Miki Tufto, Membership and Order Fulfillment COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS Awards & Fellows: Charles Kirmuss Banquet: Margaret Lyons Bequests & Legacy Giving: Elaine Walsh Constitution & Bylaws: Barney Scholl Education: Dr. Julio Urbina Finance: Phil Casciano Fundraising Coordination: Nathan “Chip” Cohen, Ph.D. Historical/Museums & Archives: Ray Novak Keeping RCA Vibrant: Margaret J. Lyons, PE, PMP Marketing & Endowment Policy: Elaine Walsh Membership: James “Ernie” Blair Nominations & Elections: Nathan “Chip” Cohen, Ph.D. Publications: David P. Bart Regional Conferences: Paul Scutieri Scholarship Fund/Grant In Aid: Alan Spindel Sponsorships: Jane Winter Technical Symposium: John A. Facella, PE, C.Eng. and James Breakall, Ph.D. Website: John A. Facella, PE, C.Eng. Youth Activities: Carole J. Perry *Executive Committee Member
From the Publications Chairman.......................................................................................... 5 2020 Awards Program & Technical Symposium – Reasons to Attend................................... 6 Dr. Nathaniel Frissell Headlines RCA’S 2020 Virtual Awards Program.................................. 7 RCA 2020 Technical Symposium Schedule........................................................................... 8 2020 Honors & Awards........................................................................................................ 9 2020 Fellows......................................................................................................................13 RCA's 2020 Sponsors & Donors..........................................................................................15 It All Began on Ham Radio – My Dataradio Journey............................................................16 RCA Launches New Interview Series.................................................................................. 22 RCA Member Paul Gilbert Becomes ARRL’s First Director of Emergency Management....... 23 Dr. Joe Taylor Makes First Moonbounce Contact Using FT8................................................ 25 Industry News Items.......................................................................................................... 29 Silent Keys: Marc & Carol Ellis........................................................................................... 44 Two Brothers in Wireless — Part I.................................................................................... 45 Special Section: 100 Years of KDKA....................................................................................57 Past RCA Event Changes the Way Records Are Preserved and Restored........................ 58 KDKA's 1920 Broadcast Centennial.............................................................................. 59 Call for Papers / Editorials..................................................................................................76 2020 Sponsorship Opportunities....................................................................................... 77 Business Directory..............................................................................................................78 RCA Calendar & Events..................................................................................................... 80 Opportunities to Support Radio Club of America.................................................................81
AEROGRAM EDITOR Elaine Walsh
PROCEEDINGS EDITOR Glenn Bischoff
TECHNICAL EDITOR John S. “Jack” Belrose, Ph.D., VE2CV 811-1081 Ambleside Dr. Ottawa, ON K2B 8C8, Canada (613) 721-7587; jsbelrose@gmail.com
ADVERTISING CONTACT Amy Beckham (612) 430-6995; Amy@radioclubofAmerica.org
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR David P. Bart 8512 Kedvale Ave. Skokie, IL 60076 (847) 542-9873; jbart1964@gmail.com
PRODUCTION Sapphyre Group PROCEEDINGS SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR Nathan “Chip” Cohen, Ph.D.
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FROM YOUR PRESIDENT Please join me in congratulating our 2020 award recipients and welcoming our new Fellows into the Radio Club of America. The 111th Awards Program and 2020 Technical Symposium are being held virtually this year! In this issue, read all about the Technical Symposium and Awards program and then please make your plans to attend! My final year as your president has flown by. We have had some challenges this year, both personally and professionally. COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in many plans, from Hamvention to APCO, and many events in between. We have missed seeing all of you in person; however, we have embraced technology wholeheartedly and participated in virtual tradeshows. Soon we will have our very first virtual Technical Symposium and Awards Program. Our fondest hope is to be able to see all of you in person soon, and that you all are in good health and high spirits. As I leave my role as President, I ask that you join me in recognizing many of these people for their hard work and ongoing contributions to the Club. Thanks go to: • • • • • • •
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The RCA Members, I want to thank you for your continued support The Officers and Directors of the RCA Board of Directors RCA Executive Secretary Amy Beckham The outstanding RCA sponsors who provide all of us the revenue to have the excellent RCA events each year APCO International Executive Director Derek Poarch IWCE Show Director Stephanie McCall U.S. Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association Executive Director William “Bill” Hickey
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Having served as an elected member of the RCA Board of Directors for more than 20 years, there are some individuals who have gone above, and beyond in going through the fire, and serving the prestigious Radio Club of America with distinction and dedication they are: • • • • • • • • • • •
RCA President Emeritus Vivian Carr, no longer with us but her legacy lives on in the RCA RCA President Emeritus Mercy Contreras RCA President Emeritus Stan Reubenstein RCA President Emeritus Phil Casciano RCA President Emeritus Tim Duffy RCA Treasurer Ron Jakubowski RCA Secretary Margaret Lyons RCA Director Elaine Walsh Past RCA Director Chief Harlin McEwen RCA Committee Chair Jane Winter RCA Member Karen Hollingsworth, best friend, and wife of 56 Years.
It has been an honor to be the RCA President. I look forward to engaging more fully with our members in the years ahead. I would like to ask each of you to be an Ambassador for the Radio Club of America. Please help us spread the word about the RCA and encourage others to become a member. Best regards.
CARROLL HOLLINGSWORTH, President The Radio Club of America, Inc.
FROM THE PUBLICATIONS CHAIRMAN This issue of the Proceedings brings you the latest information about RCA’s upcoming Virtual 2020 Awards Banquet and Technical Symposium. Hosted by RCA President Emeritus Tim Duffy, the 2020 awards program will showcase RCA’s honorees and the 2020 class of RCA Fellows. • Our Awards Banquet Keynote Speaker this year will be Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, Assistant Professor in the Physics and Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He leads an all-star lineup of incredible award recipients and new RCA fellows. • We are also honored to meet this year’s Sarnoff Citation recipients, Robert Rouleau and Norman Pearl, whose development of packet radio revolutionized radio and wireless
technology around the world. We congratulate them and all the other award recipients and new class of RCA Fellows. • Our 2020 Virtual Technical Symposium provides ten presentations on wireless and broadcast topics, including the history of KDKA and youth presenters on Citizen Science. Just like a live event, participants can interact with the presenters and event sponsors throughout the day. Congratulations to radio station KDKA on the centennial of its November 2, 1920 broadcasts that have become important milestones in radio history. This issue of the Proceedings includes a special section with information about KDKA’s origins and an article about recent efforts to preserve some of KDKA’s recorded broadcast history. Those efforts were spurred by RCA’s visit to KDKA in 2017 and the contributions of an RCA member who has since
developed new LP record preservation technology that is now being utilized. I remind our members to download prior issues of the Proceedings, which include coverage of our former award recipients and significant related content. Biographical information for our current award recipients and new RCA Fellows are included in this issue. Complete information about the Technical Symposium also is presented. Congratulations to all of RCA’s members for their continuing successes. We invite each of you to contribute articles, news stories, and ideas for future content. We also welcome your comments, recommendations, and suggestions on ways to further improve the Proceedings. We look forward to seeing all of you online this November.
DAVID BART, KB9YPD Editorial Director and Chairman RCA Publications Committee
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Register Today!
2020 TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM AND 111TH AWARDS PROGRAM SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21 | VIRTUAL Featuring Keynote Speaker Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, Space Physicist and Electrical Engineer, New Jersey Institute of Technology Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research (NJIT CSTR)
REASONS TO ATTEND THE RCA AWARDS PROGRAM AND TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM Celebrate a century of KDKA Attendees will have opportunity for numerous presentations focused on many aspects of KDKA. KDKA has been called “the nation’s first broadcast radio station” as a result of its broadcast of the presidential election results on November 2, 1920.
Cutting edge technical learning Once again we have an exciting agenda lined up for the 2020 Technical Symposium, with a special focus on broadcasting. See p. 30 for details.
Strengthen your network The Radio Club of America is the oldest, most prestigious group of wireless professionals in the world. Make the most of your membership by connecting with old friends and de- veloping new contacts.
Support the next generation Help develop the future workforce by supporting RCA's youth efforts, and learn from this year's RCA Young Achiever Award Winner.
Honor the distinguished and deserving Join us to celebrate the people who invent, create, inspire and collaborate to create the products, services and companies that make this industry one of a kind. See p. 9–14 for a list of 2020 award recipients and Fellows.
Can you feel the energy? RCA continues to build on the momentum from last year, recruiting new members and developing strategic partnerships with other organizations. Be a part of the excitement and help us shape the organization as we continue our vibrancy long into the future.
Be a part of history Be a part of history by joining us for the first ever Virtual Technical Symposium and Awards Program!
Register for the 2020 Technical Symposium and Banquet at www.radioclubofamerica.org. 6
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT DR. NATHANIEL FRISSELL HEADLINES RCA’S 2020 VIRTUAL AWARDS PROGRAM The Radio Club of America (RCA) is thrilled to announce that Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, will be featured at the 2020 banquet and awards ceremony. Dr. Frissell is a recipient of the prestigious 2017 Yasme Foundation Excellence Award and the 2019 Dayton Amateur Dr. Nathaniel Frissell Radio Association Amateur of the Year Award for his experimental work to study the August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse and his work regarding weather stations. Dr. Frissell recently won a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the ionosphere using the amateur radio service.
BACKGROUND Dr. Frissell is a Space Physicist and Electrical Engineer who comes to Scranton, Pennsylvania from the New Jersey Institute of Technology Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research (NJIT CSTR). Dr. Frissell has a passion for radio science and remote sensing of the ionosphere, the electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere that extends from ~50 to 600 km above the Earth’s surface. The ionosphere is responsible for long distance radio propagation on the high frequency (HF, 3 - 30 MHz) bands, errors in Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) measurements, and drag on low Earth orbiting satellites. Dr. Frissell completed his Masters Degree (2011) and Ph.D. (2016) at Virginia Tech in the Space@VT Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) laboratory prior to being a Research Professor and Postdoctoral Associate at NJIT. SuperDARN is a global network of HF over-the-horizon radars originally designed to measure ionospheric plasma convection in the Auroral zone, and now extended poleward to the polar cap and equatorward to midlatitudes. Using the SuperDARN radar measurements, Dr. Frissell studied magnetospheric Ultra
Low Frequency (ULF) pulsations measured by the radars and their connection to Earthward-moving plasma flows in space, as well as Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) associated with Atmospheric Gravity Waves (AGWs) and their connection with Polar Vortex. While at Virginia Tech, Dr. Frissell studied auroral physics at The University Centre in Svalbard (http://unis.no), the world’s Northernmost university center. Dr. Frissell also participated on SuperDARN and Automated Geophysical Observatory (AGO) build and repair expeditions on Adak Island, Alaska, and McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Dr. Frissell was introduced to space physics and space weather in middle and high school through the hobby of amataur (ham) radio, where he was fascinated by long-distance radio propagation and the variability imposed on it by the geospace system. In addition to inspiring him to pursue a Ph.D. in this field, it enabled him to found and lead the Ham radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI, hamsci.org), a citizen science collective that aims to bring together the professional research and the amateur radio communities. This has led to the Solar Eclipse QSO Party, a nationwide ham radio experiment to study the August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse (hamsci.org/seqp), and an ongoing collaboration with the amateur radio electrical engineering organization TAPR (tapr.org) to develop a Personal Space Weather Station (hamsci.org/swstation). For his efforts, the amateur radio community has awarded him the prestigious 2017 Yasme Foundation Excellence Award and the 2019 Dayton Amateur Radio Association Amateur of the Year Award. In addition, Dr. Frissell has a long-time passion for teaching and education. He earned his B.S. in Physics and Music Education from Montclair State University (2007). He voluntarily coordinated and taught amateur radio license classes and radio and astronomy Boy Scout merit badge classes. An Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor Member, Dr. Frissell taught science and technology for six summers at Forestburg Scout Reservation in New York, and taught amateur radio with the K2BSA group at multiple Boy Scout National Scout Jamborees. At the University of Scranton, Dr. Frissell is excited to be able to teach again, starting with Digital Signal Processing, Fundamental Physics, and Electromagnetics. He also looks forward to working with students on undergraduate research projects, and sharing the passion he has for radio and space science.
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2020 TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM AGENDA 2020 TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM AGENDA November 21, 2020 November 21, 2020 All times Eastern Daylight Savings Time (EDT) ~ all times Eastern Daylight Savings Time (EDT)
9:00 9:05
9:05* 9:50
09:50 10:35 10:50
10:35 10:50 11:35
11:35 11:50 12:20
11:50 12:20 12:45
12:45
1:30
1:30
2:15
2:15 2:30
2:30 3:15
3:15 4:00 4:45 4:30
Welcome & Introductions Recent Progress in Observing Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Using Amateur Radio The KDKA Tower Break, sponsor activity The Modified Franklin Tower – A Look Back at the Past 20 Years Listen to What We Started Lunch Break- with sponsors Progress Report on RCA’s Youth Initiatives Youth Presentation: Stranger Things Modern AM Modulation Techniques
Break, sponsor activity Near Field Drone Measurements of Broadcast Antennas 4:00 Next Gen Interactive TV & Advanced Emergency Alerting & Informing 4:45 History of Westinghouse Radio & TV Manufacturing on the 100th Anniversary Of KDKA 5:30 Rail Wireless Communications – What’s Next? 5:45*** Wrap up
VIRTUAL VIRTUAL
John Facella, P.E., Dr. Jim Breakall Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, (Univ. of Scranton)
Mike Rhodes, P.E. (Cavell Mertz) Chris Hudak (Station KDKA) Jim Graci (Station KDKA) Carole Perry (RCA) Frances Bonte, student at Case Western Reserve University Geoff Mendenhall, P.E. (Mendenhall Engineering LLC) Nicole Starrett (Dielectric Corp.) Fred Baumgartner (One Media 3.0)
Mike Molnar
Barry Einsig (Econolite) Umberto Malesci (Fluidmesh Networks) Dr. Jim Breakall, John Facella, P.E.,
* Note: *All presentation times include at theQ&A end of presentation. Note: All presentation timesaudience include Q&A audience at each the end of each presentation. ** After toto a NEW Zoom linklink to view the the RCARCA Awards EventEvent at 6 PM ** After 5:455:45, EDT,viewers viewersshould shouldswitch switch a NEW Zoom to view Awards at 6ET: PM EDT: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85280653104?pwd=Nno4V0lyckRGRWxWVWZJQTJacHZqZz09 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85280653104?pwd=Nno4VlyckRGRWxWVWZJQTJacHZqZz09 Meeting ID: 852 8065 3104, Passcode: RCA2020 Meeting ID: 852 8065 3104 Passcode: RCA2020
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2020 HONORS & AWARDS THE SARNOFF CITATION Robert Rouleau and Norman Pearl — For exceptional contributions of a technical or non-technical nature to the advancement of electronic communications. Robert T. Rouleau, VE2PY, started his career as an RF engineer at the Canadian Marconi Company. He became a founding partner of the Presud Group (Canada) and Sofran Corporation in the USA. Specializing in commercial real estate Pesud/Sofran built a CDN $400 million dollar portfolio consisting largely of shopping centers in Canada and the Southeastern U.S. While continuing as a partner in Presud, he founded Dataradio Inc. a firm specializing in high reliability wireless data communication products. He authored the book Packet Radio published in 1981, which outlined and explained the principles of digital wireless communication that serve as the basis of modern cellular systems. He took Dataradio from a two person start-up business to a segment leading firm with over 200 employees when it was sold to Calamp in 2006. He personally designed the communications system used by NASA on the successful 1995 Mars exploration mission.
Minnesota. During most of that period, Mr. Pearl served as vice president of engineering, while the job evolved from hardware design and software, to training and technical support, sales, FCC/IC type approvals, system design, project management, etc. Mr. Pearl holds three U.S. and two Canadian patents for remote online diagnostics and an adaptive duty-cycle management method (to meet RF exposure rules). He currently operates a Marine Traffic AIS receiving station #1481 from his sailboat. He is district education officer with Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons (CPS-ECP) and an instructor / examiner for the maritime radio Restricted Operator Certificate.
THE VIVIAN CARR AWARD Emily Calandrelli — In recognition of an outstanding woman’s achievements in the wireless industry.
Mr. Rouleau served on the board of Canlyte/Genlyte until 2006 when it was acquired by Philips. He serves on the board of Stelvio Inc., a Montreal based software firm specializing in auto accident claim management, and on the board of iSentium LLC.
Emily Calandrelli, KD8PKR, is the star and Co-Executive Producer of Netflix’s pre-school series Emily’s Wonder Lab that features STEAM related children’s experiments and entertaining activities. Broadcast in all of Netflix’s 190 countries, “Emily’s Wonder Lab” was the first ever live-action Netflix original series for kids. Emily is also is an executive producer and an Emmy nominated host of FOX’s Xploration Outer Space and a correspondent on Netflix’s Bill Nye Saves The World.
Norman Pearl, VE2BQS, received a B.Eng. and M.B.A. He was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, and continues to reside there. He enrolled in “code and theory” courses at the Montreal Amateur Radio Club while in junior college, and obtained his Amateur Radio Operator’s license in April, 1974. He met Robert Rouleau, Fred Basserman, et al on the local 2M repeater, then moved up to 220 MHz where it was quieter.
Named to Adweek’s “11 Celebrities and Influencers Raising the Bar for Creativity in 2017,” Emily is also an accomplished writer and speaker on the topics of space exploration, scientific literacy, and equality. Her chapter book series, The Ada Lace Adventures, center around an eightyear-old girl with a knack for science, math, and solving mysteries with technology; the series debuted in August, 2017. The second book in the series, Ada Lace: Sees Red, was included in the National Science Teachers Association’s list of best STEM books for 2018.
He became interested in personal computers and eventually packet radio while studying Electrical Engineering at McGill University. He obtained Amateur Digital Radio Operator’s Certificate number 8 in November 1978 (Dr. DeMercado already had certificate #1). The digital certificate was discontinued in 2000, and all holders were upgraded to 12WPM Advanced Amateur.
Emily has presented on the importance of science literacy, the benefits of space exploration, and the challenges for women in STEM careers for clients including Google, Pixar, MIT, Texas Instruments, CERN as well as dozens of K-12 schools across the nation. Her first two TEDx talks, I Don’t Do Math and Space Exploration Is The Worst, have garnered over one million views on YouTube.
He started Dataradio with Robert Rouleau in 1981 while completing his M.B.A. degree program. After demonstrating their first product at Telecom83 in Geneva, the company grew from two in Montreal to over 200 people, spread between Montreal, Quebec; Atlanta, Georgia; and Waseca,
Emily received a B.S.M.E.A.E. from West Virginia University, and an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and an M.S. in Technology and Policy both from MIT. Through her work, she wants to make science and space exploration relatable, more welcoming, and more exciting than ever before in history. www.radioclubofamerica.org | FALL 2020 PROCEEDINGS
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YOUNG ACHIEVER AWARD Frances “Frankie” Bonte — The Young Achiever Award is presented to students who have demonstrated excellence and creativity in wireless communications and who have given a presentation at the annual RCA Technical Symposium. Frances “Frankie” Bonte, KE8HPA, is a recent high school graduate from Columbus, Ohio. At her high school, she was involved in theatre, student government as the treasurer, and the chemistry and math clubs. She enjoys being involved in science research and ham radio. In addition to working with the citizen science organization HamSCI, she completed a capstone project on 5G antenna siting, and is involved in the WWV Doppler Shift study with the team from W8EDU. She now attends Case Western Reserve University and is studying both engineering and dance.
THE JAY KITCHEN LEADERSHIP AWARD Michael T.N. Fitch — In recognition of achievement of a high level of success leading a wireless association. Michael T.N. Fitch’s parents owned and operated the only radio station in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, a daytime AM station. His began while working at KGLN part-time. He earned a B.S.E.E. at Purdue University, Indiana and a J.D. from Columbia University in New York City. He advanced from staff attorney to bureau chief and senior legal and international advisor to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He also served as a presidential exchange executive from the FCC at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh. Subsequently, he moved to the U.S. Department of State as an office director and deputy assistant secretary of state in the Communications and Information Policy Bureau. He represented the U.S. government and commercial interests in global negotiations at International Telecommunication Union World Radio Conferences. He led U.S. delegations to ITU, Intelsat, and Inmarsat conferences. In 1996, Mr. Fitch became vice president of regulatory affairs and spectrum management for Hughes Communications, a part of Hughes Electronics, in Los Angeles. He served as a member of the board of directors and served as chairman of the board of the Satellite Industry Association. When Hughes Space and Communications was acquired by Boeing, he continued his telecommunications responsibilities as well as some new programs involving Homeland Security. At Boeing, he was vice president of the U.S. ITU Association. From 2005-2012, Mr. Fitch was president and CEO of WIA–The Wireless Infrastructure Association, succeeding Jay Kitchen. He led a successful legislative effort that resulted in collocation by right at many wireless towers and sites in the U.S. He is currently senior counsel at the law firm Keller and Heckman LLP, working on wireless communications issues. He is an officer and member of the board of directors of the California Wireless Association and a Fellow in the Radio Club of America.
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BARRY GOLDWATER AWARD Bob Bruninga — For unique contributions to the field of amateur radio. Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, a senior research engineer at the U.S. Naval Academy, implemented the earliest ancestor of APRS on an Apple II computer in 1982. This early version was used to map high frequency Navy position reports. The first use of APRS in Ham radio was in 1984, when Bruninga developed a more advanced version on a Commodore VIC-20 for reporting the position and status of horses in a 100-mile (160 km) endurance run. During the next two years, he developed the Connectionless Emergency Traffic System (CETS). Following a series of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) exercises using CETS, the system was ported to the IBM Personal Computer and in the early 1990’s the name was changed to the Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) which continued to evolve into its current form. As GPS technology became more widely available, “Position” was replaced with “Packet” to better describe the more generic capabilities of the system and to emphasize its uses beyond mere position reporting. Mr. Bruninga has stated that APRS was not meant to be vehicle position tracking system, and should be interpreted rather as “Automatic Packet Reporting System.” Mr. Bruninga’s first project when he became a Ham in 1963 was building a generator for Field Day for his ARC5 Radio set. He later built an electric car which could also serve as a field power source as his senior project at Georgia Tech in 1970. In 2019, he wrote the ARRL book Energy Choices. Now, all his energy is from solar, and all the family cars are Electric, and each one has the energy to power his home during a power outage. He is excited to have lived long enough to see this transition to clean power.
THE JACK POPPELE AWARD John Schadler — For important and long-term contributions to the field of radio broadcasting. John Schadler is Vice President of Engineering for Dielectric. He has been with Dielectric 33 years. He received his B.S.E.E. from Penn State University and began working for Dielectric Communications in New Jersey, formerly the Radio Corporation of America’s Antenna Division. He obtained his M.S.E.E from Drexel University. His research and development achievements focus on unique TV, MobileMedia, FM, Cellular, Wireless and many other special bi-directional and broadcast antenna designs. Mr. Schadler has 44 issued and multiple pending patents. In 2005, he was named as one of SPX’s Master Inventors. He is also the author of numerous technical papers as well as the “VHF and UHF Television Antenna Test Range Measurements” chapter in the National Association of Broadcasters Engineering Handbook, 11th Edition.
U.S. NAVY CAPTAIN GEORGE P. MCGINNIS MEMORIAL AWARD CTRCM John A. “Gus” Gustafson, USN (Ret.) — For service and dedication to the advancement and preservation of U.S. Naval Cryptology, as nominated by the U.S. Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association (NCVA). CTRCM John A. “Gus” Gustafson, USN (Ret.) is a U.S. Navy veteran who served for 30 years as a cryptologic technician. He retired in 1984 as master chief petty officer. He filled many positions during his career, including command master chief at the Naval Security Group Activity, Adak, Alaska. A few years after his retirement, the Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association
(NCVA) requested him to volunteer and establish a cryptologic display at what is now the Center for Information Warfare Training in Pensacola, Florida. In the late 1990s the display opened, documenting the history of communications intelligence activities. A few years after the opening, the base command required the space occupied by the display for classrooms. John directed the movement of the entire display to a new location. He continued to serve as a docent at the cryptologic display since its opening.
THE RALPH BATCHER MEMORIAL AWARD Eric P. Wenaas, Ph. D. — For significant work in preserving the history of radio and electronic communications. Eric P. Wenaas, Ph. D., has had a lifelong interest in the history of radio since he collected his first antique radio and made his first two-tube radio when he was ten years old. He attended Purdue University where he received B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering. He received his Ph. D. in Engineering Sciences at the State University of New York (SUNY-Buffalo). His career as a senior-level scientist in the defense industry with a focus on nuclear and space radiation effects on electronics eventually led him to become the CEO of JAYCOR, a defense company located in San Diego. After retirement, Dr. Wenaas began to research the history of early wireless technology, repeated key experiments of early radio pioneers, authored a wellreceived book on the history of Radio Corporation of America, and wrote over forty articles that appeared in the AWA Journal and AWA Review. He served as editor of the prestigious AWA Review for a four-year period ending in 2019 and continues to write a “Books and Literature” review column for the AWA Journal. He also writes book reviews for the IEEE Technology and Society Magazine and is working a new book on early American vacuum tubes used in radio.
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RCA SPECIAL SERVICES AWARD Ernie Blair — To recognize an RCA member who has performed significant work to advance the goals and objectives of the Radio Club of America. Ernie Blair, WA4BPS, is the CEO and Director of Wireless Infrastructure for the Huntsville-Madison County (HMC) 9-1-1 System. He oversees Alabama’s largest 9-1-1 center, providing communications for all local law enforcement, fire and rescue, and EMS agencies within Madison County, Alabama. In 2012, he completed a $12 million IP based P25 radio infrastructure for local public safety agencies and is now promoting P25 interoperability throughout Alabama. He envisioned and implemented a partnership with SouthernLinc for a public safety broadband LTE data network which now serves Madison County. Most recently, he completed the construction of a $14 million world-class 9-1-1 communications center. Ernie has led HMC 9-1-1 for over 23 years, serving in various NENA, APCO, AAND, Alabama 9-1-1 Board, and Alabama First Responder Wireless Commission leadership roles. He is a Fellow and Director in the Radio Club of America. Lt. Col. Ernie Blair is the Commander of the Huntsville Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, having received numerous awards and commendations including Southeast Region Inspector General of the Year in 2018, several Commander’s Commendation Awards, and a Meritorious Service Award. He is active on the HF and VHF amateur radio bands.
RCA PRESIDENT’S AWARD Ron Jakubowski — For service and dedication to the Radio Club of America. Ron Jakubowski, K2RJ, Ronald J. has served as the Radio Club of America Treasurer since 2011, and he is a member of the Executive Committee. He is retired as Chief Engineer–RF Systems at Bird Technologies, TX RX Systems, where he assisted Public Safety customers with major performance issues. He also served on the TR-8 land mobile technical committee of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) as chair of TR-8.11, Antenna Systems and vice-chair of TR8.18, Systems Compatibility. Previously, he was Systems Engineering Manager of Antenna Specialists, which became Allen Telecom; and he was Senior Engineer at Harris-RF Communications in Rochester, New York. He is a Life Senior Member of IEEE and participated and wrote several papers for the Vehicular Technology Society and conferences. He is still active in the Canaveral Section. He now resides in Cape Canaveral, Florida with his wife of 49 years, Kathleen. Ron is also retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of Major. He received his commission through ROTC and spent his active duty with the Communications Systems Agency at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He is currently active as a volunteer in Brevard County, Florida RACES and is treasurer of the Brevard Emergency Amateur Radio Services. He also remains active as a 51-year member of the Army Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS). He is a Life Member of ARRL. In addition to technical pursuits, he serves as a Ruling Elder in Grace Bible Presbyterian Church in Cape Canaveral and is also Stated Clerk of the Florida Presbytery. Ron is a graduate of Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, with a degree in Electrical Engineering.
Congratulations award winners!
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2 020 FELLOW CLASS Jim Bugel Jim Bugel is vice president of the FirstNet Program for AT&T. Based in Washington, D.C., Mr. Bugel oversees AT&T’s strategy and policy for all state, local and federal public safety initiatives, including FirstNet implementation and the FirstNet Response Operations Group. He has over 25 years of experience in the wireless and wired telecommunications industry with a significant background in public safety, national security, cybersecurity and emergency preparedness. He joined AT&T from Cingular Wireless and has also held leadership roles at BellSouth and GTE. Mr. Bugel led AT&T’s efforts to reshape the public safety communications industry, working with Congress and the nation’s public safety leadership to help pass the legislation that created FirstNet, an independent authority established to provide emergency responders with the first nationwide, high-speed, broadband network dedicated to public safety. Previously, Mr. Bugel was AT&T’s principal public safety and national security representative to the White House, Department of Defense, the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the FirstNet Program, Response Operations Group. In addition, Mr. Bugel served on the International Disaster Response Sub-Committee to the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy (ACICIP). He has been actively involved in the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) and served as Chair of the FCC’s Joint Advisory Committee on Communications Capabilities of Emergency, Medical and Public Health Care Facilities, as a past co-chair of the NSTAC Emergency Communications and Interoperability Task Force, and is a former vice chair of Homeland Security’s Communications Sector Coordinating Council (CSCC). He received his B.B.S. from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and resides in McLean, Virginia. Raymond L. Grimes, N8RG Raymond Grimes is the owner and chief consultant for Pegasus Telecommunications Consulting Group where he provides telecommunications consulting services primarily for public safety and local government. He is also the vice president of Comsite Pacific, Inc., the holding company for assets of the Pegasus Telecommunications Consulting Group. Previously, he was the Assistant Director and Chief Engineer of the Orange County Sheriff’s
Department Communications Division and a board member of the Orange County 800 MHz CCCS Governance Committee. His division was responsible for engineering, maintenance, system development, and longevity for a complex 800 MHz Motorola SmartZone trunked radio communications network consisting of 26 sites, 22,000 subscribers, operated by OCSD, OCFA, and most Orange County and partner city agencies. Prior to that, he was a Senior Staff Engineer at Motorola, Inc., Global Telecomm Solutions/iDEN International Implementation Engineering, where he provided communications support for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics as a member of the UOPSC Technical Command Staff. While with Motorola, Inc. he supported Nextel since its beginning, engaging in ‘Nextel Interference’ to public safety radio communications investigations that ultimately led to the FCC’s 800 MHz Rebanding Order. He has published in CQ VHF Magazine, the APCO Bulletin magazine of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, International and publications of APCO’s local branch California Public Safety Radio Association (CPRA). He is a primary contributor and lead author of Motorola R56/FNE Global Radio Site Standards Handbook and the author of Motorola R60 Remote Radio Sites Seismic and Disaster Hardening Handbook. He received one U.S. patent received for radio technology and has two patent proposals submitted and accepted by Motorola, Inc. for technology. He is a graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology and Los Angeles Valley College. He holds an FAA Commercial Pilot License, FCC Radiotelephone General Class License, and an FCC Amateur Radio Extra Class license. Mr. Grimes is a Senior Member of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO International). He is active in numerous organizations dedicated to public safety, communications, and flying. Tracey M. Hilburn Tracey Hilburn is the director of Bossier Parish Communications District located in Benton (Bossier Parish), Louisiana. She is responsible for the administrative, financial, technical, GIS/mapping, and 911 emergency operations of the district and has led multiple CAD and telephony system upgrades. In 2012, she oversaw the migration and implementation of a new parish-wide turbo digital radio system for parish fire and EMS responders. Tracey served as the president of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO), from August 2019 to July 2020, which is the oldest and www.radioclubofamerica.org | FALL 2020 PROCEEDINGS
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largest organization of public safety communications professionals and supports the largest U.S. membership base of any public safety association with over 35,000 members. In addition, she is an active member with SAFECOM serving on the Governance and NG911 Committees and is a member of the Radio Club of America. Paul A. Scutieri Paul Scutieri is the southern region sales manager at MCM Technology, Public Safety Software Solutions Provider. Previously, he was the connected communities/public safety sales director for Black & Veatch Telecommunications Division/Connected Communities Business line. He was formerly regional sales manager for M/A-COM (Harris) during the New York State 800 MHz digital Wireless Network implementation. Prior to that, he worked for 10 years in the New York State Assembly. He is a long-standing member of APCO, serving on many committees. He served as Session Proctor for APCO for the past six years ensuring their testing processes were secure. He is also an IACP (Police Chiefs) member and a North Carolina APCP/NENA member. He volunteers at a nursing home and mentors University of Westminster undergraduates/graduate degree students. He is also a member of the Albany/Tula Alliance Sister City exchange program between the U.S. and Russia. Alan S. Tilles Alan Tilles is the Shulman Rogers Telecom department chair specializing in wireless spectrum utilization and related technological problems. He started working at radio stations at 16, rising from late night DJ to station owner, and was a Radio/Television/Film major in college. After law school, he was mentored by now-Insite Wireless CEO David Weisman, and started a multidecade relationship representing the National Association of Business & Educational Radio (NABER, now WIA) and Jay Kitchen. Some of his major projects include: authoring rules for land mobile radio narrow banding; representing hundreds of public safety entities in 800 MHz re-banding; working with the Telecommunications Industry Association on its Smart Building Initiative; authoring rules defining interference; writing and evaluating Requests for Proposal to implement public safety radio systems; and helping railroads acquire
spectrum for Positive Train Control. He is a co-founder of the Government Wireless Technology & Communications Association. He is a member of the Shulman Rogers Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice and serves on the board of trustees of Capitol Technology University. As a musician since childhood, Alan represents numerous bands and entertainers, working on recording contracts, television and live performance agreements, as well as copyright and trademark issues. He has received appreciative mentions in a number of albums by several musicians, and in 2018, he appeared on the East Bay Soul CD Conversation and in 2020 on Joey Molland’s (Badfinger) CD Be True To Yourself. Alan provides numerous seminars and webinars nationwide, including the International Wireless Communications Expo and the Global Transport Forum. He has authored numerous articles and resources for Urgent Communications, and he is a contributor on Federal News Radio. He served for five years as counsel for the Radio Club of America. David Witkowski, W6DTW David Witkowski is an author, advisor, and strategist for the wireless and telecommunication industry. He is a Radio Club of America Fellow, an IEEE Senior Member, the founder and CEO of Oku Solutions LLC, and is the executive director of Civic Technologies Initiatives at Joint Venture Silicon Valley. After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard and earning his B.S.E.E. from the University of California, Davis, he held leadership roles for companies ranging from Fortune 500 multi-nationals to early-stage startups. He contributes to the wireless industry via roles as co-chair of the 5G Deployment Working Group at IEEE Future Networks, co-chair of the GCTC Wireless SuperCluster at NIST, and as an expert advisor to the California Emerging Technology Fund. He has written feature articles for CIO Review, EETimes, IEEE Microwaves Magazine, Make:Magazine, MissionCritical Communications, QST, RCR Wireless, and Urgent Communications. He is the author of Bridging the Gap: 21st Century Wireless Telecommunications, co-editor of Public Wi-Fi Blueprint, co-editor of The Municipal Internet of Things Blueprint, co-author of Evaluation of RF Network Testing, co-author of Carrier & Public Wi-Fi, and co-author of HayWired Scenario Volume 3 – Telecommunications and ICT.
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THANK YOU: 2020 PROGRAM SPONSORS The Radio Club of America Board of Directors and its members would like to thank the generous event sponsors. Their support and contributions ensure that the Awards Program is a success and enjoyable for everyone. Be sure to tell them that you saw their company mentioned in the Radio Club of America Awards Program.
THANK YOU 2020 DONORS • Clarence Anderson III • Russ Anderson • Lynn Anto • Taizo Arakawa • Craig Bailey • Donald Jerome Backys • Rich Berliner • Jeffrey Bratcher • Alan Caldwell • Heather D'Alessandro • Richard Doering
• Dennis Foss • James Gabriel • Vijay George • Marvin Grossman • Lamont Hodge • Betsy Hooper • Gil Jackson • Carolyn Jackson • Richard Jones • Dave Kapavik • Richard Kohlhaas
• Carl Kolenda • Raghunathan Kumar • Roger Madden • Elizabeth Maxfield • Brian Mcauley • Cara Monroe • Dennis Paul Moriarty • Glen Sherman Nash • John Stewart Oblak • David Patton • PayPal Giving Fund
• PCARS • Christine Pham • Richard Reichler • H. Larry Shaefer, Jr. • Neel Shah • James Curtis Shideler • Tom Sorley Fund • Danley Thaddeus • Richard Tyler • Michael Wilkins • Larry Will
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IT ALL BEGAN ON HAM RADIO – MY DATARADIO JOURNEY By Robert Rouleau This is my account of the origins of packet radio, stemming from my joint work with many others in ham radio, and our collective journey with our company: Dataradio. I am truly honored to be recognized by the Radio Club of America, and I hope you enjoy this tale of discovery.
ORIGINS AND A NEW IDEA It began in 1978 on ham radio with Norm Pearl VE2BQS, Fred Basserman VE2BQF, Bram Frank VE2BFH and myself, VE2PY. We were pals who chatted on VHF. Fred was a senior programmer and systems guy for a major railroad – a computer guy. Bram was a talented technician, and all of us were fascinated by computers. Fred babysat giant IBM machines, and the rest of us had learned some programming on university mainframes. We could not afford to purchase the kind of machine that we learned on, but a micro-computer was affordable. Like many others, we devoured every issue of computer publications like BYTE as soon as they hit the stands. I think Norm was the one who suggested that we get the Southwest Technology 6800 computer with the FLEX operating system. Sold as a kit, it was more affordable than the Altair and North Star S-100 based machines. We lucked into a source of surplus video terminals, and we were off and running. Amazingly, looking back, we had word processing and fully functional spreadsheets on our primitive systems. Meanwhile, on ham radio, we were alerted of a threat to reallocate the 220 MHz ham band for commercial use. I was then President of the Montreal Amateur Radio Club, and I met Dr. John DeMercado, the Director of Telecom Regulations – the Canadian FCC equivalent.
While I tried to make a case for preserving this valuable spectrum, Dr. DeMercado spoke passionately about “Packet Radio” and the ALOHA system project (a/k/a ALOHAnet) at the University of Hawaii. He made it clear that wireless data transmission was the future, and that hams should be experimenting with it. Radio and computers - what could be bad? He gave me copies of the technical papers about the 1975 ALOHA project. I shared the documents and the math surrounding the protocols for transmitting small envelopes of data that they called packets. Hours were spent on VHF digesting what we had learned. Gradually, the idea formed: that hams could pioneer and demonstrate this new technique, and perhaps hams could convince the regulatory authorities to permit experimentation with packet radio and also save the 220 MHz band. Using surplus 1200 baud Bell 202 modems and a very primitive transmission protocol toggled into a ROM by Jacques Orsali VE2EHP, we demonstrated the first amateur packet transmission for Dr. DeMercado at a special meeting of the Montreal Amateur Radio Club on May 31, 1978. He was pleased, and he sent the first official amateur packet: “Well done, Bravo!” Dr. DeMercado subsequently set aside a portion of the 220 MHz band for amateur packet. Furthermore, he created a code free amateur license – a first in Canada called The Digital. In place of Morse code, the applicant had to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of packet transmission, queuing theory, information theory, the Shannon and Nyquist theorems - in other words, not the stuff of regular ham radio tickets. Along with Dr. DeMercado, we were the first recipients of the new license. We had the computer hardware and radios, but we needed a modem. Commercial units were far too expensive for hobbyists like us. Bear in mind we were using 300 baud acoustic coupled telephone modems to talk to sites like The Source. Commercial 2400 baud modems cost thousands of dollars! I stumbled on an Application note from Exar for a simple modem and built the first one. Jack Orsali, a senior technician for Bell Canada Data, used off hours to test and tweak the design in Bell’s superbly equipped lab. It worked remarkably well. Soon all of us had them up and running.
MARC club logo.
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We set to work designing a carrier sensing random access protocol for packet transmissions with addressing, error correction and detection using a CRC16 and based loosely on the ALOHA project to run on our home computers. Norm discovered a source for cheap 220 MHz radios and the basic elements were in place.
EXPANSION OF THE MONTREAL NETWORK Many hours were spent discussing how it would work. Once we agreed on a final design, Fred Basserman wrote the 6800-assembler code and we used our EXAR based 2400 bps modems. Our protocol even provided for periodic CW identification. That is how the first amateur packet radio net was born in 1978. Norm tweaked and added code which allowed for computer to computer file transfers, so we could use our network to distribute program updates. A couple of the guys did not have storage devices, so Norm adapted a version which could run stand-alone on the South West computer – as long as you never turned it off! We would routinely direct messages to a printer for a primitive form of electronic mail. By this time, there were five stations in the Montreal network. A group of hams in Ottawa at Carleton University led by Ted Baleshta, VE3CAF, became aware of the “Montreal Protocol” and wanted to get in on the fun. Using a donated single board Z80 based computer, I wrote a simple “Store and Forward” repeater. Norm and I installed it on Rigaud Mountain, west of Montreal, in late 1978 and linked the two cities spanning a distance of 165 kilometers (102miles) or so. Somehow or other I came to the notice of TAB books who asked if I would write a book on amateur packet radio. With a lot of help from Norm and other members of the Montreal Net, I coauthored the book Packet Radio with Ian Hodgson, published by TAB Books in 1981.
Robert Rouleau’s 1981 publication.
It included the modem design, the transmission Protocol, packet format (technically the frame),
and the assembler code for a simple Z80 based store and forward digipeater. I was contacted by the Vancouver Amateur Digital Group (VADG) who wanted to design and build a single board computer with integrated modem. The first Terminal Node Controller – later the “TNC”. They used a 1200 bit per second version of the modem since VADG wanted to interface to their radios via the microphone and speaker jacks. In this mode, it was essentially a Bell 202 modem equivalent, which became the global standard for TNCs!
Terminal Node Controller 2400 packet radio modem. (Courtesy Wikicommons)
At 2400 baud, we used direct connections to the modulator and discriminator. Note, at this time wired data was using the then revolutionary Hayes 1200 baud modem, which cost hundreds of dollars. Our modem used $35 worth of parts!
FROM AMATEUR TO PROFESSIONAL Norm had just graduated from engineering school, and I had become bored with commercial real-estate and wanted to return to my first love. We decided to try and build packet radios – not for amateur use, but for commercial systems that needed reliable wireless data where telephone lines were unavailable or unreliable. We decided to use a Zilog Z80 computer chip for our product. We split the code writing, and I can assure you some pretty intense discussions were involved as we wrestled with the right way to do things. We demonstrated our first product at Telecom Geneva in October 1983. We used a single board Z80 computer and a single board Repco radio for the prototypes. That was the start of Dataradio. Speaking of which … I recall sitting with Norm trying to come up with a name for our new company. We had explored many versions using the word packet only to www.radioclubofamerica.org | FALL 2020 PROCEEDINGS
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discover that they were all taken, largely by packaging companies. We were scheduled to go to the 1984 Land Mobile Expo in Denver, and frustrated, I remember saying “what the heck are we going to call this darn data radio"...! And, a name was born! Similar to the 1983 show in Geneva, we were able to demonstrate error free data communications even with occasional interference. Until then, radio was often considered too unreliable for serious data transfers. Based on the favorable reaction to our demonstration units, we began manufacturing a complete radio modem using our own hardware. At this point, we hired our first employee, Claude Lambert, an extraordinarily talented technician who came to us from Marconi Radio in Canada. He played a pivotal role in all our products from then on as our chief hardware designer. Not long after, we brought on Andrew Morrow, a young, self-taught programmer. I recall Norm saying that from then on, he was going to program in English as opposed to assembler. Andrew went on to become our head programmer in a rapidly evolving department.
Dataradio’s first point to multipoint radiomodem as used by banks and airlines.
Subsequent versions of our radio modem became more sophisticated and featured five port multiplexers that allowed multiple, independent devices to share the same radio link. Banks loved them for obvious reasons. Norm takes full credit for that clever idea! Our first customers were financial transaction networks, banks, airlines and lottery systems in locations where telephone lines were unreliable. We supplied banks in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and airline operations in Africa. As finances permitted, Bram Frank and Jacques Orsali joined our fledgling company in senior positions. Fred Basserman stayed where he was given his age and seniority. In sum, almost all of the original gang were back together at Dataradio.
NEW HORIZONS A few years later, we were approached and asked to produce a mobile version for public safety applications. We decided to develop a system designed around the revolutionary idea of using a laptop computer instead of a dumb terminal. The product was the Dataradio MRM, or mobile radio modem. Using a laptop instead of a dedicated and very costly dumb terminal brought the cost of mobile data down to where it became affordable to a much larger customer base. As we became more successful, we expanded our staff. Norm had a knack to find and recruit hardware and software people who besides being clever were enthusiastic about what we were doing. There was a real sense of pioneering within our small firm. Our mobile data system was immediately successful and Dataradio was on the way to becoming a leading provider
Dataradio’s Original Mobile Data Elements
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of mobile wireless data for the public safety profession in North America! We were competing with Motorola, Ericsson, GE, and the like. Considering our humble beginnings, we were honored to be in the same league. Our first mobile systems operated at 4800 bits per second using an in-house modem IC. I recall the celebration when we tested and approved the gold-plated samples for full scale production. We were so excited that we stayed at it ‘til the wee hours of the morning! Said celebration resulted in our having to take taxis to get home that morning! One of the keys to our success was a standardized interface between our modems and computerized dispatch software. It was a one-time license fee of ten dollars. Needless to say, computer aided dispatch (CAD) vendors were pleased and happy to include us in their proposals. Always forging better solutions, our staffing increased – adding engineers and scientists as quickly as Norm could find and vet them. As R&D expanded, Norm played a pivotal role managing the often-conflicting requirements of hardware and software. I ended up spending more time on the sales side, attending trade shows, training our rapidly expanding sales force and contributing to Industry Standards groups. As time went on, our systems became more sophisticated, operating at 9600 bps and eventually 38.4 kilobits per second in a narrow band voice channel. We provided county wide coverage using a PC based multi-site controller which networked base stations to provide wide area seamless roaming. We were contractually obliged to guarantee not only the coverage of the system but the response time! I recall trying to pawn off the math involved to Norm, and he cleverly avoided the task; so, I ended up building throughput and delay models to meet the contract obligations for the systems we sold. We supplied county wide mobile data for Police, Fire and Emergency Medical services, all coordinated via central 911 dispatch centers all over North America.
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS As we evolved, it became clear that to provide higher bit rates, we would need radios designed specifically for data as opposed to voice. In January 1996, we acquired the telemetry division of E.F. Johnson in Waseca, Minnesota, which gave us a full design-build capability. Norm melded the team in Montreal with the RF engineers in Minnesota and obtained outstanding results. Considering that the staff in Montreal was largely French speaking, this was no trivial matter. Taking advantage of the core E.F. Johnson Telemetry business, we expanded their product line with a series of radio modems for telemetering applications, which benefitted from the ability to remotely test the link
quality and distinguish between a radio problem or a remote terminal device issue. That product family in VHF, UHF and 900 MHz was widely used in the oil and gas industry domestically and internationally. One version became the industry leader for End of Train units in U.S. rail applications. Along the way, we were approached by Motorola Inc. to provide the modem for their telemetering product called R-Net. Being asked to design and build for Motorola was flattering. They asked for 4800 bits per second, and they were pleased when we provided twice that capacity. Eventually, we designed and built both the radio and the modem for the R-Net 9600. After a few years, Motorola exited that business and transferred the product line to us.
Dataradio U.S. Patents 1 7,558,232 Adaptive duty cycle management method and system for radio transmitters 2 7,103,118 Vectorial combiner for diversity reception in RF transceivers 3 6,950,404 Adaptive duty cycle management method and system for radio transmitters 4 6,853,694 Spatial diversity wireless communications (radio) receiver 5 6,151,355 Wireless modem
SPACE AND THE ENVIRONMENT A version of that modem ended up on the successful Mars Mission in 1995. The rover, called Sojourner, used our 9600 bps radio modems to communicate with the lander for back haul via the deep space network to NASA. It showed up in the movie The Martian as the salvation of a stranded astronaut. The story of Sojourner is documented on the NASA website – search Dataradio and Sojourner for more of the story. There is an amusing anecdote to this story, NASA asked if our modem chip was hardened against cosmic radiation. Needless to say, we had never considered that aspect. Fortunately, tests showed that it was capable. On the mobile side, we continued to push the limits and made a major breakthrough with the Gemini mobile data system. Gemini used dual receivers and two antennas, i.e. spatial diversity, to counter multipath fading. The modem portion was done in dual Digital Signal Processors. The software relied on a Power PC. This was a huge step up from our original 8 bit processors and limited code space!
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Certificate of Achievement for participation in the Mars rover program.
Dataradio’s revolutionary Gemini mobile radiomodem.
Independent testing showed a 10 dB improvement in sensitivity! In layman’s terms, that is double the range in an urban environment. Our patented diversity scheme could pick the better of two signals, or combine two weak signals into a usable one for better coverage and reliability with less infrastructure. Given the costs involved for a base station (tower, antennas. backup
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Internal view of the chassis of the Dataradio Gemini/PD.
power generators and enclosures), our system had significant advantages. As mobile data became mainstream for public safety, the demands placed on networks increased exponentially.
A RETROSPECTIVE
Sadly, in spite of industry calls to open additional spectrum, FCC rules limited the bandwidth we had available to 25 KHz or even 12.5 KHZ voice channels. Not only did this drive us to ever more complex modem schemes, it required more sophisticated channel access protocols to cope with longer messages. Scarcity of channels forced us to solve problems of overlapping coverage when base stations reused the same channel – meaning that some mobile stations might be in range of more than one tower on the same frequency.
So, from our two-man startup in 1981, we ended up with a great engineering sales and support team in Atlanta, a world class radio design and manufacturing group in Waseca, Minnesota, and a brilliant gang of researchers in Montreal. After 25 years of pioneering, we sold the company to Calamp in 2006. Had we carried on, we would have been in the forefront of Software Defined Radios. Looking back, it is hard to imagine that it all began as a basement experiment on ham radio.
Outside of mobile data, our expertise came to the attention of Environment Canada, our equivalent to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They wanted to broadcast weather data which could be viewed or printed using their existing network of VHF broadcast sites – very similar to NOAA weather radio in the U.S. The plan was to transmit weather data tailored to specific needs.
Now, a few words about my friend and partner Norman Pearl. He and I became acquainted chatting on two meters in 1975, while I handled the midnight feeding of my newborn son. That was the start of a long friendship. His talent was obvious when he designed and built his own 2 meter transceiver at age 16. Throughout his career at Dataradio, as co-founder and Senior V.P. of Engineering, he provided insight, inspiration, guidance, and many of the best ideas for our hardware and software teams. He was one of the reasons Dataradio was a fun place to be. Over 25 years our staff turnover was less than one half of one percent!
The problem involved the thousands of existing weather band radios which were awakened by a 1050 Hz tone. Our task was to devise a way to transmit digital data without setting off the alarms triggered by the alert tone. \
Finally, let me say that we are honored to be the recipients of the Sarnoff Citation. Looking at the list of greats who have received this award, our first reaction was “wow”, how could we be included among these giants!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Gemini space Diversity Base station.
The solution was an innovative modulation scheme we called VSK for short. By varying the bit rate according to the frequency generated by the data pattern, we avoided triggering alarms in even the cheapest weather band radios. The system was installed all across the country.
Robert T. Rouleau, VE2PY, is a co-founder of Dataradio Inc. a firm specializing in high reliability wireless data communication products. He authored the book Packet Radio published in 1981, which outlined and explained the principles of digital wireless communication that serve as the basis of modern cellular systems. He took Dataradio from a two person start-up business to a segment leading firm with over 200 employees when it was sold to Calamp in 2006. He personally designed the communications system used by NASA on the successful 1995 Mars exploration mission. Mr. Rouleau served on the board of Canlyte/Genlyte until 2006 when it was acquired by Philips. He serves on the board of Stelvio Inc., a Montreal based software firm specializing in auto accident claim management, and on the board of iSentium LLC. He is a 2020 recipient of the Sarnoff Citation from the Radio Club of America and was named to the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame in 2003.
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RCA LAUNCHES
NEW INTERVIEW SERIES for the future of wireless communications. If you missed the interview, it is available online at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=0U1Bg274oNw.
Tim Duffy.
On August 13, the Radio Club of America launched a new webcast interview series available for members and the general public. RCA President Emeritus Tim Duffy, K3LR, hosts the new series. Each interview spans approximately 1 hour and will occur quarterly. The first two interviews included Dr. Theodore Rappaport from New York University and Angel Vazquez from Arecibo Observatory. Legendary millimeter wave pioneer Dr. Theodore “Ted” Rappaport, N9NB, provided the first interview in August. Dr. Rappaport is the David Lee/ Ernst Weber Professor at New York University (NYU) and holds faculty appointments in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department of the NYU Tandon School of Dr. Ted Rappaport. Engineering, the Courant Computer Science department, and the NYU Langone School of Medicine. He is the founder and director of NYU WIRELESS, a multidisciplinary research center focused on the future of wireless communications and applications. The discussion with RCA covered Dr. Rappaport’s career in wireless and his life-long passion for radio, views on 5G, his background as an entrepreneur, information on the current work he’s doing at NYU, his unique history with RCA, and what he sees
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The second interview in October featured Angel Vasquez, WP3R ex-KP3AP, and a virtual facility tour of Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Famous for appearing in a 1995 James Bond movie, it is the largest single aperture facility of its kind Angel Vazquez. on earth. This massive radio telescope in Puerto Rico tracks exoplanets, pulsars, quasars, asteroids and the mysterious Fast Radio Bursts (FRB) pulses. RCA’s conversation and live facility tour was conducted by Engineer Angel M. Vazquez, the Telescope Operations Head/Spectrum Manager. Mr. Vazquez has spent the past 43 years at Arecibo after graduating from CUNY and working at WNYC as a radio engineer. If you missed the interview, it is available online at https://www.radioclubofamerica.org/news/newrca-interview-series-the-series-is-always-the-2nd-tuesdayof-even-months-at-9-pm-et-edt. Tim Duffy was assisted by Barney Scholl, RCA Vice President and Counsel, and RCA Member Scott Jones who acted as moderators and hosted the questions and answers. RCA plans many more of these exciting virtual activities, made possible by donations to the Tom Sorley Fund and the Estate of Vivian C. Carr. Please see the website for further announcements.
Arecibo Observatory.
RCA MEMBER PAUL GILBERT BECOMES ARRL’S FIRST DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT In recent years, the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) has placed increased focus on strengthening its emergency communications capabilities and longstanding working relationships with federal and state agencies and private emergency response organizations. In August, ARRL announced that it hired RCA Member Paul Z. Gilbert, KE5ZW, of Cedar Park, Texas, as its first Director of Emergency Management. Mr. Gilbert was a Radio Officer, HQ Staff, for the Texas State Guard. For the past six years he has been responsible for planning and implementation of the organization's communications capabilities. Previously, he was a Public Safety Radio Coordinator for a Texas agency, charged with overseeing that organization's largescale disaster communications response and identifying and eliminating in-state interoperability issues. Mr. Gilbert brings more than 30 years of experience in public service, both in his professional and amateur radio undertakings. Since his appointment as Emergency Coordinator in 1987, he has held multiple positions in the ARRL Field Organization. He is currently in his second term as South Texas Section Manager, and he has served for more than a decade as the West Gulf Division's Assistant Director for Public Service. He acts as liaison between Division leadership and local, state, and federal emergency management organizations. He has an Amateur Extra-class license, is a member of U.S. Army MARS (the Military Auxiliary Radio System), and holds numerous Department of Homeland Security certifications, including COML, COMT, COMT Instructor, and AUXCOM Communicator. He
is a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Regional Emergency Communications Coordination Working Group (RECCWG), and he is a graduate of the FEMA Emergency Management Institute's Exercise Design Course. He was a founding member of the Texas Paul Gilbert. Division of Emergency Management Communications Coordination Group. In his new role at ARRL, Mr. Gilbert will manage a team responsible for supporting ARRL Emergency Communications programs and services, including the Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) and National Traffic System (NTS). He will lead the continued modernization of those programs in consonance with the future emergency communications needs of the public and ARRL’s key partners.
SOURCES R. Palm, K1CE, ARRL Hires First Director of Emergency Management, The ARES E-Letter, ARRL, Aug. 19, 2020. ARRL Hires Paul Z. Gilbert, KE5ZW, as Director of Emergency Management, News Release from ARRL Headquarters, ARRL, Aug. 12, 2020.
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DR. JOE TAYLOR MAKES FIRST MOONBOUNCE CONTACT USING FT8 Radio Club of America member and Nobel Prize recipient (Physics, 1993) Dr. Joe Taylor, K1JT, has reported what may be the first FT8 contact via Moonbounce (Earth-Moon-Earth or EME). Codeveloper of FT8, he reported Dr. Joe Taylor, K1JT. the FT8 contact on May 21, 2020 between Paul Andrews, W2HRO, in New York, and Peter Gouweleeuw, PA2V, in the Netherlands. The contact was made possible using the currently available beta-release candidate of WSJT-X, version 2.2-rc1.
MOONBOUNCE Earth-Moon-Earth, EME or Moonbounce is a form of radio communication propagation used by radio amateurs and others to effect global communications on frequencies above 144 MHz. Moonbounce or EME is made possible by using the Moon as a passive reflector. Despite the very large distances involved and the fact that the Moon’s surface is a poor reflector so the path losses are colossal, nevertheless it is still a form of communication that many radio amateurs and professional experimenters regularly use.
polarization changes. Although single-side-band SSB has been used on some occasions by stations employing exceptionally large antennas, the majority of Moonbounce contacts used to be made using Morse code. Now with computer technology and specialized data modes, these are widely used, and because there are low signal modes, this has considerably reduced the requirements on the equipment, bringing Moonbounce within the reach of many radio amateurs.
FT8 PROTOCOL Dr. Taylor has written several computer programs and communications protocols, including WSJT (“Weak Signal/ Joe Taylor”), a software package and protocol suite that utilizes computer-generated messages in conjunction with radio transceivers to communicate over long distances with other amateur radio operators. WSJT is useful for passing short messages via non-traditional radio communications methods, such as moon bounce and meteor scatter, and other low signal-to-noise ratio paths. It is also useful for extremely long-distance contacts using very-low power transmissions. Dr. Taylor is also the co-developer of the FT8 protocol. FT8 (“Franke-Taylor design, 8-FSK modulation”) is an extremely-weak-signal, digital, narrow bandwidth (50 Hz), QSO-only communication protocol used by amateur radio (“ham radio”) operators. It is popular among amateur radio operators for its ability to send signals despite challenging propagation conditions, high noise environments, low power operations (QRP), or even compromised antennas. Dr. Taylor explains, “Why might you want to use FT8 instead of ‘Old Reliable JT65’ for EME QSOs? FT8 is about 4 dB less sensitive than JT65, but with 15-second T/R [transmit/receive] sequences it’s four times faster, and it doesn’t use Deep Search.”
ACHIEVING MOONBOUNCE WITH FT8
Moonbounce, EME propagation. (Courtesy Electronics Notes)
Any signals transmitted for Moonbounce communications are subject to a number of signal propagation effects, including huge-path and variable-path losses, Faraday rotation, libration fading, Doppler shift and signal
The FT8 protocol included in the beta version of WSJT-X has an optional user setting to work around the 2.5-second path delay. As Dr. Taylor describes, “For terrestrial use, the FT8 decoder searches over the range -2.5 to +2.4 seconds for clock offset DT between transmitting and receiving stations. ‘DT’ represents the difference between the transmission time and actual time. When ‘Decode after EME delay’ is checked on the WSJT-X ‘Settings’ screen, the accessible DT range becomes -0.5 to +4.4 seconds. Just right for EME.” Dr. Taylor’s message board post noted, FT8 uses 8-GFSK modulation with tones separated by 6.25 Hz. At the time of the Moonbounce contact, the expected Doppler spread on the W2HRO - PA2V EME path was 8 Hz, which would
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Two screenshots showing the Moonbounce Doppler spread (below) and signal reception (above) on May 21, 2020. (Courtesy, J.Taylor, Princeton University)
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cause some additional loss in sensitivity. Despite the path losses, however, copy between W2HRO and PA2V was “solid in both directions.” As shown in the screen shot, the contact was on 432.073 MHz. Taylor said that when he was active in EME contests on 144 MHz, he was always frustrated that, even with reasonably strong signals, the maximum JT65 contact rate is about 12 per hour. “With FT8, you can do 40 per hour, as long as workable stations are available,” he said. As for using FT8 for EME contacts on 1296 MHz, Taylor said it “might sometimes work, but Doppler spread will probably make standard FT8 a problem.” Given sufficient interest, however, he said the WSJT-X development team could design an FT8B or FT8C with wider tone spacing. He encouraged the use of FT8 for moonbounce on 144, 432, and 1296 MHz and asked users to report their results to the development team. “A ‘slow FT8’ mode is indeed a sensitivity winner on suitable propagation paths,” he said in a later Moon-Net post. “We are busy implementing such a mode, but with particular emphasis on its use on the LF and MF bands.” Taylor said FT8 has the operational advantage of putting all users in one (or a few) narrow spectral slices on each
band, “So, it’s easy to find QSO partners without skeds or chat rooms. Everything is done over the air, with no ‘side channels’ needed.” Taylor also remarked about hearing your own CW Morse code signal, “I agree it’s a thrill to hear your own lunar echo, and to make CW EME QSOs. Sometimes I pine for the bygone world of commercial sailing ships, which happen to be very much a part of my family’s history. But I know that technologies evolve, and the world does not stand still.”
SOURCES FT8, Wikipedia, Oct. 2, 2020. How to Use Amateur Radio Moonbounce, EME Propagation, Electronics Notes Website, Oct. 2, 2020. J. Taylor, [Moon-Net] FT8 for EME, J. Taylor Message Board at Princeton University, May 21, 2020. Moonbounce Contact via FT8 Could be a First, ARRL Letter, May 28, 2020. RCA 2016 Banquet To Feature Nobel Laureate Joe Taylor, K1JT, Proceedings of the Radio Club of America, Fall 2016, p. 5.
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NEWS ITEM
U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory Tracks Sporadic E
R
esearchers at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in New Mexico have discovered a new way to track and characterize Sporadic E, which occurs when large structures of dense plasma form naturally in the upper atmosphere. These plasma structures, which occur at mid-latitude locations around the world, can affect radio wave propagation in both positive and negative ways. They can disrupt radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic waves and impact both Department of Defense and civilian radio systems. VHF enthusiasts frequently take advantage of Sporadic E propagation (or E-skip) to work stations outside of their local area. Ken Obenberger, a research physicist at AFRL states, “Previous methods to observe these structures were insufficient for identifying and tracking these structures over large regions. It would be advantageous to actively identify where these structures are, where they are going, and how dense they are. And we thought we could find a better way.” The new method, developed by Obenberger and collaborators at AFRL and the University of New Mexico, leverages unintentional RF emissions from power lines, and using broadband radio noise, they can map and track dense Sporadic E structures.
This kind of technology could be of interest to those who rely on High Frequency (HF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) communications, such as radio amateurs, mariners, FM broadcasters, digital TV, and the military. Radio amateurs have taken advantage of Sporadic E for decades using long-range communication in the VHF bands, such as 2 and 6 meters. Climatology of Sporadic E can provide a probability that it will occur, but the actual presence of sporadic E can only be determined through trial-and-error observations. Chris Fallen, KL3WX, one of Obenberger’s collaborators at AFRL explains, “This is similar to how meteorologists can predict how likely thunderstorms will occur in the afternoons above New Mexico during monsoon season, but use Doppler radar to identify and track specific thunderstorms as they occur. Ken’s technique basically provides weather radar for sporadic E, only using radio noise from power lines as the radar transmitter.” Having accurate “now-casting” of Sporadic E can be critical during disaster situations where amateur radio operators may play a key role in supporting communication of vital information. For example, in the devastating aftermath of the 2017 Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans were without power for many weeks, and 130 local amateur radio operators immediately became the only method of emergency communication. Obenberger sees promise ahead, “Better understanding will lead to improved design and use of radio systems that mitigate the negative effects and take advantage of the good effects, thereby ensuring a stronger emergency communication network. We are interested in Sporadic E and the effect it has on radio wave propagation, both good and bad.”
Multiple antennas at the LWA-1 station of the Long Wavelength Array in central New Mexico, photographed at sunset. Each antenna stands about 1.5 meters (5 feet) high and about 2.7 meters (9 feet) across the base. (Courtesy NASA, LWA Project at UNM)
Obenberger explains, “Since power lines are widespread, we can observe Sporadic E over a very large region surrounding our observatory, the Long Wavelength Array (LWA), an asset of our collaborators at the University of New Mexico. This technique could be used anywhere in the world where there is an electrical grid and an instrument similar to the LWA, and we are lucky because there are not many.”
The military sees strong opportunities for its applications per Obenberger, “In the case of the U.S. warfighter, reliable communication, position, navigation and timing (PNT), and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, and understanding those effects, and understanding how Sporadic E develops and moves, can improve our ability to design and use those systems. And everything we do at AFRL is to advance the technology for our military members.”
SOURCES Air Force Research Laboratory Tracks Sporadic E, ARRL Letter, Sep. 4, 2020. J. Perkins, Air Force Research Laboratory Tracks Sporadic E, 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory Website, Sep 8, 2020.
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NEWS ITEM
New Model Predicts Solar Flares That Affect Radio Propagation
T
he July 2020 issue of Science magazine reported a new study that can predict imminent large solar flares using routine solar observations. The study has implications for those involved with radio applications, well known to be affected by solar activity. The authors tested their method using observations of the Sun from 2008 to 2019. In most cases, their method correctly identifies which regions will produce large flares within the next 20 hours, although there are some false positives and false negatives. The new method also provides the exact location where each flare will begin and limits on how powerful it will be. Accurate predictions of solar flares could improve forecasts of space weather conditions around Earth.
SOLAR FLARES Solar flares are highly energetic events in the Sun’s corona that affect Earth’s space weather. The mechanism that drives the onset of solar flares is unknown, hampering efforts to forecast them, which mostly rely on empirical methods. A new K-scheme model, a physics-based model, predicts large solar flares through a critical condition of magnetohydrodynamic instability, triggered by magnetic reconnection. Analysis of the largest (X-class) flares from 2008 to 2019 (during solar cycle 24) shows that the K-scheme predicts most imminent large solar flares, with a small number of exceptions for confined flares. The authors conclude that magnetic twist flux density, close to a magnetic polarity inversion line on the solar surface, determines when and where solar flares may occur and how large they can be.
PREDICTION MODEL The new model predicts when and where large solar flares will occur. It was developed by a team led by Kanya Kusano at Japan’s Nagoya University. Their technique monitors regions of high magnetic activity on the Sun’s surface and focusses on the instabilities triggered by reconnecting magnetic fields. Called the “K-scheme”, their model could soon be part of an early warning system for incoming solar storms. Solar flares are bright flashes on the Sun’s surface and are among the most dramatic and fascinating events in the solar system. Although the conditions that trigger them are still unknown, flares are often associated with the “active regions” close to visible sunspots. These regions contain strong magnetic fields that store vast amounts of energy. When the topologies of these fields change suddenly, this energy is violently released; often resulting in powerful bursts of X-rays, plasma, and energetic particles. Known as coronal mass ejections, these bursts can trigger powerful solar storms if they interact with Earth’s upper atmosphere. The effects of those storms can risk the safety of astronauts, spacecraft and satellites, as well as electrical grids and radio communications on Earth. Prediction of when and where solar flares will occur can be used in early warning systems. Those systems have historically been less effective because they rely on empirical models that cannot fully capture the complex, multi-scale processes associated with solar flare formation.
TESTS WITH A DOUBLE-ARC LOOP Kusano’s team has taken a new approach based on the process of “double-arc instability”. Their K-scheme model connects two surface regions with opposite magnetic flux using two current-carrying loops of magnetic field lines. Due to shearing, these loops become crossed and reconnect with each other, forming a single, double-arc loop. This field line then moves upwards as the instability grows, allowing further, smaller pairs of loops to reconnect underneath it. Over time, this creates a positive feedback loop that ultimately releases vast amounts of energy.
Star burst: a solar flare as seen by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. (Courtesy: NASA/SDO)
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To test the K-scheme, Kusano and colleagues used the model to analyze 205 active regions on the Sun that were monitored by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory in 20062019. Overall, seven of these regions were responsible for solar flares powerful enough to trigger long-lasting storms on Earth. By monitoring the location and time evolution of each region, the K-scheme accurately predicted when most of these flares would occur, up to 24 h in advance.
FURTHER MODEL DEVELOPMENT The model failed in its prediction of just two flares. Both flares originated in one specific active region that produced large flares without any accompanying mass ejections. Kusano’s team now hope to improve the K-scheme’s predictions through upcoming observations from the 4 meter Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope, which became operational in December 2019. The telescope will measure the Sun’s magnetic field structures and dynamics with unprecedented resolution, potentially allowing the team to produce far better forecasts of when and where flares will occur.
SC24 AND SC25 The frequency and size of solar flares depend, in part, on the solar cycle. Solar cycle prediction anticipates the frequency of space weather storms of all types, from radio blackouts to geomagnetic storms and solar radiation storms. It is used by many industries to gauge the potential impact of space weather in the coming years. The outlook for the solar cycle beginning in 2020, or SC25, is anticipated to mimic SC24, which was the weakest cycle in 100 years as shown below. SC24 was average in length at 11 years, and had the 4th-smallest intensity since regular record-keeping began with SC 1 in 1755. SC24’s solar minimum sunspot activity occurred in December 2019. SC24’s progression was unusual. The Sun’s Northern Hemisphere led the sunspot cycle, peaking over two years ahead of the Southern Hemisphere sunspot peak. This resulted in solar maximum having fewer sunspots than if the two hemispheres were in phase.
Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope. (Courtesy National Science Foundation)
Peak sunspot activity for SC25 is expected to occur in 2025. During the solar minimum phase of the solar cycle, sunspot and flare activity diminishes, and the Sun's magnetic field weakens, allowing cosmic rays to enter the solar system and shower Earth. Since the start of 2020, activity on the Sun has steadily increased, indicating the transition into SC25. The Sun's activity is forecast to increase toward the next predicted maximum in July 2025, with a peak of 115 sunspots, but the new solar cycle is expected to be below average in strength, much like the one that just ended.
Solar cycle sunspot activity for 1750-2025. (Courtesy NOAA/SWPC)
Don't forget to register for the 2020 Virtual RCA Technical Symposium at: www.radioclubofamerica.org
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A slice through the NSF Inouye Solar Telescope shows the different layers of the telescope, starting with the main mirrors near the top and going through to the Coude lab that houses the instruments towards the bottom. (Courtesy National Science Foundation, NSO/NSF/AURA)
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SC24 sunspot activity from 2009-2020. (Courtesy NOAA/SWPC)
NOAA Solar Cycle 25 Forecast. (Courtesy NOAA/NWS)
SOURCES About the Inouye Solar Telescope, National Science Foundation Website, Oct. 2, 2020.
New Solar Telescope Produces Most Detailed Images of the Sun Ever, National Science Foundation, SciTechDaily Website, Jan. 30, 2020.
T. Blaskovic, SC25 Prediction Panel Announces the Start of a New Solar Cycle, Expects Continued Below-Average Strength, The Watchers Website, Sep. 15, 2020.
Solar Cycle 25 Forecast Update, Space Weather Prediction Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Website, Dec. 9, 2019.
Hello Solar Cycle 25: Analysis Determines We Are in Solar Cycle 25, National Weather Service Website, Sep. 15, 2020. K. Kusano, T. Iju, Y. Bamba, S. Inoue. A physics-based method that can predict imminent large solar flares, Science, Jul. 31, 2020: Vol. 369, Issue 6503, pp. 587-591.
“Solar Cycle 25 is Officially Underway” Announce NASA and NOAA During a Media Teleconference, Electroverse Website, Sep. 16, 2020. Solar Flares are Predicted by New Model, Physicsworld Research Update, Aug. 5, 2020.
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NEWS ITEM
IEEE Commemorates Alohanet with an IEEE Milestone
O
n October 13, 2020, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) dedicated an IEEE Milestone to ALOHAnet in a public virtual event broadcast that streamed live from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa College of Engineering. ALOHAnet was the first radio packet broadcast network and introduced the very first random access protocol, the protocol that is utilized by every wireless technology today. The Milestone plaque reads as follows:
DEMONSTRATION OF THE ALOHA PACKET RADIO DATA NETWORK, 1971 In June 1971, the ALOHA packet radio data network began providing inter-island access to computing facilities at the University of Hawaii. ALOHAnet was the first to demonstrate that communication channels could be effectively and efficiently shared on a large scale using simple random access protocols. It led directly to the development of Ethernet and personal wireless communication technologies.
The Milestone plaque is displayed at the entrance of Holmes Hall at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which was where the technology was developed, tested, and demonstrated.
ALOHANET MILESTONE By the 1970s, computers could communicate with one another through widely distant networks. Those communications utilized telephone networks. In 1968, researchers at the University of Hawaii started investigating whether radio communications could be used to simultaneously link multiple computers. In June 1971, the team introduced its Additive Links On-line Hawaii Area network, ALOHAnet. Using a random access protocol, the network allowed computers to transmit packets over a shared channel. Transmission occurred when each computer had information to send. ALOHAnet was the first use of wireless communications for a data network. Its protocol is now widely used in nearly all forms of wireless communications. IEEE Life Fellow Norman Abramson, who led the team, said in a 2009 interview about ALOHAnet in the IEEE Communications Magazine, “We [the team] thought that what we were doing would be important, but I don’t think
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A user operating the ALOHAnet hub machine that transmitted packets over a shared channel using a random access protocol. (Courtesy Norm Abramson/University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
any of us thought it would be as important as it turned out to be. It exceeded my wildest expectations.” The ALOHAnet Milestone was sponsored by the IEEE Hawaii Section. IEEE Milestones are administered by the IEEE History Center and supported by donors. The Milestone program recognizes outstanding technical developments around the world. The dedication ceremony was originally planned for June 2020 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, in Honolulu. The ceremony was postponed until October 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NETWORK CONNECTIONS The IEEE’s Engineering and Technology History Wiki entry about the Milestone explains the system. The University of Hawaii used ALOHAnet to connect its campuses to one another. Each campus had a small interface computer, a hub machine that operated on two distinct radio frequencies: an outbound channel and an inbound channel. In order to connect, one hub machine broadcast packets to another computer on the outbound channel, and that computer sent data packets back to the first hub machine on the inbound channel. If data was successfully received at the hub, a short acknowledgment packet was sent back. If an acknowledgment was not received by the computer, it would automatically retransmit the data packet after waiting for a randomly selected amount of time. The mechanism detected and corrected
collisions that were created when the machine and the computer attempted to send a packet at the same time Computer networks were not well understood at the time, and it took several years for the researchers to perfect their design. As Abramson explained in the article, “In a sense, [the acknowledgement mechanism is] an obvious thing to do, but when you start off on this kind of research project, some of the obvious things don’t appear as obvious as they do a little later.”
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT In later versions of the system, simple radio relays were placed in operation to connect the main network on the island of Oahu to other islands in Hawaii, and Menehune routing capabilities were expanded to allow user nodes to exchange packets with other user nodes, the ARPANET, and an experimental satellite network. ALOHAnet was connected to ARPANET via satellite in December 1972 under the guidance of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The connection allowed for reliable computer communications throughout the U.S. In 1973, ALOHAnet used a VHF transponder to connect with an experimental NASA satellite in order to demonstrate PacNet, an international satellite data network. The demonstration connected the NASA facility in California with five universities in Australia, Japan, and the U.S. In the early 1980s, frequencies for mobile networks became available; and, in 1985, frequencies suitable for what became known as Wi-Fi were allocated in the US.
These regulatory developments made it possible to use the ALOHA random-access techniques in both Wi-Fi and in mobile telephone networks. ALOHA channels were used in a limited way in the 1980s in 1G mobile phones for signaling and control purposes. In the late 1980s, the European standardization group GSM who worked on the Pan-European Digital mobile communication system GSM greatly expanded the use of ALOHA channels for access to radio channels in mobile telephony. In addition, SMS message texting was implemented in 2G mobile phones. In the early 2000s, additional ALOHA channels were added to 2.5G and 3G mobile phones with the widespread introduction of GPRS, using a slotted-ALOHA randomaccess channel combined with a version of the Reservation ALOHA scheme first analyzed by a group at BBN.
SOURCES ALOHAnet Milestone Proposal, IEEE Milestone Proposals Website, see http://ieeemilestones.ethw.org/MilestoneProposal:ALOHANET_(aka_ALOHA_System). ALOHAnet, Wikipedia, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ ALOHAnet#Later_developments. R. Binder; N. Abramson; F. Kuo; A. Okinaka; D. Wax. ALOHA Packet Broadcasting - A Retrospective, Proceedings: 1975 National Computer Conference, AFIPS Press, 1975. See https://www.computer.org/csdl/ proceedings-article/afips/1975/50830203/12OmNwE9OrP. J. Goodrich. ALOHAnet Introduced Random Access Protocols to the Computing World, IEEE Spectrum, Aug. 12, 2020. See https://spectrum.ieee.org.
Support RCA Youth Activities by Donating Your Frequent Flyer Miles Due to the efforts of Carole Perry, the Youth Activities Program has been very successful. During the year, Carole travels all over the country to meet with people and to speak on behalf of the program. Almost all of the travel is at Carole’s personal expense. You can help by donating your frequent flyer miles to the Radio Club. If you would like to participate, please contact Carole Perry at wb2mgp@gmail.com and she will assist you.
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NEWS ITEM
The Future of Flying Antennas
D
esigning equipment that meets stringent size and mass restrictions for antenna use on aircraft brings extra challenges for instrument developers. Flying antennas are undergoing rapid evolution as described in this article from Physicsworld. Antennas are used for a huge range of applications, from mobile phones and “smart” WiFi-connected appliances to GPS and systems that track aircraft and help pilots land safely. These systems usually have a few things in common: the antenna itself, which manipulates electromagnetic radiation in the radio and microwave parts of the spectrum; a receiver (if the system receives signals); and a transmitter (if the system transmits). Over the years, several distinct types of antennas have come into common use, with designs, frequencies and operating power levels that depend strongly on their purpose. Examples include patch antennas in mobile phones, wire antennas in household radio receivers, and reflector antennas for satellite TV. Within this antenna “zoo”, the antennas attached to flying structures are unique in several respects. Stringent mass and size restrictions make their design more complicated, and they must be able to cope with several challenges over and above meeting basic radio-frequency (RF) requirements. These problems are most acute for radar systems, which require a highly directional beam that can be scanned in different directions.
PURPOSE AND OPTIONS A radar antenna mounted at the front of an airplane, helicopter, drone, missile or other flying structure is there to scan its surroundings, identify objects (such as terrain, buildings, cars, ships and airplanes), and then either
Radar apparatus on an airplane, a Foxhunter radar on the Royal Air Force’s (now-retired) Tornado F3 jet. (Courtesy Physicsworld, CC BY-SA Bin im Garten)
avoid them or track them. To accomplish this, the beam of the antenna needs to be moved around in a controlled pattern such as a raster scan. The results of this scan and subsequent computer processing will produce a picture of the area around where the antenna is looking. There are three basic ways of making the antenna beam move. From an RF design perspective, the simplest approach is to use a reflector antenna that moves around in its entirety. These types of antenna are normally of a Cassegrain design and are often seen at airports, where radar systems employ large, spinning reflector dishes, and on radio telescopes where the dish moves to track the object as it moves across the sky. In both cases, the antennas are made from conductive materials that strongly
Design options showing schematic ray tracing diagrams for two types of RF reflector antenna. (a) In Cassegrain antennas like this one, the receive and transmit hardware can be hidden behind the main dish so that they do not interfere with the beam. (b) A version of the twist reflector antenna design that allows the twist plate mirror to be moved to scan the beam. (Courtesy Physicsworld)
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reflect RF signals, and their collecting area focuses this reflected RF energy onto a feed element that routes the signal (via a transmission line) to the receiver for further processing. The major problem with physically scanning the entire antenna in airborne applications is that the available space at the front of a flying object is often small. Allowing extra room for physical movement means the antenna itself must be made smaller – a compromise that leads to worse resolution and lower sensitivity relative to a design that uses all the available space. However, if the flying structure is large – say, an aircraft – then this can be an acceptable solution. Many specimens of mechanically scanned airborne antennas exist, including the Foxhunter radar on the Royal Air Force’s (now-retired) Tornado F3 jet. The second way of making an antenna beam move is to move only part of the antenna, such as its primary reflector. However, this generally produces a degraded antenna beam that performs worse when it is scanned significantly away from straight ahead. Again, this compromise is often acceptable, and some designs have been developed to minimize the degradation in performance. The twist reflector design, for example, introduces a moving planar reflector to the basic reflector antenna, enabling the beam to be scanned without defocusing the system. This makes it possible to maximize the available aperture for the RF collecting area, while scanning the beam with the mechanical moving plate. Such designs do exhibit some degradation of antenna performance at high angles, but for the most part they work well. A variant of this solution is to use a different type of antenna known as a flat-plate array. Antennas of this type contain small radiating elements such as a slotted waveguide, patch or helical wire antennas. These elements are connected to a common transmitter and receiver, producing a coherent beam that can be scanned by moving the plate with motors and push rods. This method uses most of the available aperture of the antenna as a collecting area, while losing only a small amount to allow for the beam movement, and without introducing any distortion of the pattern at high scan angles.
ELECTRONIC ALTERNATIVES Flat-plate arrays and twist-reflector-based designs are both viable solutions on flying platforms, with many successful implementations. However, mechanically scanning all or part of an antenna is not the only way to steer a beam. The third way of scanning an antenna beam is to control the beam direction purely electronically, without any moving parts. One such electronically steered antenna is known as a phased array. Like the flat-plate antenna, phased arrays incorporate multiple small elements that are connected to the same transmit-and-receive hardware and combine to produce a coherent beam. Phased arrays have been in
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use since the 1960s, but a variation of this design known as an Active Electronically Steered Antenna (AESA) was developed more recently. In an AESA, each element in the array has its own transmitter and receiver. This set-up enables the elements to be controlled independently, while software is then used to combine the signals from all the elements to create a single beam.
RAF radome evolution Golf-ball-shaped radar domes, or radomes, were a well-known feature and tourist attraction in the UK. Originally built to cover mechanically scanning antennas, these “golf balls” have now been replaced by AESA antennas housed on structures like the one shown here at RAF Fylingdales in the North York Moors. (Courtesy, Physicsworld, CC BY-SA Cherubino)
From a tracking radar perspective, the interesting thing about the AESA design is that having individual control of each element makes it possible to produce multiple beams in different directions and at different frequencies at the same time. These multiple beams and frequencies are especially beneficial for flying antennas, as they make it more difficult for external sources to interfere with the signal. The main drawback of electronically steered antennas is that they have a maximum scan range. While it is possible to electronically scan an antenna beam 60 degrees from perpendicular, the beam inevitably degrades as scan angle is increased, and getting to 90 degrees of scan (let alone 180 degrees) is not possible. Practical systems that need wider scanning therefore need some way of addressing this.
DESIGN ITERATIONS The first examples of AESAs were ground-based. In these applications, the space behind the antennas is not at a premium, so there is room to house (and cool) all the AESA’s connecting electronics, transmitter and receivers. An early naval example is the large Sampson AESA radar used on the Royal Navy’s Type 45 class destroyer, which tracks targets and communicates this information to the guided missiles onboard. Because these systems typically aim to survey the entire sky, it is crucial that they overcome
the limitation on maximum scan angle. Some ground and naval based AESAs do this by having multiple faces to the antenna (often in a triangular formation) and/or mounting the antenna on a revolving gimbal to produce 360° of coverage. For airborne applications, the limitation on scan angle may also need to be overcome via mechanical movement or multiple arrays. One airborne example can be found in the KLJ-7A AESA radar to be installed on the JF-17 fighter plane, which was developed by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology in China. This aircraft uses two types of AESA: a single moving flat-plate AESA and a variant with one front AESA antenna and two side AESA arrays. When designing a radar system, the trade-offs between electronic and mechanical scanning are complicated. It is certainly not the case that electronically steered arrays have replaced mechanical ones entirely. While mechanically scanned antennas have moving parts that can break, and that need to be maintained and calibrated, the antennas themselves are less complex and cheaper to manufacture than AESAs. The data they produce are also more easily processed, which has kept them in circulation for a long time. AESAs do address some of the issues with a traditional scanned antenna. They allow the use of the full aperture, thereby maximizing the available space, and enable the
The Sampson radar system installed on naval vessels such as the HMS Daring is an example of a naval AESA. (Courtesy Physicsworld, CC BY-SA Hpeterswald)
beam to be scanned to a reasonably wide range of angles. However, for flying antennas, space is especially limited, and restrictions on mass make it more difficult to design
AESAs that fit in these smaller spaces. In a flying object the size of an aircraft, an AESA is a viable and indeed a popular choice today, with AESAs used in combination with mechanical solutions on Rafale, Seaspray and Wedgetail aircraft, to name but a few. However, in smaller craft such as missiles, drones or other unmanned aerial vehicles, the space, mass and cooling difficulties of AESAs are harder to mitigate. Companies have been working on this problem for many years, but barriers remain, and there have been some unfortunate errors along the way. The first attempt to use an AESA on a missile (the AAM-4B) resulted in the missile being too large to be carried in the weapons bay of the airplane. In the longer term, moving towards a purely AESA solution is clearly desirable for small flying objects. A purely electronic antenna will remove the problems caused by mechanically scanning and allow the system to look in more than one direction at a time. It may even be possible to track more than one object at a time, which would greatly improve performance and usability. This option is currently being investigated by various companies, but it brings new challenges to the table. Because the beam steering of such an antenna will need to be at least 180 degrees, flat AESAs can no longer be used, but changing the profile of the AESA from 2D to 3D will make signal processing much more difficult. A 3D AESA will also further restrict the space available for the electronics behind the antenna. This brings major challenges for the design and manufacture of the antenna, both to fit everything in and to allow sufficient cooling. Two developments that may help address these problems are progress in electronic miniaturization and the emergence of new substrates for solid-state hardware. Rapid prototyping technologies may also make it possible to manufacture structures that cannot be made with traditional techniques. Perhaps the area where there is most room for novel approaches, however, is in understanding how the RF signals interact in a 3D structure and the signal processing required to extract meaningful measurements. Despite the outwardly slow pace of change in the aerospace industry (due to safety considerations and legacy systems), there are plenty of interesting problems within it for instrument designers to get stuck into.
SOURCE T. Clelford, The Future of Flying Antennas, Based on the 2020 Physics World Instruments & Vacuum Briefing, Physicsworld Newsletter, Aug. 20, 2020.
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Save the Date! 2020 TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM AND 111TH AWARDS PROGRAM SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2020 VIRTUAL
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NEWS ITEM
IEEE History Center Celebrates 40th Anniversary
T
he year 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ IEEE History Center. Since its founding in 1980, the Center has served the IEEE membership and the general public by preserving IEEE’s institutional history, the history of the technologies in IEEE’s fields of interest, and the personal accounts and achievements of IEEE members.
ORIGINS The full story about the establishment of the History Center is told in “Jim Brittain and the Allure of Electrical History” by Dr. Alexander B Magoun. Since its inception, following the merger of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), founded in 1884, and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) founded in 1912, IEEE has maintained a History Committee. That committee advises the IEEE Board of Directors on matters regarding the legacy and heritage of IEEE and its members and their related professions and technologies, and performs activities related to its mission in those areas. The History Committee is responsible for promoting the collection, writing, and dissemination of historical information in the fields covered by IEEE technical and professional activities, as well as historical information about IEEE and its predecessor organizations. IEEE’s primary historical activities are performed by the professional staff of the Center, under the guidance of the History Committee. In 1980, in anticipation of the IEEE Centennial in 1984, IEEE established the IEEE Center for the History of Electrical Engineering to be the staff arm of the History Committee. The Center moved to the campus of Rutgers University in 1990, which became a cosponsor. In 2014, the Center relocated to Stevens Institute of Technology. Today, the Center is located at IEEE’s operations center in Piscataway, New Jersey.
MISSION AND RESOURCES The Center’s mission is to preserve, research, and promote the history of information and electrical technologies. The Center maintains many useful resources for anyone interested in the development of electrical and computer engineering and their role in modern society. The Center is not a museum containing artifacts or exhibits, but principally serves as an office and library. Visiting scholars and researchers are welcome by appointment. Most of the Center's resources are available online at the Engineering and Technology History Wiki (formerly known as the Global History Network). The Center’s holdings include the IEEE Archives and photograph collections
and a collection of over 800 oral history transcripts of pioneering engineers and scientists. The Center runs several other programs, internships, and fellowships relating to the history of IEEE and its technologies. The Center's activities are documented in the IEEE History Center Newsletter, published three times per year.
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS The Center undertook many projects during its first decade. Notable were development of three travelling exhibits that circulated nationally: on Faraday and Maxwell, the IEEE Centennial, and Edison and the electric light. In addition, the Center collaborated on exhibits with the Smithsonian and other institutions. In the 1990s, Center staff also published research projects about the National Science Foundation's role in the development of computing, the impact of the computer on meteorology, the history of radar, and many other topics. Oral history became a major activity, and the Center conducted more than 200 interviews in this period. The interviews were transcribed, edited, and made available to researchers. The Center also started a series of international conferences on the history of IEEE technologies. In 1997, Dr. Michael Geselowitz became the Center's Staff Director, and with the guidance of the History Committee, the Center placed an increased emphasis on reaching out to engineers, public-policy makers, publicschool teachers, amateur historians, and collectors. Shortly thereafter, the Center was renamed the IEEE History Center. Projects included a major overhaul of the Center’s website, authoring several IEEE society histories, teaching at Rutgers University, participating in workshops and conferences, and undertaking the digital web history project sponsored by the Sloan Foundation. The Center increased its outreach to engineers and the public through IEEE and other publications. In 2000, the Center introduced its new website, the IEEE Virtual Museum. This site was discontinued in 2008 and most of its articles were migrated to the IEEE Global History Network, now known as the Engineering and Technology History Wiki.
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In 2003, Center staff was responsible for recognizing Philosophy Hall at Columbia University in New York City as a U.S. National Historic Landmark. This is where Dr. Edwin Armstrong, recipient of the first IEEE Medal of Honor in 1919 (issued by IEEE’s predecessor organization, the IRE), performed most of his pioneering radio research. The Center also created a DVD containing important privately held video interviews with computer pioneers. In 2004, the Center held its next conference at Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, England on the history of electronics. In 2006 and 2007, the Center performed numerous special projects, including participating in many IEEE society anniversaries and lectures. The oral history program began videotaping interviews. The IEEE Milestones Program, then containing more than 80 Milestones, continued to grow at a record pace. In 2007, the Center held its biannual conference at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Beginning in 2008, the Center’s activity focused on building a new wiki-based website for bringing the history of IEEE’s fields of interests to both IEEE members and the public, the IEEE Global History Network (GHN). By 2010, the GHN had grown to include thousands of entries, including firsthand accounts by IEEE members, over 450 oral histories, articles on the history of technology, selected documents from the IEEE Archives, and articles on the history of IEEE and its organizational units. In 2009, as part of IEEE's celebration of its 125th anniversary, the Center undertook two conferences, and the Center conducted oral histories with 23 IEEE past presidents. The Center began a new program, STARS, an online compendium of invited, peer-reviewed articles on the history of major developments in electrical and computer science and technology. The Center also undertook a pilot program with the Hillsborough, N.J. school district on bringing the history of technology into high school social studies curricula. Over the following year, the Center processed archives, scrapbooks, and documents related to the merger of AIEE and IRE in 1963 that formed IEEE. The IEEE History Center Book Publishing program began in 2011, together with special screenings of documentary films. Center staff wrote a series of articles detailing the history of Proceedings of the IEEE, the founding of the IRE and AIEE, and the origins of IEEE. In 2013, the Center expanded its book publishing program and launched a blog on Tumblr and a Twitter feed. The Center also digitized its audiovisual content with Eta Kappa Nu.
CURRENT PROGRAMS The IEEE History Center, supported by the IEEE History Committee and IEEE Foundation, provide numerous programs involving the preservation and promotion of science and engineering history, including
• Engineering and Technology History Wiki: A wiki-based platform that allows IEEE members and organizational units to collaboratively preserve and share their history. • Milestone Program: A program established in 1983 to honor significant achievements in the history of IEEE technologies. • REACH (Raising Engineering Awareness through the Conduit of History): A program that provides high school social studies teachers with free educational resources. • Oral Histories: There are more than 650 full-transcript histories, many in subject collections, on the Engineering and Technology History Wiki. • IEEE Archives: Documents and other archival materials about the history of IEEE and its predecessor organizations, AIEE and IRE. • History Center Publications: The Center’s staff research and write articles for many IEEE periodicals. The Center also publishes books on the history of IEEE technologies. • History Center Events: The History Center sponsors a number of virtual and in-person lectures, events, and talks. • IEEE Fellowship and Pugh Young Scholar in Residence: The IEEE Life Members' Fellowship in Electrical History supports graduate and post-doctoral research in the history of electrical science and technology. • IEEE William and Joyce Middleton Electrical Engineering History Award: Presented to the author of a book in the history of an IEEE-related technology that both exemplifies exceptional scholarship and reaches beyond academic communities toward a broad public audience. • Bernard S. Finn IEEE History Prize: The prize is awarded annually for the best paper on the history of electrical technology published during the preceding year. • Conferences: Center staff help administer and participate in historical conferences. • Teaching Activities: Center staff members teach courses at Stevens Institute of Technology and other institutions where they are based. For more information about the IEEE History Center and its programs, please see the website at https://www.ieee.org/ about/history-center/index.html.
SOURCES “The IEEE History Center Turns Forty,” IEEE History Center Newsletter, Issue 113, July 2020. A. B. Magoun, Ph.D., “Jim Brittain and the Allure of Electrical History,” Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 107, No. 4, April 2019, pp. 847-855. IEEE History Center Website, accessed Oct. 2, 2020.
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SILENT KEYS MARC & CAROL ELLIS
W
e are sorry to announce the passing of Marc and Carol Ellis. Marc was a long time member of the Radio Club of America, the Antique Wireless Association, and many other radio organizations. He and his wife Carol both passed away in July. Marc spent a lifetime educating others on circuits, operations, and the history surrounding radio and its inventors, developers and users. He was the antique radio editor for Popular Electronics, and then wrote or edited for other Gernsback publications including Hands-On Electronics and Electronics Now. His column continued to be published in Monitoring Times after Gernsback exited the market. Marc was the long time Editor of The AWA Journal and a contributing editor of The AWA Gateway. Marc was the former publisher of The Radio Collector Monthly and the author of Vintage Radio: The Sky Buddy Saga. Marc’s work was read by millions, inspiring further exploration of the art and science of radio communications. Marc grew up in Boston and received a B.S. from Boston University. He also earned a B.S. from MIT, and an M.A. from the Loyola University in Chicago. He began his career working on the editorial staff of the Encyclopedia Britannica where he met his future wife Carol who was also a staff editor. He then worked on the editorial staff at Popular Electronics magazine, a Ziff-Davis Publication, in the 1960s. He later
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worked as an ad-agency copywriter, spent several years as a writer/ producer in the education-film field, and was a training program developer at USG Corporation in Chicago where, among other subjects, he was an early contributor to computer managed instruction systems for selfpaced training. Marc next returned to writing an antique radio restoration column for Hands-On Electronics and edited other Gernsback publications. Popular Electronics ceased publication under Ziff and then resumed publication under Gernsback in the 1980s, and Marc returned to write an Antique Radio column and worked as a Contributing Editor. He then became an independent consultant in the educational training field. Marc continued to contribute columns on radio history and restoration to numerous publications over the ensuring years, including The Spectrum Monitor, Electronics Now, and Monitoring Times. He served as Editor for many years of The AWA Journal (f/k/a The Old Timer’s Bulletin) and was one of the editors of The AWA Gateway. Marc presented many times at the AWA Conference. He authored Vintage Radio: The Sky Buddy Saga, published by Gernsback, in 1993. He also published his own journal, The Radio Collector Monthly. He was the Production Editor and a principal author of the 50th anniversary special issue of The Old Timer’s
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Marc and Carol Ellis at their home in 2016 upon receiving the RCA Batcher Award.
Bulletin that documented the history of the AWA up to 2002. Marc, N9EWJ, was a member of ARRL. He received numerous awards from the AWA and RCA’s Ralph Batcher Award for his significant work in preserving the history of radio and electronic communications. Carol became a social worker, music teacher, and community volunteer, widely known in Evanston, Illinois for her work. Marc and Carol passed within two days of each other, on July 6 for Carol and on July 8 for Marc, just one sign of their very close relationship. They were laid to rest on July 23 at Memorial Park in Skokie, Illinois. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Antique Wireless Association, P.O. Box 421, Bloomfield, New York 14469 or Boston Latin School, 78 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115.
BROTHERS IN WIRELESS – PART I By John Facella, P.E., RCA Fellow This two-part article series presents the history of two brothers-in-law who shared a love of wireless, and who grew up during the pioneering days of the 1920s: Sal Barone and John DiBlasi. Both men were Fellows of the Radio Club of America (RCA). One served as a director of the club, and the other served as a club officer. By the end of their careers in the 1970s, both men had left their marks on the wireless industry. This article tells their stories and also briefly outlines the wireless career of RCA member John S. DiBlasi, the son of John DiBlasi. Our discussion will reveal two successful entrepreneurs and their associations with important personalities, some unfortunate business disagreements, and the reality that success never comes easily. During our journey, we will meet some of the wireless industry luminaries of the time. It is hoped that this history will provide inspiration for others in their own wireless careers. Sal Barone experimented with and created patents on a technology that is known today as “Power Line Carrier,” but it was used at the time as a forerunner of Muzak®. Sal also built and installed one of the first Armstrong FM broadcast stations. Later, Sal founded his own company, Northern Radio, which for many years supplied frequency shift keying (FSK) equipment for radio teletype (RTTY) systems used in government agencies and the military.
John DiBlasi was a sales engineer who supplied parts for many of the radio manufacturing companies headquartered in the greater New York City area at the time. An avid radio amateur, John participated in the 1921 Transatlantic Tests. In 1947, he and several other amateurs founded the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA), and John served as the first president for many years. Both men had several common connections. John DiBlasi was related to Sal by virtue of marrying Sal’s sister, Anna Barone. Both men were the same age, both came from families that emigrated from Sicily, and both studied electrical engineering at the Cooper Union in New York City. Both engaged their early interests in wireless as radio amateurs, but only John stayed licensed. Both men were entrepreneurs, and both started several businesses during their careers. Part I of this series covers Sal Barone. Part II, covering John DiBlasi, will appear in the spring 2021 issue of the Proceedings of the Radio Club of America. This article presents previously unpublished material based on material given to the author by family members and others.
PART I
SAL BARONE, RADIO PIONEER (1898-1976) (RCA FELLOW 1926, RCA DIRECTOR 1950)
THE EARLY YEARS Salvatore A. Barone was born in 1898 in Sicily. He was the next-to-youngest of a large family of eight siblings. Sal was named for a brother who had died before Sal was born. In 1904, at the age of six years, he came to the United States with his father. Sal attended grammar school in Buffalo, New York between February 1905 (at age 7) and February 1913. He then attended three years of high school, although he did not graduate, which was not uncommon at that time. He attended Buffalo Technical High School for one year. Then, his family moved to New York City, and where he attended Stuyvesant High School for two years, completing his third year in 1916 at the age of 18. Sal was interested in radio from a very early age. While still in grammar school at the age of 13, he built his first
radio set. Around 1914, at the age of 16, he received his amateur radio license, 2WO, and was listed in the U.S. Commerce Department’s1 Call Sign Book for 19142.His address was reported as 343 E. 76th Street, New York City, with a transmitter power output of 140 watts. While still in high school at age 17, he attended the YMCA Radio School. At the conclusion of the course he was given the job of instructing new students in the Morse code and radio theory to prepare them for the commercial radio operator’s examinations. He received his own license as a Radio Operator, Commercial, First Grade, No. 12743, presented at the Navy Yard in New York City, on October 22, 1915, as issued by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation (this was well before the existence of the FCC).
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Sal studied electrical engineering at night school at the Cooper Union in New York City between 1916 and 1920, but he did not complete the requirements to obtain his degree. Sal also took one post graduate course at Columbia University (this is where he first met Major Edwin Armstrong). Prior to these studies, in 1915 while still in high school, Sal Barone. (Author’s he joined the Institute of Radio collection) Engineers (IRE). The IRE was absorbed years later into the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest engineering organization.
FIRST JOBS Like most young men of the time, Sal acquired his professional background through a variety of jobs. After serving as instructor at the YMCA Radio School, he obtained his first engineering position at the New York Telephone Company as a Night Wire Chief for a salary of $24.50 weekly. His job entailed writing explanations about the operation of telephone circuits, including one of the most advanced at the time, the new automatic dial telephone exchange. At this time, telephone connections were still largely made via manual plug line connections using telephone operators, and automatic dialing was just being introduced. He held this position for two years until 1918, and then he spent a further year at Western Electric, until 1919.
EARLY ENTREPRENEUR From 1920 until 1922, we see our first glimpses of Sal’s entrepreneurial spirit. He founded his own business, the Queens Radio Apparatus Company in Winfield, Long Island, New York. This town no longer exists, but it was located near present day Woodside, Queens, New York. The Queens equipment catalog advertised “standardized radio apparatus”, and the company’s “Green Tag of Perfection”. It explained that Queens’ radio engineers had twelve years of experience. At this time, people who desired a radio receiver faced a dilemma: they could either spend considerable time learning about this new radio art in order to construct their own receiver, or they could purchase a radio from a dealer. Queens Radio espoused their “Unit System”, which was included a vacuum tube detector and audio amplifier units that could be cascaded, plus variocouplers and variometers to interconnect the units. The Queens approach offered a lay user the opportunity to purchase the units one-by-one, as needed. Thus, a user could build up to the performance level they required for their geographic location in order to receive the stations they desired. This way, the user avoided spending huge sums on a set that was unnecessarily complex for their needs. The radios of this time were tuned radio frequency (TRF) receivers, and compared 46
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Queens Radio Apparatus Company Catalog, circa 1921. (Author’s collection)
to today’s superhetrodyne receivers (invented by Edwin Armstrong), they were rather primitive and finicky devices to operate for users. During Sal’s time at Queens Radio Apparatus, a young woman named Edith Miller took a job there. Later, they married. The business venture did not go well for some undisclosed reason, and Sal left. He then worked for about 18 months at various odd jobs.
WIRED RADIO - FORERUNNER OF MUZAK® In October 1923, Sal began a new job which was destined to affect his career for the next 14 years. This new job involved leading edge radio technology of the time, and it presented him with some very unique and complex engineering problems. During this period, Sal experienced both an early peak and a short decline in his own career. In the early 1920s, radio provided a new means of entertainment. As a result, a new popular rage evolved where every inspired child sought to obtain a cat’s whisker detector and a pair of earphones to build a “crystal radio” and listen to these broadcasts. At the same time, others looked far ahead and wondered if there might be other ways of bringing music into homes, perhaps by using wires instead of avoiding them. And so, the idea of “Wired Radio” was born. Wired radio was invented by U.S. Army Major General George O. Squier, who became head of the Army Signal Corps as the U.S. was entering World War I.3 While in the Signal Corps, Squier invented methods of signaling over telephone or power wires. He applied for a series of patents on his concept.4 Squier provided a temporary license to use these patents to a large electric utility holding company, North American Corporation. North American operated utilities in Cleveland, St. Louis, and other locations. North American began testing the technology, initially in the Potomac Electric Company in Washington D.C. The Wired Radio Service Company, run by C.W. Clough as president, was owned by North American, and established operations centers in New
Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. Further tests were carried out on Staten Island, New York.5 In 1934, Squier came up with a new name for the company – “Muzak®”. Muzak’s early customers in the Lakeland section of Cleveland took subscriptions at $1.50/month and received 3 channels of music and news delivered on three different radio frequency (RF) subcarriers, between 50 kHz and 200 kHz. This also marked the introduction of a completely different business model for the industry, one similar to that used by broadcast satellite radio companies of today. Up until that time, the early radio stations depended on advertising revenue to fund station operations. Wired Radio/Muzak developed a subscription model, where the receivers were unique and filtered out the three RF subcarriers from the AC power lines (used for distribution of the signals) that were then decoded for the entertainment channels. Hum created by the 60 Hertz AC power was a big problem. Another engineering problem focused on getting the RF subcarrier to transit its information through stepup and step-down power transformers in the electrical utility network that normally only narrowly responded to the 60 Hertz frequency. Of course, all of the transformer bypass equipment had to withstand the high voltages used in the electrical grid. Radio News magazine in October 1926 and again in 1936 carried articles about this new technology.6 In 1936, the company made another unique marketing move when it decided to offer the music to stores, factories, and offices. The thought was that people would be happier with background music, and that they would work better or purchase more in a happier state of mind. The company got lucky, because in 1937, some British industrial psychologists showed that work efficiency improved and absenteeism decreased if background music was available. Shortly afterwards another study, by Stevens Institute of Technology, proved the same thing. In addition, farmers found that music caused cows to produce more milk and chickens to lay more eggs. The concept of supplying music to alter and improve people’s moods was the beginning of what is called today “elevator music.”7 The new music delivery technology was also used in Britain, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland.8 The concept was deceptively simple: deliver several radio channels via the AC power wiring that went into every home or other location, and thus avoid having to erect an ugly, fifty foot, outside wire antenna, which was the typical operating requirement for the insensitive radios of the day. Also, it might be possible to eliminate the complex adjustments that were required of the TRF radio receivers of that time. Furthermore, it might be possible to eliminate some of the signal interference caused by adjacent stations or nearby electrical apparatus, or ionospheric variations to the radio waves. A large number of experiments were carried out, and the work pushed the state of the art at the time in network theory and high power low frequency radio transmitters.
Wired Radio tabletop unit, March 1930. (Author’s collection)
From 1923 until 1924, Sal worked with three other engineers on a pilot test of a “wired public radio service” in Staten Island, New York. The market test was successful, and the next three years were spent in serious experiments in the laboratory in Ampere, New Jersey. The engineers had to solve the formidable problems of passing several radio channels through the three phase AC power distribution network. At the time, Mr. R.D, Duncan was the Chief Engineer. On October 24, 1925, Sal married Edith Miller in the Church of the Redeemer, in Merrick, Long Island, New York. Sal was 27 years old. Beginning in 1926, Sal’s addresses were variously listed as Woodside, Freeport, and Winfield, New York; and Newark, New Jersey. We can only surmise that Sal had side jobs to continue supporting his new bride. (Recall that the Wall Street stock market crash was in 1929.) Also in 1926, Sal, who was a member of RCA, was recognized as an RCA Fellow.9 Between 1928 and 1929, more new equipment was constructed for Wired Radio. Then, in 1930, Sal and Edith moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Sal received from the company a luxurious four room suite at the Lakeshore Hotel, while he supervised a 25-man crew of installers and engineers. Working with the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, they installed the Wired Radio transmitters at two electrical power substations, from whence the programming would travel to all of the homes connected to those power lines. The power network feeders had to be “tuned” to pass the low frequency radio signals sent out by the Wired Radio transmitters. This is no mean feat when you consider that those power feeders had 4,600 volts on them! Subsequently, Sal supervised the installation of a modern broadcast studio for the creation of three (and later five) music channels for the system. The Wired Radio technology was the forerunner of what is known today in the electrical power industry as “power line carrier transmission” or “carrier current” technology. It is still used by power companies to carry data information about the status of various line switches and equipment on the power networks, without the need for a separate radio or wired data system. Using the power lines, a radio carrier frequency of approximately 200 kHz is placed onto the wires. That radio carrier frequency is modulated with one or more signals. For Wired Radio it www.radioclubofamerica.org | FALL 2020 PROCEEDINGS
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Sal Barone with his engineering team at Cleveland Electric, in an undated photo. Sal is 7th from the right. (Author’s collection)
was music and programming; for the utilities of today it is a digital data stream for power network control. The various transformers in the power network that step the power line voltages up and down to facilitate efficient energy transmission are only designed to pass a 60 Hertz AC current. Those same transformers will stop the higher frequency radio carrier signal, unless something is added to the power network. Sal and his engineers added high frequency high voltage capacitors to the network to allow the radio carrier signal to go around the power transformers; and hence, the signals were not blocked by them. These capacitors and other devices had to be able to withstand the high line voltages. If these capacitors shorted-out, they would have created safety issues and likely caused circuit breakers to open, which would have brought down parts of the electrical power grid. So, the design and manufacture of these devices was very critical.
FRUSTRATION Someone once suggested that there has never been a person of any significance who has not known disappointment and frustration. If one reads the biographies of Edison, Armstrong, Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and many others, we find common themes of facing adversity in certain times of their lives. Perhaps these stresses forge character, or perhaps it is impossible to accomplish anything of substance without taking chances, making someone else jealous or angry, or experiencing some losses. In any case, Sal now entered a period of such frustration. In 1936, Sal departed abruptly from Muzak because of disputes over commissions. Between November 1936 and May 1937, at the age of 38, Sal could not find a job, despite his success and seniority at Muzak. Sal felt that he was being “black listed” in the industry by his former employers. Possibly, they were angry that Sal had left. Finally, in May 1937, Sal found a job at the Radio Corporation of America as a factory radio technician, repairing broadcast radio sets which had faults as they came off of the production line. This was a 48
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Wired Radio console unit, March 1930. (Author’s collection)
demeaning a job for a successful engineer who had solved complex power network problems at Wired Radio! His job at the Camden, New Jersey plant only lasted until December. Then, for the next eighteen months, Sal was unemployed again. But, Sal had some high powered friends in the industry. One of them was Major Edwin H. Armstrong, whom Sal met while he did attended his one postgraduate course at Columbia University in New York. Both were members of RCA. Armstrong was arguably the most influential radio inventor who ever lived: he invented frequency modulation (FM), regenerative and super regenerative receivers, and the superhetrodyne receiver. The power of Armstrong’s genius is proven in the fact that his FM and superhetrodyne technologies are still in use today in every radio, television, and cell phone in the world. Armstrong supported Sal in his job search; and in July 1939, Sal was offered a job at the Radio Engineering Laboratory (REL) located at 100 Wilbur Ave., Long Island City, New York.
RADIO ENGINEERING LABORATORIES (REL) Sal was hired as a radio engineer to wire, install, and test Armstrong’s FM transmitters. These transmitters were being used by radio stations across the country who were switching from the amplitude modulation (AM) systems to FM. The AM systems, common at the time, were prone to picking up static and electrical noise. Armstrong’s new FM system offered noise free reception and improved music fidelity (because of the wider bandwidth of the modulating signal). Until the late 1930s, all broadcast radio stations only used AM. When Armstrong introduced FM, many engineers of the time did not believe his claims and did not believe that it would be deployed. Armstrong’s efforts to prove the efficacy of FM are well documented elsewhere. While at REL, Sal’s work included: • Installing the first FM broadcast studio at MinneapolisSt. Paul Minnesota • Commissioning an FM transmitter on Mount Asna Bumpskit in Massachusetts
• Building and installing an REL FM transmitter on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, and eventually an FM network of broadcast stations in New England, called the Yankee Network. (Mount Washington is the highest peak east of the Mississippi (6,288 ft.) and has very erratic weather. Until recently, it had the record for the highest recorded wind speed on earth at 231 miles per hour.) Descriptions of Sal at REL reflected his engineering successes: “Sal Barone was a young, superb REL engineer, and he understood the future importance of FM. In the late ‘30’s, he developed the first 10 kW broadcast transmitter to operate in the 42-50 MHz band. The unit was installed on top of Mt. Washington, NH, where it broadcasted 24 hours a day. All through the Second World War, it served as a civilian defense station.”10
Mt. Washington NH FM antenna and transmitter building, circa 1938. (Courtesy National Archives at https://text-message.blogs.archives. gov/2019/02/12/building-a-radio-tower-atop-mount-washington)
REL 10 kW FM broadcast transmitter installed on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. (Courtesy http://ggninfo.com/yankee1.htm-link)
Sal continued working for REL during the early part of World War II in their facility at 35-54 36th Street in Long Island City, New York. He worked on various FM projects. During the war, Sal served in technical advisory capacities, and he was involved in establishing the country’s coastal defenses. His relationship with Edwin Armstrong continued to grow, and at one point he was involved in a meeting at the Pentagon with several high ranking officials, including Dr. Eastman of MIT. As a result of his work, Sal was awarded the honorary rank
of Colonel in the Signal Corps. The friends Sal made in the military were to prove valuable later on. Sal left REL in late 1943, partially over a business dispute.11
PRESS WIRELESS Press Wireless, Inc. was formed in Sal Barone at Press Wireless, circa 1944. 1929 by a group (Author’s collection) of 13 newspapers to speed up press dispatches by using radio. In 1930, Press Wireless opened transmitting facilities on a 185-acre site in Hicksville Long Island, and a receiving station at Baldwin Harbor, Long Island. During World War II, Press Wireless expanded into manufacturing, eventually building a new facility in Long Island City. Press Wireless manufactured radio transmitters and other wireless equipment, both for its own press purposes, as well as for the military. The Secretary of War conferred the Army-Navy Production “E” Award three times on the company for outstanding achievement in producing equipment for the war effort. Press Wireless also operated radio links for war correspondents to forward their stories, and a radio station was present in Normandy, France some days after D-Day, and another in the Philippines in the Pacific Theater.12 On August 23, 1943, Sal began a new job at Press Wireless. He was hired by Mr. Ray H. dePasquale, Director of Manufacturing, to be their Chief Project Engineer. Sal initially worked at Building #2 on Cantiague Road, Hicksville, Long Island, New York. By February 1944, he had applied for a patent on their behalf.13 By 1945, he became their Chief Manufacturing Engineer, and attended the ground breaking for a new manufacturing plant at 35th Ave. and 38th Street, Long Island City on July 16, 1945. As a sidelight, during the 1940s, because his son Stephen joined the Boy Scouts of America, Sal found time to be a Boy Scout leader and councilman for Troop 215 in Freeport, Long Island.
NORTHERN RADIO At the conclusion of the war in 1945, Sal decided to try running his own company again. Tired of the political problems he had faced with former bosses, and convinced of his own abilities to design electronic products and manage engineering enterprises, and armed with fresh military contacts from the war, Sal was determined to succeed. And so, at the age of 47, he formed S. A. Barone Company. At first, the work mainly involved designing specialty equipment and model development work (i.e., prototype production of new electronic designs in low quantities). www.radioclubofamerica.org | FALL 2020 PROCEEDINGS
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Architect’s drawing of proposed new Press Wireless Building. (Author’s collection)
company was privately held, and its shares were never publicly traded. Other key employees included Edith Barone, Sal’s wife, who handled all the administrative, personnel, secretarial, and cost accounting duties. The initial staff included four or five engineers with whom Sal had worked at REL who decided to join Sal at Northern.
Ground Breaking for new Press Wire-
Sal handled the less building, July 16, 1945. L to R: Ray engineering and general H. dePasquale, Director of Manufacmanagement duties. turing; William Welsh, President of Arthur Odgers was Welsh Brothers Contracting Company of Long Island City, Builder-Owner; a civilian who was Salvatore Barone, Chief Manufacturing associated with the Engineer. (Courtesy Press Wireless at Signal Corps and who had extensive contacts www.tmchistory.org/PressWireless/Prewi_company_history.htm) with the military establishment. As a result, Odgers as vice president was responsible for marketing and selling the products. In order for the company to get moving, Sal did not take a salary for some portion of the first year. Northern Radio sought unique niche markets for their products in the electronics communications industry. They primarily made frequency shift keying (FSK) equipment. This FSK equipment, known today as data modems, allowed for teletype machines (essentially electromechanical typewriters) to be connected to high frequency (HF) radios for long distance textual communications. These systems were the forerunner of today’s digital data communications over networks. These products were sold to government and military customers in the U.S. and worldwide. They allowed teletype textual traffic between embassies, international companies, military units, news agencies, and so forth. The equipment was popular because it was reliable and well designed.
1943 letter to Sal Barone while at Press Wireless from Major Edwin H. Armstrong. (Author’s collection)
But business began to grow, and changes were soon necessary. On October 8, 1946 the Northern Radio Company was born. Further success meant that incorporation was necessary. Thus, on September 21, 1949, it was re-named as the Northern Radio Company, Inc., with a total capital of $10,000. Sal Barone was president and invested $8,000, and he and his wife Edith owned a 2/3 share. His partner was Mr. Arthur J. Odgers, who owned the other 1/3 of the company. The
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In 1954, the USS Nautilus was christened in Groton, Connecticut, and then commissioned in the same year. The Nautilus had been outfitted with Northern Radio communications equipment, and Sal was invited by the Navy to attend the event. He was extremely proud about the placement of Northern’s equipment on the Nautilus. There were only a few competitors, Collins Radio and the Technical Materiel Corporation (TMC), who could match Northern’s wide product line of FSK equipment. A 1957 newspaper article boasted of over 10,000 FSK channel units sold to the military alone. (Note, this was the height of the Cold War, and significant sums were spent on military defense.) Eventually, the company produced more than 450 products that were sold worldwide.14
A pre-1963 catalog states the company is “in the business of research, development, design, engineering, manufacturing, and field engineering of communications systems”. Its product categories included: radio multiplex systems, multichannel tone systems, diversity receivers, standard frequency shift keyers, low frequency shift keyers, frequency shift converters, tone filters, demodulators, tone keyers, line amplifiers, monitors, and master oscillators.15 Annual sales in 1962 was $4 million, a healthy figure for a small company of that time. Approximately 65% of sales were made to the U.S. military, and 30% to large communication companies.16 Northern Radio became a respected member of the radio industry. Units were even used by the White House in its Strategic Communications Center during the 1960s. The company initially resided at 143-145 W. 22nd Street in New York City17, but later expanded to 143-149 West 22nd Street, at which point it occupied five floors.
Former home of Northern Radio on 149 W. 22nd Street in New York City as it appeared in Nov. 2019. (Author’s photos)
Sal’s youngest sister, Anna Barone, married another radio pioneer, John DiBlasi. (Part II of this article will discuss DiBlasi’s career.) Many of the electronic parts used by Northern Radio were purchased from an electronic sales engineering company founded by John DiBlasi. The families were close, and Sal and his brother-in-law would often go off during family get-togethers to talk about the radio business. Some of the key people that worked at Northern Radio included: Ray Mohor, who was a vice president of manufacturing operations for 21 years, Edith Cohen who was the bookkeeper, John Makowsky who did the metal work, and Chester Salamin who headed production. Anatole Minc, an NYU graduate, became chief engineer at some point, and began to transistorize the designs which had been all vacuum tube up until then. This was an important step for the company as technology was advancing. But as often happens in the electronics industry, Minc later left and formed TeleSignal in Hicksville, Long Island. This unfortunately created some friction between the two men. In February 1954, Sal expanded into the Canadian military market. He talked to “Tap” Faucett, who
explained that Canada had changed its government procurement laws, and Northern needed to affiliate with a local Canadian company in order to sell there. So, Sal formed a separate company to manufacture in Canada, the Northern Radio Manufacturing Company Ltd. located in Ottawa, Ontario.18 Another company was formed in May 1954, also in Ottawa, to handle product distribution in Canada, Domac Technical Sales Ltd. Messrs. Bill Dover, Jack Macmillan, and Philip White (who took over from Faucett) ran these companies, with Sal as a silent partner who provided both the capital and the product designs. Lieutenant Colonel MacMillan had been a major in the Royal Corps of Signals in the U.K. during World War II and had since immigrated to Canada. Another affiliated company was also formed by the Canadians, Philtran in Ottawa. Unfortunately, things did not go well for these Canadian sister companies. The Canadian business was not managed as Sal hoped it would be, and the Canadians resented sharing the profits which were issued annually to their silent partner Sal. Eventually, the parties separated, but the Canadian company carried on into the early 1970s as NR Systems Ltd., and then in 1978 as Interdaco Ltd., developing and manufacturing time division multiplex (TDM) modems.19 Macmillan passed away in April 1978. In the late 1960s Northern Radio continued to do well with its 125 employees; 1967 sales exceeded $3 million. Its business continued to grow because of equipment needed for the Vietnam War, and the company’s FGC 16 and FGC 25 products were sold extensively. Page Communications, a global telecommunications engineering company, often recommended Northern products. Unfortunately, in May 1965, Sal’s business partner Arthur Odgers died, having been associated with Northern Radio for 19 years. As the company grew, Sal found time to relax at lunch with some of his Northern Radio employees. They usually frequented Chelsea’s Restaurant on 23rd Street and 6th Avenue, and lunch was followed by his ubiquitous cigar. Northern Radio’s expertise was in modems that used “frequency division multiplex” (FDM). In FDM, discrete frequencies were used to carry data information in a digital format. Multiple independent channels of information could be carried by using multiple different carrier frequencies. But within the industry, a new technology was evolving that used discrete time L to R: Edith Cohen, Sal and slots which were changed Edith Barone, Jan. 1965. (Author’s at a fast pace in order to collection) www.radioclubofamerica.org | FALL 2020 PROCEEDINGS
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DON’T TELL ME IT CAN’T BE DONE! This was one of Sal’s favorite expressions, based on his ‘can do’ approach to life. Sal’s family tells this story of his engineering skills, his strength in believing that every problem could be solved, and of his desire to get his employees to tackle thorny problems on their own. We do not know the date, but at one point, Northern faced a difficult technical problem that had to be solved. Sal outlined the issue for 4 or 5 of his top engineers, and gave them about six weeks to solve the problem. At the end of six weeks, they had not
carry multiple channels of data communications. This new technology was called “time division multiplex” (TDM), and the military, one of Northern’s major markets, was moving away from FDM to using TDM. Sal resisted this trend, probably realizing that it would take considerable investment and perhaps new personnel to master this new technology. So, in 1968, Sal decided to sell Northern Radio. On September 18, 1968 the company sold for $3 million to R.F. Communications Inc. located at 1680 University Avenue in Rochester, New York. R.F. is now the L3Harris Corporation. Many of Sal’s people remained with R.F. for many years, although some, like Sal, had to work on reduced salaries during the early days. Sal felt it was important to reward his loyal employees. So, over the years, Sal deposited some of the earnings into a trust fund. When the company was sold to R.F., the employees received varying amounts from the funds depending on their length of service and other factors. The 41 employees received more than $550,000.20 R.F. acquired all of Northern Radio’s products and rights, and continued to operate with Northern’s same
L to R: Mr. Harris, Mr. Barone and Mr. Salamin of NRC, and Mr. George Lennon. (Courtesy RF Communicator Internal Newsletter, October 1968 “Northern Radio Corp. Joins RF Family”) 52
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solved it, so he gave them a bit more time. Still, they could not solve it. Sal became extremely frustrated, and went to his home in Amityville, Long Island. He closeted himself in his second floor electronics lab for about a week. At the end of that time, he had solved the problem on his own. He went to work, called in his engineers to explain how he had solved the problem, and told them that as president, he should not have had to do their job for them. He then promptly fired them all!
management and personnel for a period of time. R.F. was subsequently acquired by the Harris Intertype Corporation of Melbourne, Florida. In 2019, Harris merged with L3, and L3Harris Harris today makes the Falcon series of military manpack radios.21 The data modems made by Northern at the time have long
THE ‘OTHER’ NORTHERN RADIO Note: there are two Northern Radios! An unrelated U.S. company existed in Seattle, Washington from the 1940s through the 1960s. This other Northern Radio’s logo is completely different from Sal’s company or the Canadian company associated with Sal. This Seattle company did not manufacture frequency shift equipment, but instead made shipboard high frequency (HF) radio receivers.22, 23 One source said that Sal was aware of the Seattle company, but decided that since sufficient differences existed between the two companies products, no one would be confused. Today, some websites confuse these two companies, and their products may be mistakenly credited to the wrong manufacturer.
Receiver built by the “other” Northern Radio. (Courtesy www.rigreference.com)
since been replaced with newer technology; and today, L3Harris is in other businesses.
Sal retired in 1970. A few years later he became sick. On March 6, 1976, he passed away in Amityville, Long Island. His wife Edith passed away on December 24, 2001.
Northern had prospered well under Sal’s leadership for 22 years. Edith Barone formally retired as the company Secretary/Treasurer in 1969. The following year, on January 30, Sal retired at the age of 72 after 55 years in the electronics and radio field. He then proceeded to enjoy his children and grandchildren. The company continued, and Doug Carter became the new president after Sal retired. He had been in charge of government sales during the Vietnam War. In July 1971, Northern Radio relocated to Melbourne, Florida, where Harris was located. One of Northern’s employees, Ted Noe, moved on to form his own company ARC Electronic Products. Later, he formed Clear to Send Electronics (CTSE), also in Melbourne, Florida. CTSE manufactured data modems and multiplexers to X.25, V.24, and other standards, an outgrowth of the modems Northern was building for radio teletype in earlier years.
Sal lived 78 years, and devoted most of his life to radio and electronics, starting from his teenaged radio amateur days as 2WO. Sal became an RCA Fellow in 1926, and was listed as a Director in RCA in 1950.24 He helped found the technical principles which gave the Muzak company its start. He had experienced a few bumps in his career, as do others who are engaged in business ventures. He was associated with many of the early pioneers in wireless, including Major Edwin Armstrong. He designed and installed the new FM technology transmitters in several parts of the country, at a time when many believed FM could not work. And, he had helped his country during wartime. He had worked for many of the leading companies of the era, including REL and Press Wireless. Finally, he was successful in building Northern Radio from a startup to a respected leader in military communications. Sal Barone was a true radio pioneer.
TABLE 1
PATENTS AWARDED TO SAL BARONE Number
Date Applied
Date Issued
Description
Assignee
1,669,159
21 July 1925
8 May 1928
Phase Indicator (joint with Duncan & Isler)
Wired Radio Inc., NYC, NY
1,743,019
30 June 1927
7 Jan 1930
Electrical Condenser
Federal Telegraph Co, San Francisco, CA
1,820,898
7 Feb. 1929
25 Aug 1931
Transmission System
Federal Telegraph Co, San Francisco, CA
1,823,851
17 Feb 1926
15 Sept 1931
Method of generating 3 phase high frequency current
Federal Telegraph Co, San Francisco, CA
1,894,656
25 July 1930
17 Jan 1933
Hum Eliminating System
Wired Radio Inc., NYC, NY
App # 521,911
11 Feb 1944
Not issued
Unknown
Press Wireless Inc., NYC, NY
2,451,430
23 April 1946
12 Oct 1948
Carrier frequency shift Signaling
Jefferson Standard Broadcasting Co. Inc., NC
Note: A search of the U.S. Patent Office patents database revealed only the issued patents shown above. These searches included just ‘Barone’ as the inventor’s name (352 hits as of Feb. 2015). A search of the applications does not reveal any information on the Feb. 1944 Press Wireless application, when searched by number or assignee. It can only be surmised that this patent application was withdrawn or not issued for some reason.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Facella is a Fellow and Life Member of RCA. He earned his BSEE degree from Georgia Tech, an MBA from Georgia State University, and is a registered professional engineer. His work career has spanned over 35 years in wireless, starting with service in the U.S. Army as a Signal Corps platoon leader, 28 years working for Motorola and Harris Corporation, and as a consultant. He is also a radio amateur, and a life member of the ARRL, QCWA, and the Antique Wireless Association.
SAL BARONE REFERENCES 1. Personal interviews with Mrs. Edith Barone in 1994. 2. Personal interviews with Ted Noe, President of Clear to Send Electronics in Melbourne FL, former Northern Radio employee, Feb. 23, 1995 and May 17, 1995. 3. Personal interviews with Sallylou Brunjes, daughter, Oct. 24, 2014. 4. Civil Service Application by Sal Barone dated Aug. 3, 1939 for examination for Senior Radio Engineer position. 5. Daily Sentinel, Rome, N.Y., Nov. 2, 1957. 6. Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester N.Y., Sep. 18, 1968. 7. Diamond Jubilee, A History of the Radio Club of America, 1909-1984, Proceedings of the Radio Club of America, Vol. 54 No. 3. 8. The Story of the First Trans-Atlantic Short Wave Message, Proceedings of the Radio Club of America, 1BCG Commemorative Issue, Oct. 1950. 9. Long Island NY wireless history from LI Wireless Historical Society: http://longislandgenealogy.com/ Wireless/Wireless.html. 10. Long Island Radio and TV Historical Society: http:// www.lirtvhs.org. 11. Radio Manufacturers in the U.S., Northern Radio: http://www.radiomuseum.org/m/norther-ra_usa_en_1. html. 12. REL information: http://www.radiomuseum.org/m/ radio17_usa_en_1.html. 13. Yankee Network FM station, see entries for Jul. 24, 1939; Jan. 4, 1940; Dec. 18, 1940; Apr. 5, 1941: http://www.bostonradio.org/timeline/timeline-30s. 14. Yankee Network history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Yankee_Network. 15. Mount Washington NH radio stations (Armstrong’s W1XER on AM which became W39B on FM in the summer of 1940, and then WMNE-FM in 1941.) The best summary, with images, is: https://text-message. blogs.archives.gov/2019/02/12/building-a-radiotower-atop-mount-washington. See also: http:// ra.mountwashington.org/about/visitor/history and see Transmission Stations in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Mount_Washington_%28New_Hampshire%29, and http://www.fybush.com/site-030220.html and http://
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jeff560.tripod.com/chronofm.html. 16. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Vol. 49, Issue 4, 2005; and Path Not Taken: Wired Wireless and Broadcasting in the 1920s, www.tandfonline. com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15506878jobem4904_2. 17. Wired Radio histories: a. www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_hersteller_detail. cfm?company_id=9885. b. www.historyofinformation.com/expanded. php?id=3821. c. http://earlyradiohistory.us/1923wir.htm. d. www.company-histories.com/Muzak-Inc-CompanyHistory.html. e. http://www.nrcdxas.org/articles/2013-10-16_ CONNECTING_THE_CONTINENT.pdf. This is a history of the AT&T company, but see Chapter One ‘Wired Radio’ section. f. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Vol. 49, Issue 4, 2005; and Path Not Taken: Wired Wireless and Broadcasting in the 1920s, www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/ s15506878jobem4904_2. g. A brief history of Muzk can be found at https:// www.mentalfloss.com/article/28274/muzakhistory-background-story-background-music. 18. Additional information on power line carriers can be found at: a. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_ communication. b. And on carrying entertainment (power line current technology) at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Carrier_current. 19. A detailed history of Press Wireless is found at: www. tmchistory.org/PressWireless/Prewi_company_history. htm. 20. Some additional information on Northern Radio is found at: www.tmchistory.org/NorthernRadio/ northern_index.htm. This wonderful site by John Poulton, K4OZY, includes a 24-page catalog of Northern equipment, and links to numerous technical manuals. Also see: http://www.virhistory. com/tmc/tmc_pages/NorthernRadio/northern_index. htm. 21. Some of Northern Radio’s manuals can also be found at: http://one-electron.com/FC_Ham.html. 22. Information on various Northern Radio RTTY modulators and demodulators: http://navy-radio.com/ northern.htm. 23. Financial statements in the annual report to shareholders for Dec. 31, 1964. 24. Information on the Seattle Washington company Northern Radio: a. http://rigreference.com/en/mfr/northern-radiocompany. b. https://www.mail-archive.com/amradio@mailman. qth.net/msg04664.html. c. Manuals for various Northern Radio receivers (typically models N600 and N602 series) can be found at: http://www.nostalgiaair.org/ Resources/282/T0000282.htm.
d. The N550A SSB marine radio telephone can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/ nymaritimemuseum/maritime-equipment/ radiotelephone/single-sideband-receivers/ northern-radio-company---n550a. 25. Northern Radio Joins RF Family, The RF Communicator, Oct. 1968. 26. Various papers, letters, photos, and other information in possession of the author provided by Edith Barone, and later Sal’s daughter Sallylou Brunjes, and other family members.
ENDNOTES 1. At that time, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had not been created, so the U.S. Commerce Dept. handled radio licensing. 2. Sal was listed on page 90. Sal was not listed in the 1913 call book that reported the last amateur call sign issued at the time as 2MU. In subsequent call books (1915 and later), he was no longer listed, and his call sign 2WO was later issued in 1920 to R.F. Guy located on Maple Ct. in Brooklyn. Information about R.F. Guy has not been located. So, it appears that Sal’s amateur radio days only lasted about a year. Source: ARRL call book archives at ARRL headquarter offices in Newington, CT. 3. There is a building named Squier Hall at the U.S. Army Signal Corps facility at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. The author, as a young Signal Corps officer, attended classes at that building, not knowing the connection to Sal Barone. 4. G.O. Squier obtained several patents in the decade 1925-1935: 1,531,629; 1,584,197; 1,608,252; 1,641,608; 1,644,404; 1,742,422; 1,791,541; and 1,999,579. Most applied to forms of electrical signaling using phone lines or electrical wires to convey messaging. 5. See Barone Ref. 17c. 6. See Barone Ref. 17e. 7. See Barone Ref. 17d. 8. See Barone Ref. 17e. 9. See Barone Ref. #7, p. 141. 10. See Barone Ref. 7, p. 141, “The REL Story” by Paul Gruber.
Joseph Behr, Secretary at REL, dated March 10, 1948, the company declined to pay Sal a commission. 12. See Barone Refs. 9 and 18. 13. See the table of patent listings. 14. The author observed Northern Radio modems were still in operation by the government of Thailand during a business trip in 1986. 15. See the catalog in Barone Ref. 19. 16. D&B Report dated Feb. 9, 1967. 17. This address shown in a letter dated in 1948 in possession of the author. 18. Northern radio owned 75% of the Canadian subsidiary according to financial statements in the annual report of Dec. 31, 1964. 19. Domac was dissolved in Dec. 1980. Other sources: The Ottawa Citizen, Mar. 4, 1972, pp. 8-9; and another unidentified newspaper article circa 1978 titled “On the Rise, Electronics Company rebounds From receivership”. Another Canadian company called Northern Radio & Wireless Corp. was incorporated in Sept. 1999 and was inactive in Sept. 2002. This company appears to have been a subsidiary of the Federal Corp. Sources: https:// opengovca.com/corporation/. 20. Internal letter to Sal Barone from W.D. Carter, dated 13 October 1971. 21. In a coincidence, the author worked for Harris Corporation at their Rochester, NY facility. Harris maintained a history wall at the company offices that included is a newspaper article describing the acquisition of Northern Radio. 22. Early receivers included models N600, 602, 605 that operated in the range 550 KHz to 33.5 MHz. Later, a fully synthesized 48 channel SSB radio telephone model N550A was manufactured. 23. Mr. Leroy Ed Parsons is listed by one source as being a sales manager and field engineer for Northern Radio. In Nov. 1948, Mr. Leroy Ed Parsons created the first community TV system in Seattle, WA. 24. See Barone Ref. 8, p. 68 listing Barone as a RCA director.
11. Letter from Sal Barone REL President Chester Srebroff, dated Jan. 10, 1944. In a letter from
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Special Section
100 Years of KDKA EDITOR’S NOTE: This issue of the Proceedings celebrates KDKA’s November 2, 1920 historic broadcast. That broadcast is often used to mark the beginning of the commercial broadcast era. This section includes two items: • Past RCA Event Sparks New Company and Changes the Way Records Are Preserved and Restored • KDKA's 1920 Broadcast Centennial The images on this page include a 1921 KDKA station reception verification stamp and photos from RCA's 2017 KDKA transmitter tour. We hope you enjoy this special issue and our commemoration of this historic milestone in communications!
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PAST RCA EVENT SPARKS NEW COMPANY AND CHANGES THE WAY RECORDS ARE PRESERVED AND RESTORED The 2017 Radio Club of America Banquet and Technical Symposium held in Pittsburg included a special visit for RCA members to the studios and transmitter site of radio station KDKA. At that time, RCA Board Member and Director Charles Kirmuss was studying the effect of ultrasonic cavitation and industry cleaning methods used on vinyl LP records.
KirmussAudio record restoration device.
Some of the LP records in the basement of KDKA’s broadcasting station.
KDKA’S TRANSMITTER BASEMENT Kirmuss snooped around the basement of KDKA’s transmitter site where he discovered piles of old station records. Hidden away for more than 60 years were thousands of lacquered 33 1/3 transcript LPs. In those days, broadcast stations used either magnetic tape recording methods or primarily the etching of sound on materials such as aluminum that, once lacquered, were used for re-broadcast. Some stations had no staff in the “midnight hours” and only maintained a switchboard operator and engineers, so these recordings were used in place of live performances. ORIGINAL RECORDINGS AND THEIR RESTORATION KDKA’s basement records were made in the KDKA studio using simple techniques. They were brittle and not intended for long term preservation, and they could be replayed only for 4 or 5 times before degradation occurred. Similar to an LP, these transcript recordings were coated with mold and fungus. Yet, they provide a sampling of Pittsburgh area radio history, and many include pre-recorded programming and commentary. RCA’s tour and Kirmuss’ chance visit to KDKA resulted in Kirmuss developing his now award winning record restoration process. Development took two years, and he formed a new company, KirmussAudio, to make the process available to the public. Kirmuss is now gaining recognition for his record restoration process by the Recording Academy.
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Pre-restoration view of LP showing mold and fungus in the LP’s grooves.
Post-restoration view of LP showing clear LP grooves.
FUTURE WORK Earlier this year, RCA was planning to hold its 2020 Banquet and Technical Symposium in Pittsburg to celebrate KDKA’s centennial broadcast of the HardingCox U.S. presidential election results on November 2, 1920. As a gesture to KDKA for their hospitality in 2017, KirmussAudio donated a record cleaning and restoration system to KDKA to revive its archives. KDKA and Kirmuss hope to digitize their restored recordings, and then share KDKA’s recorded history for all to enjoy. Now an Entercom Station, KDKA describes itself as the “Pioneer Broadcasting Station of the World.” Many of the recordings in KDKA’s basement may be true gems of history, yet to be KirmussAudio record restoration device: rediscovered by a serial number 1 off the assembly line domodern audience. nated to KDKA with special plaque.
KDKA'S 1920 BROADCAST CENTENNIAL By David and Julia Bart INTRODUCTION The year 2020 marks the centennial of radio station KDKA’s historic broadcasts of the U.S. presidential election results on November 2, 1920. This date is often used to mark the beginning of the commercial radio broadcasting era. The stories of Frank Conrad, his experimental station 8XK, and KDKA’s legendary accomplishments have been told in a variety of formats over the years. Previous anniversaries at KDKA garnered much fanfare (see Figs. 1 and 2) and KDKA has launched centennial celebrations. This article revisits portions of the story. In 2017, members of the Radio Club of America received a private tour of the current KDKA radio studios and KDKA’s transmitter station, which continues to reside in its 1939 transmission facility. The authors refer the reader to the spring 2018 issue of the Proceedings of the Radio Club of America for a description of that visit. Both the Antique Wireless Association (AWA) and the Radio Club of America are featuring presentations
Fig. 1. KDKA 95th anniversary card. (Courtesy, KDKA)
Fig. 2. Another example of a KDKA anniversary card. (Courtesy, KDKA)
about the history of KDKA and Westinghouse’s contributions to radio at their 2020 conferences. Further information about those presentations can be obtained from those conference materials. This article is drawn from a lengthy study first published in the AWA Review (Vol. 33, 2020). The authors thank the editors at AWA for their many contributions to that study; in particular, we thank Eric Wenaas, Ph.D.
Fig. 3. Frank Conrad. (Courtesy, IEEE History Center)
RADIO PIONEER FRANK CONRAD Early Years1 Frank Conrad (1874−1941) is best known for his work developing radio technology at the Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he helped establish a foundation for commercial broadcasting (see Fig. 3). His efforts grew from an experimental radio station, 8XK, developed in a workshop he built in the second story of his garage, and his work in establishing Westinghouse’s first broadcasting service over radio station KDKA. Conrad was born in Pittsburgh in 1874, the son of a railroad mechanic and homemaker. Formal schooling ended after he completed the 7th grade. In 1890, he joined Westinghouse at age 16 and registered trains for ampere-hour meter maintenance. He developed reputations for his insatiable thirst for knowledge, work ethic, and incredible memory. In 1897, at age 23, he transferred to Westinghouse’s Testing Department where he invented a circular-type watt-hour meter. Westinghouse promoted him to General Engineer in 1904 and Assistant Chief Engineer in 1921. His work involved arc lighting, ignitions in automobiles, and then radio. He became a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) in 1902 and went on to receive more than 200 patents for a variety of electrical devices: 177 in the United States, 42 in the United Kingdom, and 9 in Germany. Conrad’s interest in radio stemmed from a 1913 bet with a co-worker over whose watch was more accurate. Conrad won the bet after he secretly replaced his cheap watch’s internal components with the mechanism from a more expensive and much more accurate watch.2 Conrad then tested the watches, after which he began to question the accuracy of Western Union’s telegraphed time signals. In 1916, he built a simple radio to receive the U.S. Naval Observatory’s time signals, broadcast nightly by station NAA in Arlington, Virginia. Conrad next constructed a transmitter to communicate with his neighbor and other www.radioclubofamerica.org | FALL 2020 PROCEEDINGS
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local amateur radio operators. He then installed a radio station on the top floor of his two-story garage adjacent to his new home in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania.3 In July 1916, Conrad’s amateur station received an “Experimental” license, with the call sign 8XK.4 The station included a spark transmitter for Morse code transmissions. The “8” indicated the station was located in the 8th Radio Inspection District, and the “X” designated the station was operating under an Experimental license.
WORLD WAR I Following the United States’ entry into World War I in April 1917, the U.S. Navy assumed control of the country’s commercial radio stations. All civilian radio stations, including experimental stations like 8XK, were ordered to cease transmission and reception.5 Conrad spent the war years at Westinghouse working on improvements to military radio equipment, including the U.S. Army Signal Corps SCR-69 transmitter and SCR-70 receiver used in airplanes.6 Westinghouse became the first supplier of combination radio telephone-telegraph receivers for the U.S. Navy. Its airborne electrical generator provided power for the first continuous over-water plane-to-shore transmission tests in May 1919 between Newfoundland and England.7 Radio transmitters and receivers designed by Conrad were the only radio equipment to reach the front in considerable quantities for use by the Allied Expeditionary Force.8 Conrad’s work encompassed radiotelephone transmissions (for voice and music, not simply Morse code), and incorporated vacuum tube transmitters. Despite the nationwide blackout for amateur radio transmissions, Conrad received authorization to operate an experimental radio transmitter from his home during the war with the call sign 3WE. He used this station to communicate with a second station located at the Westinghouse plant in East Pittsburgh.9
RADIO BROADCASTING BEGINS The ban on operating civilian radio stations ended after the war, effective October 1, 1919. Conrad resumed his experiments using the 8XK call sign broadcasting from his home garage, including testing vacuum tube radiotelephone equipment,10 although a formal license renewal was not issued to him until January 21, 1921. Nevertheless, beginning on the evening of October 17, 1919, Conrad began broadcasting selections from his personal collection of phonograph records as he undertook a series of test broadcasts.11 He accepted specific requests to hear records from his growing audience. As the demand grew, he announced that instead of complying with individual requests, he would “broadcast” records for two hours each Wednesday and Saturday evening. KDKA claimed, “This is the first recorded use of the word broadcast to describe a radio service.”12 The debate over this claim is outside the scope of this article, but it can be contested. For example, a January 1917 article in Electrical Experimenter outlined Lee De Forest’s
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“broadcast” by “radio,” using those words, of U.S. election returns via wireless telephony in November 1916 to 7,000 amateur radio operators who were notified in advance of the scheduled program.13 See further comments below. In any case, in response to his growing audience interest, Conrad adopted a semi-regular schedule of defined programming that was transmitted for all to hear. After exhausting his personal collection of records used to broadcast music, he borrowed records from a local Brunswick record shop in exchange for on-air acknowledgements.14 These on-air acknowledgements constituted the early beginnings of on-air radio advertising. Conrad also ran a telephone line from the music room in his home to the transmitter in his garage, so performers, which included Conrad, could use the family piano.15 These performances constituted the early origins of the on-air radio “studio,” that is to say, a room used as a dedicated performance space whose sounds are broadcast by radio to a listening audience. (Again, the authors of this article have not verified these KDKA claims of providing the first on-air advertisements or first on-air studio.) The Pittsburgh GazetteTimes reviewed Conrad’s radio transmissions, and on December 26, 1919, the New York Times reported “Phonograph’s Music Heard on Radio Phones.” The New York Times estimated Conrad’s audience to be approximately 400 owners of wireless sets. On June 26, 1920, Conrad broadcast a special concert for the patients at the Tuberculosis League Hospital.16
Fig. 4. Harry Davis. (Wireless Age, Apr. 1924)
The Joseph Horne Department Store in Pittsburgh placed an advertisement in the Pittsburgh Sun, “Air Concert Picked Up By Radio,” on September 29, 1920, that offered for sale crystal set radios to hear Conrad’s broadcasts. Harry Davis, a vice president at Westinghouse, noticed the growing popularity of Conrad’s broadcasts and arranged for Westinghouse to build a transmitter at the plant (see Fig. 4). The new Westinghouse station received licensing in October 1920, in time to broadcast results of the upcoming Harding-Cox Presidential Election results on November 2, 1920. (See further discussion below about the timing of the licenses issued to stations KDKA and 8ZZ.)17 Davis envisioned combining radio manufacturing with free radio programming. Listeners could purchase Westinghouse radios specifically to hear free programming provided by Westinghouse in their own homes, thereby creating a readymade market for both the radios and the broadcast programming. Davis had conceived the idea of commercial broadcasting. He invited Conrad to build a transmitter at the Westinghouse plant in Pittsburgh and developed the first formal guidelines for KDKA’s broadcast programming.18 As Davis later explained, “We had in our hands in this idea the instrument that would prove to be the greatest and most direct means of
mass communication and mass education that had ever appeared.”19 Guy E. Tripp, Westinghouse’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, would later state, “Mr. Davis was the only man in the Westinghouse Co. who had the vision of broadcasting and the courage to see it through,” and many Davis obituaries would call him the real “father of broadcasting.”20 Throughout, Conrad continued to conduct experimental radio work. In the summer of 1920, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and the U.S. Bureau of Standards began investigating radio signal fading. Variations in signal strength were affecting long distance signals during nighttime operation. Conrad provided testing ideas, and station 8XK was one of the key stations participating in these tests.21 In 1921, Conrad was named assistant chief engineer at Westinghouse and assumed responsibility for all of the company’s radio-related activities.22
KDKA FACILITIES KDKA’s Early Transmitter Frequencies In the early 1920s, many radio transmitters were rated from 100−150 watts, and approximately 15 were rated up to 1 kW watt with 5−6 rated up to 5 kW. By 1920,
The Radio Club of America Congratulates KDKA on Their Centennial Although our special centennial tour was cancelled for 2020, please see the RCA website for further information about this historic radio station: • Interesting videos on KDKA history • Pittsburgh Amateur Radio Club’s KDKA 100th Plans • ARRL’s Special Event for Radio Amateurs for KDKA’s 100th year broadcast anniversary • 3 minute YouTube clip on KDKA history • Detailed excerpt from a broadcasting book, plus biographies on key KDKA persons • Audio clip on the Harding-Cox broadcast on Nov. 2, 1920 • A short early history of wireless including KDKA
https://www.radioclubofamerica.org/awards-banquetand-technical-symposium/
wavelength 360 meters (833.3 kHz) had been allocated by the U.S. government for public broadcasting, near the 600 meters (500 kHz) range used for international distress and experimental uses. By December 1921, a second wavelength of 485 meters (618.6 kHz) had been added for crop reports and weather forecasts. In spring 1922, a third wavelength was added at 400 meters (750 kHz) for Class B stations, which typically operated at 500−1,000 watts. In May 1923, frequencies were reassigned again. As a result, two classes of stations could occupy 500−1,350 kHz: Class A stations transmitting at less than 500 watts (550−800 kHz and 1,000−1,350 watts) and Class B stations using 500 watts or more (870−1,000 kHz) with some older stations still operating at 833.3 kHz. In a series of revisions in April 1927, August 1933, and March 1941, broadcasting allocations were further realigned and now permitted single channel station broadcasting on all frequencies between 550 kHz and 1,600 kHz. This allocation remained in place into the 1990s (see Fig. 5).23 The History of American Broadcasting website analyzed and summarized KDKA’s frequency authorizations by the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) and its successor the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).24 • KDKA made its submission to the FRC, dated October 16, 1920, on Form 761, “Applicant’s Description of Apparatus.” Form 761 specified that KDKA had two transmitters: a high frequency alternator (3,200 meter set), and a vacuum tube transmitter (500 meter set); both used for code transmissions, and it contained a note that the 500 meter set could also be set up for audio transmissions. • The November 1, 1920 Radio Service Bulletin lists wavelengths of 3,200 meters (93.75 kHz) and 500 meters (600 kHz) for KDKA. At the same time, Westinghouse was assigned the use of 330 meters for its 8ZZ broadcasts, although the 8ZZ and initial KDKA broadcasts transmitted on 550 meters for the historic November 2, 1920 broadcast as described below. Westinghouse reports that it transmitted on 330 meters until fall 1921, when Westinghouse’s other stations (KDKA, WBZ, and WJZ) were all assigned to 360 meters at Westinghouse’s request. • The initial license authorized the use of telephone apparatus on 600 meters with 200 watts on October 27, 1920. From October 5−23, 1922, KDKA received authorization to operate on 400 and 485 meters with 600 watts. A series of license modifications in 1922−1923 permitted operations at 360 and 485 meters with 600 watts, 1 kW, and 1.6 kW. In addition KDKA was granted use of 920 kHz at 500 watts to 10 kW that covered its three transmitters in August 1923. A temporary permit allowed experimental operations at 970 kHz and 50 kW, and KDKA was authorized to use 1.5 kW of power in 1925. • KDKA applied for additional allocations on April 1, 1927 (see Fig. 6). Licenses were issued in June 1927 permitting operations at 950 kHz and 30 kW as well as 50 kW. In 1928, Westinghouse also received www.radioclubofamerica.org | FALL 2020 PROCEEDINGS
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experimental rights granted at 25 kW, and the main license was reallocated to 980 kHz at 50 kW. • KDKA relocated its main transmitter in 1929. Subsequent FCC authorizations in 1930 and 1932 granted operations at 980 kHz and 25 kW then 50 kW. In 1941, operations were granted at 1,020 kHz and 50 kW. In sum, at the time of the November 2, 1920 election broadcast, a KDKA license had been signed in October 1920, but Westinghouse had not received it yet. So, Westinghouse requested and was granted the temporary license 8ZZ to use for the broadcast. Westinghouse therefore announced both 8ZZ and KDKA call signs onair.25 KDKA’s Early Transmitters QST described Conrad’s station 8XK in detail in its September 1920 issue cover story (see Figs. 7 and 8).
The tour was likely provided by Conrad himself, since the station resided in his home garage. The radio telephone set at the right of Fig. 7 used two 50 watt power tubes, where the plate circuit was supplied by a 1,000 VDC generator, and a 5 watt tube that amplified the audio frequency of the usual direct current generator. The set included two vacuum tubes, operating in parallel, and directly coupled to the antenna inductance. A 700 cycle generator rated at 300 watts supplied the plate circuit, and was driven by a half horsepower induction motor. When adjusted to 250 meters for the Bureau of Standards/ARRL Fading Tests, the set delivered a current of 6.5 amperes to the antenna, with an output of 450 watts. The receiving equipment (not shown in Fig. 7) was typically used for ordinary shortwave reception and comprised a single circuit receiving tuner, which was used in connection with a detector and a two-stage amplifier. The antenna shown includes the counterpoise in place of a ground connection.26 Donald G. Little, the radio engineer who worked as Conrad’s assistant at Westinghouse (see Fig. 9), provided
Fig. 7. Frank Conrad’s garage station 8XK appearing on the cover of QST. (QST, Sept. 1920) Fig. 5. Evolution of the standard broadcast band. (Stay Tuned, Sterling and Kittross, 2002, p. 95)
Fig. 6. U.S. Federal Radio Commission application record for station KDKA dated Apr. 1, 1927. (Courtesy, FCC) 62
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Fig. 8. Frank Conrad’s house, garage, and antenna for station 8XK. (Courtesy, QST, Sept. 1920)
Fig. 9. Donald G. Little. (Courtesy, Proc. IEEE, June 1998)
the earliest formal descriptions of the transmitters at KDKA. He published a detailed explanation of the equipment used at KDKA in the September 1922 issue of Radio.27 Conrad presented a paper about the station on January 2, 1924 at the Convention of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE). He subsequently published this paper in the June 1924 issue of the Proceedings of the IRE.28
Little first joined Westinghouse as a radio engineer after serving in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I. At Westinghouse, he was assigned to serve as Conrad’s assistant. At Conrad’s direction, Little designed and modeled the 1920 KDKA transmitter. Little remained at Westinghouse until his retirement in 1958. He provided numerous firsthand accounts explaining KDKA’s operations in articles published for a wide range of readers.29
Fig. 10. Control desk of KDKA’s 1926 transmitter station located two miles from the East Springfield Works. (Proc. IRE, Vol. 14, Aug. 1926, p. 502)
In 1922, the KDKA transmitter operated a modulated oscillator of four 250 watt tubes (possibly UV-204 tubes) in parallel modulated by five similar tubes also in parallel. All tubes operated with approximately 2 kV on the plate from a motor-generator set. The radio frequency output was rated at 1 kW.30 This circuit, the Meissner circuit, was being used in experimentation jointly performed with the Radio Laboratory of the Bureau of Standards and Western Electric Company regarding signal fading at various times of day for continuous wave broadcasts at 105 meters.31 By the time Little published his paper describing KDKA in 1924, the station had three complete transmitting sets. Metal water-cooled vacuum tubes acted as rectifiers, modulators, and oscillators. The four rectifier tubes and associated apparatus had a maximum rated output direct potential of 10 kV. Circulating water from a 100 gallon tank placed approximately 20 feet above kept them cool. The tubes used 20−50 gallons of water per hour depending on the power load and resulting heat. The station operated at 920 kHz using an inverted “L” transmitting antenna with a counterpoise (see below). Two outside telephone lines terminating at an operator’s desk provided audio from a studio located at the Pittsburgh Post and another studio located at Westinghouse’s East Pittsburgh plant. In 1923, KDKA’s facilities were considered state of the art.32 Little and a manager at Westinghouse, R. L. Davis, jointly published an updated account of KDKA’s operations in the August 1926 issue of the Proceedings of the IRE where they fully described KDKA’s equipment as of 1926 that was used for both regular and shortwave broadcasting (see Figs. 10–15).33 An interior photograph of KDKA’s shortwave broadcasting station equipment appeared on the cover of the May 1928 issue of QST, but the magazine provided only limited information in a short descriptive paragraph about the station.34
Fig. 11. KDKA’s 1926 transmitter and filer control panel. (Proc. IRE, Vol. 14, Aug. 1926, p. 501)
Fig. 12. KDKA’s 1926 No. 1 Transmitter. (Proc. IRE, Vol. 14, Aug. 1926, p. 506)
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KDKA’s research into signal fading and signal strength eventually contributed towards its rationale for moving its transmitter and antenna tower in 1929. The FRC granted permits in July 1929. The following year, the FRC granted permits for KDKA to operate experimentally on 400 kW, the highest broadcasting power ever attempted up to that time.35 In 1929, KDKA moved its transmitter from East Pittsburgh to a 120 acre site at Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, 26 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. This time, R. L. Davis and another Westinghouse radio engineer, V. E. Trouant, published their description of KDKA’s newest operations used in both regular and shortwave broadcasting in the June 1932 issue of the Proceedings of the IRE (see Figs. 16–18).36
Fig. 13. KDKA’s 1926 transmitter filament motor-generator sets. (Proc. IRE, Vol. 14, Aug. 1926, p. 486)
Fig. 14. KDKA’s 1926 970 KHz oscillator frame. (Proc. IRE, Vol. 14, Aug. 1926, p. 485)
Fig. 15. KDKA’s 1926 transmitter apparatus room. (Proc. IRE, Vol. 14, Aug. 1926, p. 489)
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• A 2,600 square foot brick building housed a new transmitter. The antenna sat at some distance away, over a pond, with eight 110 foot high wooden (not metal) poles to limit the signal absorption. The building housed all of the equipment except the rectifier transformers and filter chokes, which sat on a platform at the rear of the building. The wood antenna poles were spaced on a circuit more than 700 feet in
Fig. 16. Saxonburg transmitting station in 1932 showing transmitter building. (Proc. IRE, Vol. 20, June 1932, p. 922)
Fig. 17. Saxonburg transmitting station in 1932 showing 40 volt, 1,000 ampere filament motor generators. (Proc. IRE, Vol. 20 June 1932, p. 928)
air throughout the building. Since the station was on the air 18 hours a day, electrical heating units inside the ventilating ducts were able to provide sufficient heat for the remaining hours. • The new transmitter was intended to send out KDKA’s standard broadcasts as well as shortwave programs over the Westinghouse International station WPIT and experimental noise-free shortwave programs from a “pick-a-back” aerial that was eventually mounted at the top of the main tower. • KDKA’s programs continued to originate from the Grant Building studios in Pittsburgh that were conveyed to Allison Park over special high quality telephone lines at an input power of one sixty-millionth of a watt, which were then rebroadcast at 50 kW.
Fig. 18. Saxonburg transmitting station in 1932 showing AW-220 radio frequency output stage. (Proc. IRE, Vol. 20, June 1932, p. 929)
diameter, each with a vertical down lead that was fed from a center point transmission line. The 130 acre site was at 1,300 feet elevation, 100 feet higher than KDKA’s prior transmitter (see below).37 • KDKA incorporated six new 100 kW, seven foot tall, eight inch diameter, 60 pound, water-cooled, power supply tubes (AW-220 tubes) that each permitted KDKA to broadcast at 50 kW, half of the power capability. The new tubes, intended for the highest frequency power output, were cooled using soft water pumped to an outdoor cooling pool before being returned to the cooling coils and the tubes. The new tubes replaced the five smaller tubes in operation at the former transmitter. The new Saxonburg facility could produce 400 kW (see Fig. 19).38
• The new KDKA transmitter had a new master control system, which provided a duplicate set of controls for each of three transmitter units. This enabled one operator in a glass enclosed room to simultaneously supervise the programs carried by all three transmitters. The station also had a push button relay shift device that prevented broadcast interruptions caused by burned out tubes when bringing a spare tube into service automatically after one of the six regular tubes became inoperative. At the press of a button, the inoperative tube could be selected and cut out of the circuit, allowing the reserve tube to go into action without loss of station time or danger to transmitter employees. The Antennas Conrad employed an inverted “L” antenna at his garage station 8XK that was used in conjunction with a counterpoise in place of a ground connection (see Fig. 8). The flat top of the antenna had six wires, two feet apart, 105 feet long, and 50 feet high. The arrangement permitted operation at shortwave length without the use of a series condenser. It had resistance of 8 ohms at 250 meters.40
Relocation of the antenna tower to Allison Park in 1939 and construction of a new transmitter building brought further changes to the transmitter itself:39 • The new transmitter building was revolutionary. For the first time, a transmitter station of this size was heated by the same air that was used to cool the giant transmitting tubes. There was no furnace in the building. Air ducts and fins circulated cool air Fig. 19. Saxonburg transmitting about the tubes, and then station’s AW-220 tube. (Radio recirculated the heated News, Apr. 1931)
Fig. 20. KDKA’s 1920 antenna on Building K in East Pittsburgh. (Courtesy Heinz History Center, Image 20170320-hpichswp-0042)
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The original antenna for the 1920 broadcasts from Building K at the Westinghouse plant in East Pittsburgh comprised six wires 190 feet in length on 20 foot spreaders. The antenna sat 210 feet above the ground, supported by the building’s smokestack at one end and a 100 foot pipe mast on the 9 story building at the other end (see Fig. Fig. 21. KDKA’s 1921 shortwave an20). A counterpoise, tenna on Building K. (Proc. IRE, Vol. which duplicated the 12, Dec. 1924, p. 726) antenna and replicated a ground connection, was located 110 feet beneath the antenna. This brought the counterpoise about 15 feet below the transmitting set. The high frequency resistance of the antenna system at 360 meters wavelength was approximately 12 ohms, and was mostly radiation resistance. The antenna had current at 500 watts of 6.5 amperes, and at 1 kW had 9 amperes.41 Conrad’s initial shortwave broadcasts in 1921 transmitted from a simple vertical pole mounted on the flat roof of Westinghouse’s Building K. A number of continuous copper strips were fastened to the pole’s surface in order to eliminate high resistance joints in the pole. These strips carried out over the roof at the foot of the pole, forming an extended ground. Conrad replaced this antenna with a vertical L type antenna and a counterpoise to overcome frequent unanticipated frequency shifts (see Fig. 21).42 Conrad designed new versions of oil condensers to handle the high amperages, new inductance coils, and made other circuit and equipment modifications, which successfully raised the upper frequency limits to 3.8 MHz (79 meters) (see Fig. 22).43
Fig. 23. KDKA’s Saxonburg transmitting station circa 1929 with shortwave antennas shown at the left. (Courtesy Radio News, Feb. 1929)
By 1929, KDKA’s shortwave broadcasts reached around the world. The shortwave transmitter occupied the same building as the longwave transmitter that produced signals Fig. 24. KDKA blimp used to lift antenna aerial, at 360 meters. circa 1933. (Courtesy KDKA) The shortwave transmitters operated on 62.50 and 25.40 meters (see Fig. 23). In April 1933, KDKA used an aerial suspended by a blimp in experiments performed at Saxonburg to help reduce signal fading and to extend the range of the broadcasts by using a 25 foot long, 10 foot diameter, blimp at 1,500 feet altitude to lift 500 feet of antenna wire (see Fig. 24).44 On October 30, 1937, KDKA celebrated its 17th anniversary by dedicating a new 718 foot vertical antenna at Saxonburg. The first antenna installed at 644 feet fell earlier in October. Designs for the new, even taller 1938 antenna included additional wire cabling and forged steel turnbuckles to strengthen the tower’s ability to withstand strains and loads up to 100,000 pounds each.45 KDKA relocated the antenna in 1939 to the highest point in Allegheny County at Allison Park, only eight miles from Pittsburgh, when it also moved the transmitter. The 718 foot tall Truscon antenna located 1,400 feet from the transmitter gave KDKA primary broadcasting service over an area 10 times greater than previous operations. • KDKA placed a circle of eight 90 foot antennas surrounding the 718 foot vertical antenna to suppress interfering radio waves. These 90 foot antennas radiated “skywaves” in opposite directions so that they nullified the effect of the skywaves emitted from the main antenna and extended the fading zone.
Fig. 22. KDKA’s 1921 transmitter unit including rectifiers, modulator, and oscillator. (Proc. IRE, Vol. 12, Dec. 1924, plate after p. 732)
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• The 60 ton structure of the main antenna comprised 32 three-cornered, welded steel sections each five
feet wide, sitting on a 10 foot wide concrete pier. The tower rested in the ball and socket joint of a single large porcelain insulator strong enough to support the additional 20 ton load added by the pull of the guy wires. At 336 feet of height, the antenna was electrically broken by three insulators. The conductivity of the ground was improved by burying 50 miles of copper wire radiating out for 700 feet at one degree apart.46 • Cross-arm aerials were also superimposed on the main tower for high frequency transmission, but those broadcasts were limited to 35 miles radius from the tower. The new tower eventually assumed all shortwave broadcasts made over station WPIT (formerly W8XK), which were still operating from Saxonburg in 1939 (see Figs. 25 and 26).47 The antenna tower, at 718 feet, was the tallest welded structure in the world and weighed 60 tons.48 It was also the tallest structure in the U.S., rising 1,900 feet above sea level. The American Bridge Company manufactured the carbon steel, and a team of nine men erected it in 72 hours. Its top 60 foot aviation beacon and lightning rod were level with the roof of the Radio City Building in New York City. Known for its efficiency, it had the strongest signal within its range of any other antenna. It broadcast at a constant 50 kW, the most powerful wattage allowed on the AM airwaves.49 Over the years, the main tower was painted with several layers of orange and white paint so that it would not present a hazard to aircraft. It also was equipped with a 36 inch rotating aviation beacon placed atop a 60 foot cap tower. In 1994, the tower was replaced for structural reasons. The replacement tower that still stands today is also made of carbon steel and resembles the original tower; however, it is equipped with the latest electrical and mechanical technology. The current transmitter and its identical backup system have been online since 1980.50 KDKA opened its FM tower in 1948, operating at 92.9 MHz and transmitted on low band frequency of 47.5 MHz.51 The dual band transition period ended at midnight on January 8, 1949, at which time all low band transmitters had to be shut down, thereby making obsolete 395,000 original FM receivers that had been previously sold and purchased under the original definition of the FM frequency band.52
STATION IDENTIFICATION Conrad received experimental license 8XK in 1916. He also used station 2WE at the Westinghouse plant in East Pittsburgh and 2WM at his home in Wilkinsburg. By 1919, he was using 8XK for most broadcasting tests. Conrad’s experimental station 8XK provided some voice and music broadcasts by October 1919. Other experimental stations and amateurs occasionally broadcast phonograph music as well, even as early as 1906 (Reginald Fessenden), 1907 (Lee De Forest), and 1909 (Charles “Doc” Herrold). Nonetheless, Conrad is often credited with triggering or inspiring a critical chain of events that helped create the
Fig. 25. View from afar showing KDKA’s Allison Park antenna in 1939. (Broadcasting, Nov. 1, 1939, p. 17)
Fig. 26. View from bottom up showing KDKA’s Allison Park antenna in 1939. (Courtesy, Radio News, Jan. 1938; KDKA)
broadcasting industry. (Note, it is outside the scope of this article to fully explore the various claims of who was “first” in radio broadcasting.)53 Evidence from an oral interview of Conrad taken by George Clark circa 1940 indicates that Conrad broadcast “radio concerts” earlier than October 1919 using his special wartime license before he could have been reassigned the 8XK license after the war, possibly as early as April 15, 1919. These broadcasts occurred well before the U.S. ban on radio reception was lifted, and possibly much earlier during experimental testing.54 On November 2, 1920, Conrad operated 8XK from his home as a backup for the broadcasts on KDKA and 8ZZ. Little remained at KDKA serving as the announcer and monitoring the 100 watt transmitter.55 Conrad later recalled in the Clark interview that call sign 8ZZ and KDKA were used interchangeably and that he had also participated as an announcer.56 Arthur Goodnow, the retired Director of Transmitter Engineering for Westinghouse, analyzed government records and reports about KDKA’s licensing history. KDKA began as a Land Radio Station, Class Limited Commercial under a license issued on Oct. 27, 1920 by the Bureau of Navigation of the U.S. Department of Commerce. • The license authorized 500 and 3200 meter transmission and also “300 and 600 meters to be used as required in Regulations 42 and 44,” which meant KDKA was authorized to use 300 meters as a working wave and 600 meters as a calling and distress wave in the maritime service. Power levels were set at 2 kW for radio telegraphy and 200 W for radiotelephony. The KDKA license never mentioned broadcasting, nevertheless KDKA operated the historic November 2, 1920 broadcast of U.S. election results on 550 meters. www.radioclubofamerica.org | FALL 2020 PROCEEDINGS
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• On November 7, 1921, KDKA’s license was modified to include broadcasting on “360 meters to be used exclusively for broadcasting.” • The first station in the U.S. to receive an authorization specifically stating, in so many words, that the license was intended for radio “broadcasting” was actually Westinghouse’s second broadcast station, WBZ in Springfield, Massachusetts, which received its authorization on September 21, 1921.57 Although KDKA was not the only station to broadcast election night returns on November 2, 1920 (for example, 9XM/WHA in Madison, Wisconsin, broadcast the results using wireless telegraphy), KDKA claims to be the first station to broadcast regularly scheduled programming, and claims to be the first to engage in “broadcasting” as that term is commonly used today. Thus, KDKA is often acknowledged as the oldest station still in continuous operation.58 • Following the opening of WBZ, Westinghouse opened WJZ in Newark, New Jersey, and KYW in Chicago, Illinois, in October and November 1921, respectively.59 As Conrad’s interest in shortwave broadcast experiments grew during 1921−1922, KDKA installed and operated experimental shortwave station 8XS on the rooftop of Westinghouse’s Building K. Beginning July 19, 1923, KDKA began regular nightly 4.5 hour shortwave broadcasts that were soon received across the world.60 In July 1924, the shortwave transmitters were upgraded and relocated to nearby Forest Hills, Pennsylvania. Conrad’s historic call sign 8XK was transferred to the KDKA shortwave transmitter at about this same time.61 By 1927, KDKA shortwave broadcasts on 8XK could be heard most nights at 4.760 MHz.62 Call sign 8XS was returned to the Federal Radio Commission in 1925.63 In November 1927, the FRC held a Washington conference attended by 79 nations and many non-voting organizations. A major accomplishment included the adoption of frequency allocations for most of the broadcast spectrum. It also established that experimental stations would carry country/region prefix in their call signs; i.e., a “W” prefix was added to U.S. experimental station “X” call signs east of the Mississippi River to match the newly agreed-upon international labeling system. Thus, KDKA’s experimental station 8XK became W8XK effective October 1, 1928, in the U.S. and January 1, 1929, internationally.64 A number of other call signs are associated with KDKA. Call sign 8XAU dated from 1924 for use at Westinghouse, which was subsumed into 8XK within the year. Westinghouse used 8XAV for television experiments in the 1920s. Both Westinghouse and the University of Pittsburgh held 8XI during World War I, and it appears to have been a forerunner of 8XK. In 1937, 8XKA received Westinghouse for ultra-shortwave band experiments.65 In subsequent years, frequency locations and broadcasting schedules were revised numerous times. Call signs for a number of experimental stations also changed effective September 1, 1939, including W8XK, which became WPIT.66 68
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Finally, on the corporate side, Westinghouse formed its broadcasting company in the 1920s, known as Westinghouse Radio Stations, Inc., which it subsequently renamed as Westinghouse Broadcasting Company (WBC) in 1954. WBC adopted the “Group W” moniker on May 20, 1963. WBC operated a self-contained entity within the Westinghouse corporate structure. WBC maintained its headquarters in New York City, even though Pittsburgh remained the parent company’s headquarters. WBC operated KDKA. In 1943, WBC stations became affiliates of NBC’s Red Network. WBC eventually built sister stations for FM operations, i.e. KDKA-FM, and for television operations, i.e. KDKA-TV. Today, CBS owns and operates KDKA-TV, and Entercom owns KDKA-AM, while KDKA-FM is owned by Steel City Media.67
KDKA’S STUDIOS For its first six months, KDKA operated without a studio. All programs originated either as phonograph records played on turntables in the tiny transmitter penthouse atop Building K or from churches, theaters, hotels, or other remote points that were relayed back to the transmitter. In May 1921, KDKA added live band and orchestras to the programming.68 KDKA broadcast its first studio programs from a ninth floor auditorium at the plant, but the microphones picked up excessive sound resonance in the room. So, engineers erected a tent draped with burlap (originally termed “monk’s cloth”) and a single-room shack on the roof next to the transmitter-penthouse. The single room accommodated transmitting equipment, a turntable for records, and KDKA’s first broadcast staff. The performers worked outdoors under the tent. The rooftop tent/studio worked reasonably well until the weather worsened and the tent blew down in a storm. Engineers further developed the use of burlap drapes and acoustical boards after
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constructing an indoor studio the following October in Building K.69 As part of ongoing facility upgrades, a new studio went into operation in December 1922 (see Fig. 27).70
Fig. 27. Cover of Radio Broadcasting News showing new KDKA studio at Building K in December 1922. (Authors’ collection)
KDKA opened an auxiliary studio in Pittsburgh’s Old Post Building for the convenience of speakers who did not want to travel to East Pittsburgh. The station eventually
moved into the ground floor of the Fort Pitt Hotel, occupying two rooms and a bathroom, which housed the control equipment. In January 1929, KDKA opened new studio facilities at the William Penn Hotel.71 The following June, KDKA relocated its master control facilities to the hotel.72 In November 1934, on KDKA’s 14th anniversary, KDKA inaugurated new studios in downtown Pittsburgh’s Grant Building on the third floor.73 The studio included a master control room that relayed the radio signals to the main transmitter site at Saxonburg, location of the 50 kW transmitter (see Figs. 28–30). Twelve years later, in May 1956, KDKA relocated the radio studios to 1 Gateway Center, joining KDKA-TV, where they remained until 2010. That year, KDKA-AM relocated to CBS’s combined radio facility on Holiday Drive in nearby Green Tree, Pennsylvania. KDKA continues to transmit from the Allison Park facility today. Meanwhile, KDKA-TV continued its studio operations at Gateway Center, where it remains today.74
Fig. 28. Floor plan for KDKA studios in the Grant Building circa 1934. (Courtesy Broadcast Pioneers Library)
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involved determining the precise carrier wave frequencies that would give the maximum constant strength of signal, especially during high listenership broadcast hours. KDKA maintained a 100 meter shortwave transmitter antenna, only 35 feet long, atop Building K in East Pittsburgh (see Fig. 31).76 Fig. 29. Control room at KDKA studios in the Grant Building circa 1937. (Courtesy Broadcast Pioneers Library)
Recognizing the success Fig. 31. KDKA’s 100 meter shortwave of KDKA’s shortwave antenna on Building K. (Courtebroadcasts from Pittsburgh sy Heinz History Center, Image and the establishment 20170320-hpichswp-0059) of KFKX as a repeating station, the newly formed British Broadcasting Company (BBC) established a private high frequency receiver in Manchester, England, to perform tests of its own with KDKA and KFKX. This led to the BBC’s own shortwave broadcasts by December 29, 1923, that were linked to KDKA. On December 31, 1923, Davis broadcast a New Year greeting speech to the people of Great Britain.77 Over subsequent years, Westinghouse expanded its operations at KDKA, as told in numerous firsthand accounts and in other publications.
Fig. 30. Transmitter control room at Saxonburg circa 1937. (Courtesy KDKA)
KDKA’S FIRST DECADE
In its first decade, KDKA achieved a string of successes and received national and international attention from those accomplishments. For example, a brief survey of just the New York Times highlights:78 December 21, 1923 — Boy In Belfast Picks Up KDKA. February 10, 1924 — Mountains Cause KDKA’s Music to Swing And Fade (the development of a filter circuit or “wave trap” placed between the antenna and ground).
Frank Conrad’s initial experiments focused on 100 meter shortwave broadcasting between KDKA and amateurs March 16, 1924 — Sextet of Stations Broadcast Over A living in the Pittsburgh area. In 1922, Conrad successfully Span of 7,000 Miles (see Fig. 32). demonstrated shortwave radio reception while at an International Radio Conference held in London where April 20, 1924 — Pittsburgh Programs Relayed To the audience heard broadcasts from station 8XK.75 England on Short Waves. Based on these and other successful experiments and March 29, 1925 — Transmitter On A Truck Relays demonstrations, Westinghouse installed a second receiving Programs To KDKA. and broadcasting station, KDPM, in Cleveland, Ohio. Two years later, in 1923, Westinghouse opened station October 5, 1924 — Short Waves To Link 62 Banquets KFKX at Hastings, Nebraska, and claimed it to be the (10,000 diners in America and England heard President world’s first repeating station. It was specifically located Coolidge broadcast from the White House) (see Fig. 33). near the geographic center of the U.S. Westinghouse did not consider KFKX to be an experimental station since much of its design was copied from KDKA’s existing technology and systems. Going forward, much of KDKA’s research efforts centered on shortwave transmitting Fig. 32. KDKA’s international broadcasting system. (Courtesy New York Times, Mar. 16, 1924) and reception. Experiments 70
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April 20, 1925 — Australia Hears KDKA. June 7, 1925 — Low Aerial On Hill Radiates Further And Waves Fade Less (explained signal strength and the theory of fading). May 14, 1927 — Devise New System of Broadcasting (how 1,900 stations can operate simultaneously on KDKA’s new 500 Hz signal separation system). November 29, 1927 — Test Short Waves To Attune Stations (how KDKA and KYW of Chicago tested synchronized chain broadcasting). January 6, 1929 — KDKA Program Reaches Top and Bottom of World (Christmas broadcast to the Admiral Byrd Expedition at the South Pole and the Canadian outpost near the North Pole). January 9, 1929 — Radio to Byrd Improves. January 22, 1929 — Dual Broadcasting System Invented By Pioneer at KDKA (described the Conrad patents permitting one microphone to serve two transmitters simultaneously). February 24, 1929 — KDKA Rebroadcasts Big Ben Time Signal. September 5, 1929 — New Distance Record Set By Radio Program (KDKA’s report of the Graf Zeppelin blimp’s arrival in Lakehurst, New Jersey, as heard by Admiral Byrd’s ship in New Zealand). In January 1925, ARRL held a Tri-State Convention in Pittsburgh and included a special tour of KDKA to see the 63 meter transmitter.79 ARRL returned in June 1927 for its Atlantic Division Convention. This time, Bell Telephone Company and Westinghouse teamed up to provide tours of the telephone exchange and the station facilities at KDKA.80 The IRE held their 20th anniversary convention in Pittsburgh in August 1932 at the William Penn Hotel, once the location of KDKA’s earliest radio studios. Again, exhibits and programs featured KDKA as a major attraction. Bus tours brought participants to see KDKA’s current and historic locations at the Westinghouse plant and the Saxonburg transmitter station.81 Throughout, 8XK, W8XK, and KDKA issued confirmations and other correspondence with listeners from the general
Fig. 34. Reception verification card: 1922 KDKA post card. (Authors’ collection)
Fig. 33. Shortwave receivers installed at 62 banquets by KDKA. (Courtesy New York Times, Oct. 5, 1924)
public and amateur radio followers. Beginning the night of the initial November 1920 broadcast, KDKA announced a familiar request to the radio audience, “Will anyone hearing this broadcast communicate with us, we are anxious to know how far the broadcast is reaching and how it is being received.”82 Written contacts were made by sending post cards, station letters, and amateur radio QSL card mailings to verify radio contacts and signal strengths (see Figs. 34–37).
FRANK CONRAD’S LATER YEARS83 Conrad continued performing groundbreaking radio research throughout his life. For example, he investigated transmitter harmonics, the unwanted additional radio signals produced at higher frequencies than a station’s normal transmission frequency. He unexpectedly found that harmonics could be heard farther than the primary signal in some instances. This work initially led Westinghouse to evaluate the commercial potential of shortwave transmissions. In 1924, Conrad showed Radio Corporation of America’s (RCA) then vice president and general manager, David Sarnoff, that low-powered shortwave signals from East Pittsburgh could be received in London using a simple receiver with a curtain rod as an antenna. This matched the results obtained, at a small fraction of the cost, from RCA’s method for transatlantic radio using the massive longwave Alexanderson alternator transmitters at RCA Radio Central located on Long Island.
Fig. 35. KDKA 1928 post card showing the transmitter station. (K8CX collection)
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Fig. 36. Reception verification card: 1929 W8XK QSL. (Authors’ collection)
broadcasting. He was featured on the cover of the June 1930 issue of RadioCraft as one of the “Men Who Made Radio” (see Fig. 38). He served on the Advisory Technical Committee of the ARRL in 1923, as reflected in the issues of QST published that year. He was very active in the AIEE and the IRE, where he published numerous articles about his research. Fig. 38. Frank Conrad on the Starting as a self-made cover of Radio-Craft. man with a seventh grade (Radio-Craft, June 1930) education, in 1928, Conrad received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh in recognition of his many contributions. He received numerous awards for his work, including:89
• Liebmann Award (1925) from the IRE for his research on high-frequency radio receivers and shortwave transmission. • Fellow, IRE (1927). • Vice President, AIEE (1927) and Chair of the Committee on Admissions (1927). Fig. 37. Reception verification card showing antennas and interior of building: 1960s KDKA QSL. (Flickr)
RCA’s transmitters produced signals that were sent and received using horizontal antennas with lengths measured in kilometers.84 Conrad’s last license for 8XK expired November 3, 1924. Westinghouse re-designated the call sign of a different experimental station in East Pittsburgh from 8XAU to 8XK in December 1924. Thus, the historic 8XK call sign continued to be heard worldwide as part of Westinghouse’s shortwave transmission tests.85
• Scott Medal (1933) from the city of Philadelphia for inventions that improved the comfort, welfare, and happiness of humankind. • Lamme Medal (1936) from the AIEE for pioneering and basic developments in the fields of electric metering and protective services. • Fellow, AIEE (1937). • Gold Medal (1940) from the American Institute of the City of New York.
In 1928, Conrad demonstrated a movie film-to-television converter at Westinghouse, and he also researched narrowband FM transmissions.86
• Member of the Society of Automotive Engineers.
Conrad retired from Westinghouse in 1940. He suffered a heart attack the following year on November 6, 1941, while driving to his winter home in Miami, Florida. He died there on December 10, 1941.87
• IEEE Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame (2007).
Conrad shared his research publicly from the start. From the beginning, he provided a description of his home garage station 8XK to QST in its cover story for the September 1920 issue. He presented a comprehensive description to the Radio Club of America in a presentation entitled “Description of Radio Station 8XK” in September 1921.88 These were followed by numerous other firsthand descriptions of station 8XK and KDKA over the years. Conrad became widely acclaimed as a father of radio 72
• Edison Medal (1930) from the AIEE for his contributions to radio broadcasting and shortwave radio transmission.
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• Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
LEGACIES KDKA considers itself “the pioneer broadcasting station of the world” and the “world’s first broadcasting station.”90 As Davis later explained, by design and intent, Westinghouse and KDKA “endeavored to render a real public service, with regularity, presenting well-planned, high-grade, interesting, and timely advertised programs.”91 Note, KDKA’s claims pertain to a nuanced view of the word “broadcasting” that includes programming management and public announcements of that programming. It lies outside the scope of this article to verify or debate those claims. Other authors have surveyed these issues and
reached their own conclusions.92 KDKA’s promotional literature and its management state their views of the station’s many firsts:93 • First commercial broadcasting studio. • First church service. • First broadcast from a hotel. • Herbert Hoover’s first radio address. • First presidential inaugural address (President Harding).
of wireless telephony”94 would not begin to be recognized outside of Pittsburgh until May 1921 (QST and Scientific American) and July 1921 (Literary Digest).95 Today, the legacies of KDKA and its predecessor 8XK are both celebrated. David Sarnoff, RCA’s legendary president, proclaimed Frank Conrad to be “a man respected and admired throughout the electrical and radio industries, a benefactor of humanity and my friend.”96
• First heavyweight boxing match broadcast (Jack Dempsey knockout of Georges Carpentier).
Conrad and Westinghouse’s stations, along with other experimental stations and early broadcasters, transformed radio from an amateur technologist’s hobby to a broad, easily accessible, national pastime. Their work contributed to the conversion of radio from the use of small crystal receivers and personal transmitters issuing point-to-point communications into a voice driven medium cast upon the airwaves for all to listen.
• First broadcast of a tennis match.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
• First regular government farm reports.
David Bart is a fellow, director, and life member of both RCA and the Antique Wireless Association and chair of the RCA Publications Committee. He is treasurer of the IEEE History Committee, and vice president of the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago. Julia Bart is an advisor to and a fellow of the AWA, a former officer of the Antique Radio Club of Illinois, and coauthor of numerous articles with David.
• First broadcast from a theater. • First symphonic music played on the air. • First sports broadcast (boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee).
• First radio newsroom (linked to the Pittsburgh Post). • First full time professional radio announcer and sportscaster (Harold Arlin). • First radio broadcast of comedian (Will Rogers). • First baseball game broadcast (Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies). Yet, KDKA’s historic 1920 broadcast was hardly mentioned in newspapers and magazines at the time. “The sensation in the public press created by this marvelous demonstration
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11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
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“Who’s Who in Amateur Wireless,” QST, Feb. 1921, p. 39; “Radio−Trick Watch: First Radio Broadcasting Followed Founder’s Time Wager in Pittsburgh,” Literary Digest, Mar. 13, 1937, p. 19; D. W. Kraeuter, “A Bibliography of Frank Conrad,” (3rd ed., 2007) National Museum of Broadcasting, http://www.nmbpgh.org/cbib/conradbibl.htm; “Personalities in Industry: Frank Conrad,” Scientific American, Vol. 157, No. 5, Nov. 1937, p. 259; E. Barnouw, A Tower in Babel: A History of Broadcasting in the United States to 1933, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966) p. 64−74 citing D. G. Little, Reminiscences, Unpublished, (New York: Columbia University Oral History Collection, 1951); “Correspondence Regarding H. P. Davis’ Nomination of Frank Conrad for the Lamme Medal dated Oct. 13, 1928, IEEE Archive, https:// ethw.org/w/images/3/35/Conrad_- correspondence_regarding_ lamme_medal.pdf. “Radio Pioneer’s Bet A Trick, Widow Says,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 7, 1957, p. 2. “Frank Conrad: Sleepless Genius,” National Museum of Broadcasting, http://www.nmbpgh.org/conrad_project/ historical_background/conrad.htm. “New Stations: Special Land Stations,” Radio Service Bulletin, Aug. 1, 1916, p. 3. Barnouw, 1966, pp. 39−41, 61. D. G. Little, “Dr. Conrad Founds KDKA,” American Heritage, Aug. 1955, p. 71; “Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Frank Conrad,” IEEE, Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 95 No. 6, June 2007, p. 1378. It Started Hear: The History of KDKA Radio and Broadcasting, KDKA booklet, 1970, p. 4; https://www. americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/It-StartedHear-KDKA.pdf. “Men Who Have Made Radio−Frank Conrad,” Radio-Craft, June 1930, p. 631. G. Gray, “Signing Off on the First Ten Years”, World’s Work, Dec. 1930, p. 46; Wenaas, E., Radiola: The Golden Age of RCA 1919−1929, (Chandler, AZ: Sonoran, 2007) p. 68−71 and p. 124, Note 12. Experimental License number 236½, call sign 8XK, covering Jan. 21, 1920−Jan. 20, 1921. Conrad may have received informal authorization to operate pending the license reissuance. QST reported that radio Inspectors were authorized to permit radio operators to resume transmissions using their official call without waiting for receipt of the actual license (“Getting Your Licenses”, QST, Nov. 1919, p. 12). C. E. Urban, “The Radio Amateur—Wireless Telephone Here”, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, Oct. 26, 1919, Sixth Section, p. 13. It Started Hear, 1970, p. 4. “Election Returns Flashed by Radio to 7,000 Amateurs,” Electrical Experimenter, Vol. IV, Whole No. 45, No. 9, Jan. 1917, p. 650. Gray, 1930, p. 47. C. E. Urban, “The Radio Amateur,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, May 2, 1920, 6th Section, p. 4; Barnouw, 1966, p. 67; Little, 1951. C. E. Urban, “The Radio Amateur,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, July 4, 1920, 2nd Section, p. 5. “Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Frank Conrad,” Jun. 2007, p. 1378. H. P. Davis, “The Early History of Broadcasting in the United States,” The Radio Industry The Story and Its Development As Told by Leaders of the Industry to the Students of the Graduate School of Business Administration George F. Baker Foundation Harvard University, (Chicago & New York: A. W. Shaw Company, 1928) pp. 189−225. G. Archer, History of Radio to 1926, (New York: The
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American Historical Society, Inc., 1938) p. 201; Davis, 1928, pp. 189−225. 20 A. Balk, The Rise of Radio From Marconi Through The Golden Age, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2006) pp. 34−39; Davis, 1928, pp. 189−225. 21 S. Kruse, “The Bureau of Standards−ARRL Tests of Short Wave Signal Fading,” QST, Part I: Nov. 1920, p. 5 and Part II: Dec. 1920, p. 13. 22 “Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Frank Conrad,” June 2007, p. 1378. 23 C. H. Sterling and J. M. Kittross, Stay Tuned: A Concise History of American Broadcasting, 2nd ed., (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 1990) pp. 83−89; for a more comprehensive discussion, see also M. R. Bensman, The Beginning of Broadcast Regulation in the Twentieth Century, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2000). 24 “History of KDKA, Pittsburgh,” History of American Broadcasting website, http://jeff560.tripod.com/kdka.html citing FCC microfiche files on KDKA as transcribed by Xen Scott and G. Douglas, The Early Days of Radio Broadcasting, (McFarland & Company, Inc., 2001); see also Bensman, 2000, pp. 75, 130−131, 181. 25 Ibid. 26 “8XK, Pittsburgh, PA,” QST, Sept. 1920, p. 32. 27 D. G. Little, “Radio Equipment at KDKA,” Radio, Vol. IV, No. 9, Sept. 1922, pp. 29−31, 90−94. 28 D. G. Little, “KDKA: The Radio Telephone Broadcasting Station of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company at East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” Proceedings of the IRE, Vol. 12, No. 3, June 1924, pp. 255–276. 29 M. A. Simaan, “An Introduction to D. G. Little’s 1924 Classic Paper ‘KDKA,’” Proceedings of the IRE, Vol. 86, No. 6, June 1998, p. 1273; Little, Aug. 1955, pp. 71–73. 30 “KDKA 1922,” Old Timer’s Bulletin, Antique Wireless Association, Vol. 11, No. 1, June 1970, p. 17. 31 S. R. Winters, “100-Meter C.W. Transmission,” Radio News, Nov. 1923, p. 530. 32 Simaan, June 1998, p. 1273; Little, June 1924, p. 255. 33 D. G. Little and R. L. Davis, “KDKA,” Proceedings of the IRE, Vol. 14, No. 4, Aug. 1926, p. 479. 34 “The Short-wave Broadcasting Station at KDKA, East Pittsburgh,” QST, May 1928, cover and p. 43. 35 “Sets 400,000 Watt Permit,” New York Times, Aug. 31, 1930. 36 R. L. Davis and V. E. Trouant, “Westinghouse Radio Station at Saxonburg, Pa,” Proceedings of the IRE, Vol. 20, No. 6, Jun. 1932, p. 921. 37 Davis and Trouant, June 1932, p. 921; “Permit Given To Move 2 Radio Transmitters,” New York Times, July 12, 1929; A. Pfaltz, “KDKA Radio’s New 500 Horsepower Voice,” Radio News, Apr. 1931, p. 873. 38 Davis and Trouant, June 1932, p. 921; R. L. Davis, “Power Equipment at New KDKA Station,” Transactions of the AIEE, Vol. 31, No. 3, Sept. 1931, p. 942 (also published in Electrical Engineering, Vol. 50, No. 11, Nov. 1931, p. 865); “Powerful New Tube For KDKA’s Voice,” New York Times, Aug. 11, 1929; A. Pfaltz, “KDKA Radio’s New 500 Horsepower Voice,” Radio News, Apr. 1931, p. 873. 39 “KDKA Opens Transmitter”, NBC Transmitter, Vol. 5, No. 12, Dec. 1939, p. 8; “The New KDKA Is On The Air,” New York Times, Nov. 5, 1939; “Gala Program for KDKA Anniversary,” Broadcasting, Nov. 1, 1939, p. 17. 40 “8XK, Pittsburgh, PA,” Sept. 1920, p. 32. 41 “KDKA,” Wireless Age, Aug. 1922, p. 40. 42 F. Conrad, “Short-wave Radio Broadcasting,” Proceedings of the IRE, Vol. 12, No. 6, Dec. 1924, pp. 723−738. 43 Ibid. 44 “Blimp to Hold KDKA Aerial,” New York Times, Apr. 2, 1933; “Blimp Antenna Will Be Installed at KDKA,” Broadcasting, Apr. 1, 1933, p. 16.
45 “Seventeen Years of Broadcasting (KDKA Installs Tallest Antenna),” Radio News, Jan. 1938, p. 391. 46 KDKA’s 17th Birthday party: Pittsburgh Station Celebrates With Dedication of New 718-Foot Vertical Antenna,” Broadcasting, Nov. 1, 1937, p. 18; “KDKA Takes Air Nov. 1 With New Transmitter,” Broadcasting, Nov. 1, 1937, p. 71; “New Antenna to Multiply Field”, Radio Craft, Jan. 1938, p. 391. 47 “The New KDKA Is On The Air,” New York Times, Nov. 5, 1939; “Seventeen Years of Broadcasting (KDKA Installs Tallest Antenna),” Radio News, Jan. 1938, p. 391. 48 “Did You Know?,” Radio Daily, Nov. 4, 1937, p. 6.; “Seventeen Years of Broadcasting,” Radio News, Jan. 1938, p. 391. 49 “Seventeen Years of Broadcasting,” Radio News, Jan. 1938, p. 391; “KDKA Opens Transmitter,” NBC Transmitter, Vol. 5, No. 12, Dec. 1939, p. 8; “Gala Program for KDKA Anniversary,” Broadcasting, Nov. 1, 1939, p. 17. 50 D. A. Schecter, “KDKA’s Toppled Tower Lives in Lucite – Pittsburgh Hospital Is Beneficiary”, Antique Radio Classified, Vol. 13, No. 3, Mar. 1996. 51 “New KDKA-FM Tower,” Broadcasting, June 21, 1948, p. 75. 52 “395,000 FM Radio Sets Must Be Replaced,” Journal Gazette, June 27, 1945, p. 6. 53 J. S. Berg, The Early Shortwave Stations: A Broadcast History Through 1945, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2013) p. 13, 20; Balk, 2006, pp. 34−39; J. E. Baudino, J. M. Kittross, “Broadcasting’s Oldest Stations: An Examination of Four Claimants,” Journal of Broadcasting, Vol. 21, No. 7, Winter 1997, p. 61; D. Clark, “WHA Madison-Is It Really The Nation’s Oldest Station?,” AWA Review, Antique Wireless Association, Vol. 28, 2015, p. 252; Balk, 2006, pp. 34−39; Archer, 1938, p. 88. 54 Wenaas, 2007, pp. 68−71; citing “The Story of Conrad and Station KDKA,” Dictated to H. G. Clark by Dr. Conrad and W. W. Rogers in Pittsburgh about 1940, George H. Clark Radioana Collection 1880−1950, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History, SRM 4 1559. 55 Little, Aug. 1955, p. 71. 56 Supra Note 51, pp. 72−73; J. S. Berg, The Early Shortwave Stations: A Broadcast History Through 1945, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2013) p. 21. 57 A. C. Goodnow, “KDKA’s First Wavelength,” Old Timer’s Bulletin (Antique Wireless Association) Vol. 15, No.1, June 1974, p. 21. 58 Supra Note 50. 59 Davis, 1928, pp. 189−225. 60 J. S. Berg, The Early Shortwave Stations: A Broadcast History Through 1945, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2013) p. 23. 61 Berg, 2013, p. 36. 62 Berg, 2013, p. 57. 63 J. S. Berg, On the Short Waves, 1923−1945: Broadcast Listening in the Pioneer Days of Radio, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2009) p. 48; “Shortwave KDKA and its Many Callsigns and Transmitters,” Shortwave Central, Teak Publishing, Oct. 19, 2016, http://mt-shortwave.blogspot. com/2016/10/shortwave-kdka-and-its-many-callsigns.html. 64 Berg, 2013, p. 60. 65 “Shortwave KDKA and its Many Callsigns and Transmitters,” Shortwave Central, Teak Publishing, Oct. 19, 2016. 66 Berg, 2013, p. 186; for a more extensive discussion of frequency regulation and authorizations see Bensman, 2000. 67 “Westinghouse Broadcasting,” Wikipedia, https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Broadcasting#Radio_ origins. 68 It Started Hear, 1970, p. 10; Davis, 1928, pp. 199−201. 69 Ibid. 70 Cover illustration, Radio Broadcasting News, Dec. 30, 1922, p. 1.
71 S. H. Steinhauser, “KDKA Set to Sign Off and Move From Studios Atop William Penn,” Pittsburgh Press, Nov. 1, 1934, p. 30. 72 “Studio Control,” Pittsburgh Press, June 25, 1929, p. 44. 73 S. H. Steinhauser, “Engineers Test New KDKA Plant with Station Founder Listening,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 29, 1934, p. 24; “KDKA Memories: Celebrating 95 Years of KDKA Radio”, KDKA-CBS Pittsburgh website, https:// pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/10/12/kdka-memoriescelebrating-95-years-of-kdka-radio/. 74 KDKA (AM), Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ KDKA_(AM). 75 “Reminiscences of Old-Timers−Dr. Frank Conrad,” RadioCraft, Mar. 1938, p. 557. 76 W. W. Rodgers, “Will Short Waves Revolutionize Broadcasting?,” Wireless Age, Mar. 1924, p. 39; J. W. Howe, “Broadcasting Makes A Giant Stretch,” Wireless Age, Apr. 1924, p. 29; D. G. Little, F. Falknor, “Radio Station KFKX,” Electric Journal, Jan. 1924, p. 25. 77 W.W. Rodgers, “Broadcasting Complete American Programs to All England,” Radio Broadcast, Mar. 1924, Vol. 4, No. 5, p. 259. 78 New York Times Archive, https://www.nytimes.com/ search?query=archives. Other articles beyond those noted were available. 79 “Tri-State Convention—Pittsburgh P.A.,” QST, Mar. 1925, p. 23. 80 “The Atlantic Division Convention,” QST, Aug. 1927, p. 71; “ARRL Convention at KDKA,” Old Timer’s Bulletin, Antique Wireless Association, Sept. 1969, Vol. 10, No. 2, p. 9. 81 “Program of the 20th Anniversary Convention,” Proceedings of the IRE, Vol. 20, No. 3, Mar. 1932, pp. 378−393. 82 It Started Hear, 1970, p. 10. 83 Supra Note 1. 84 Barnouw, 1966, p. 152. 85 Supra Note 49. 86 G. L. Frost, Early FM Radio: Incremental Technology in Twentieth-Century America, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010) pp. 44−54. 87 “Frank Conrad, KDKA Founder, Dies in Miami,” Pittsburgh Press, Dec. 11, 1941, p. 37. 88 “Club Gossip,” Radio News, Nov. 1921, p. 405; Radio Club of America 50th Anniversary Golden Yearbook 1959, Index of the Proceedings of the RCA, p. 153. 89 “Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Frank Conrad,” June 2007, p. 1378; “Frank Conrad - Vice-President, Institute of Radio Engineers – 1927,” Proceedings of the IRE, Vol. 16, No. 1, Jan. 1928; Electrical Engineering: 50th Anniversary AIEE 1884−1934, American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Vol. 53, No. 5, May 1934, p. 818; “Presentation of the Gold Medal of the American Institute of the City of New York,” Addresses by David Sarnoff and Frank Conrad, Science, Vol. 91, No. 2354, pp. 129−132; “Frank Conrad, KDKA Founder, Dies in Miami,” Pittsburgh Press, Dec. 11, 1941, p. 37. 90 KDKA stationary and station brochures. 91 Davis, 1928, pp. 189−225. 92 For example, see Note 54. 93 KDKA station brochures; see also Davis, 1928, pp. 189−225. 94 Archer, 1938, p. 204. 95 Douglas, 1988, Vol. 1, p. v. 96 “Presentation of the Gold Medal of the American Institute of the City of New York,” Addresses by David Sarnoff and Frank Conrad, Science, Vol. 91, No. 2354, pp. 129−132.
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CALL FOR PAPERS & EDITORIAL COMMENTS The Proceedings of the Radio Club of America is known for bringing you a wide mix of papers, ranging from sophisticated technical material to historical surveys of subjects related to electronic communications. RCA also is known for fostering discussion and sharing the viewpoints of its members. RCA is therefore issuing a call for papers and editorial comments for publication in upcoming issues of the Proceedings.
• Antennas and supporting structures (i.e., towers) • Broadband communications • Broadcast
The Proceedings is published semi-annually, and has been issued since 1914. The Proceedings is considered to be the first publication geared to promoting and sharing the intellectual development of all aspects of radio and wireless communications. Coverage has expanded to include relevant articles encompassing science, technology development, marketing and regulatory topics. We seek articles from knowledgeable engineers, professionals, academics and amateurs who are participating in building future applications, as well as those who want to document the history of relevant technologies.
• Cellular telephony
As a fellow reader of the Proceedings, we would like you to author an article or editorial for publication. We welcome “early work,” even if it is still in the process of being drafted. RCA offers a unique opportunity for you to get an early reaction to important work now underway in wireless communications. It is also a unique opportunity to air your views, inviting commentary and response from the membership.
• Robotics
Please submit an abstract (1-3 paragraphs) including the title, author(s) and contact information, a synopsis of the material to be published, and a note as to why you think the subject is interesting or important to the wireless industry. Authors of papers selected for publication in the Proceedings may be given an opportunity to present at one of the RCA’s upcoming events, such as the annual Technical Symposium. (Note: participants are responsible for their own travel expenses to RCA events.)
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We seek interesting or important technical articles, editorials and discussion pieces in any of the following areas:
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• FirstNet • Ham (amateur) radio • Land mobile radio • Long-Term Evolution (LTE) • Military communications • Regulatory topics
• Satellites • 4G/5G Cellular • Semiconductors, LED or other devices supporting wireless communications • Any other wireless/radio technologies
Please send abstracts for articles and editorials to be published in the Proceedings to: John Facella at pantherpinesconsulting@gmail.com with copies to David Bart at jbart1964@gmail.com. Please send abstracts for potential presentation topics at RCA events to: John Facella at TechSymp2018@radioclubofamerica.org. For general questions about RCA, an article idea or submission, please contact Amy Beckham at Amy@radioclubofAmerica.org.
2020 SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
111th Radio Club of America Awards Program SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2020 Virtual
Annually, the RCA Awards Banquet is the premier industry event to honor exceptional achievements by those who devote themselves to wireless communications. This year, as a Virtual event, it is no different. The inclusion of the RCA Technical Symposium earlier in the day is providing for a full schedule of technical and historical wireless information that is already spurring high interest and registration. These events also showcase the achievements of middle and high school students involved in the RCA Youth Activities Program. The virtual nature of the Technical Symposium provides an exceptional opportunity for sponsors to showcase their company and have an opportunity for some valuable facetime with event participants. Through your sponsorship your Company will receive: Recognition, Logo Visibility, Opportunity to reach a targeted market of Technical Executives, not to mention…your Sponsorship makes it possible for us to keep this event accessible for attendees and shows your support for our industry’s finest performers—both established and up-and-coming— whose invention, ingenuity and dedication benefit us all. This year we are offering a more streamlined approach to sponsorship and are encouraging you to reach out if you would like to customize your sponsor package to meet your needs more fully. Jane Winter, our Sponsorship Committee Chair, is happy to work with you on the perfect sponsorship fit for your organization. Contact Jane at jwinter@eaa.org. Radio Club of America is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, therefore, your sponsorship can qualify for a tax-deduction. Please consult with your tax advisor for specific information.
2020 SPONSORSHIP LEVELS • Technology Sponsor — $5,500 • Awards Program Tech Sponsor — $3,000 • Technical Symposium Livestream Sponsor — $2,500 • Gold Sponsor — $1,200 • Silver Sponsor — $1,000 • Bronze Sponsor — $500
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BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL
DIRECTORY ADVANCED WIRELESS MARKETING Jack Armstrong, President 200 Warren Road Cockeysville, MD, 21030 PHONE: (443) 823-5100 jack@advancedwirelessmarketing.com www.advancedwirelessmarketing.com
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Manufacturer of OE and replacement batteries for the two way radio industry. iNTELLi Smart Battery™ technology at lower cost than traditional OE standard batteries.
BLUE WING Andy Maxymillian, PMP, Principal Consultant 235 Summer Hill Drive Gilbertsville, PA 19525 PHONE: (610) 473-2171 CELL: (610) 316-2660 FAX: (610) 473-2536 andrew.maxymillian@bluewing.com www.bluewing.com
Consultant Services
INFINITY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES/WORLDWIDE TECHNOLOGIES DIRECT A DIV. OF KIRMUSS & ASSOCIATES, LLC, SINCE 1979
Charles Kirmuss, Founder, Principal 51 West 84th Ave., Suite 301 Denver, Co. 80260 PHONE: (303) 263-6353 ckirmuss@frontier.net www.wwtechnologiesdirect.com
CAPITAL AREA COMMUNICATIONS Stephen J. Shaver, Project Manager 4120 Swatara Drive Harrisburg, PA, 17113 PHONE: (717) 561-0800 CELL: (717) 645-0086 FAX: (717) 561-9805 steves@cacradio.com www.cacradio.com
Wireless Communication Systems Solutions Provider
JACOBS Margaret J. Lyons, PE, PMP Senior RF/Communications Engineer 100 Walnut Ave, Suite 604 Clark, NJ 07066 PHONE: (732) 396-2253 CELL: (908) 4030171 margaret.lyons@jacobs.com www.jacobs.com
Radio pioneer, Director of RCA and Rampart Search & Rescue: Custom solutions & products for the Public Safety, Search & Rescue and Military markets. Proud supporter & sponsor of RCA’s Youth Program.
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ANTIQUE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION Robert Hobday, Director David Bart, Board of Directors PO Box 421 Bloomfield, NY 14469 PHONE: (312) 634-4733 FAX: (312) 634-5520 david.bart@rsmus.com www.antiquewireless.org
Preserving the Past for Posterity
DH SALES GROUP LLC
PO Box 5680 Lago Vista, TX 78645 CELL: (512) 751-5472 TOLL FREE: (800) 966-3357 FAX: (512) 267-7760 dhlago@aol.com www.dhsalesgroup.biz
Independent Manufacturers Representatives and Consultative Manufacturers Representative
KIRMUSSAUDIO DIV OF KIRMUSS & ASSOCIATES, LLC Charles Kirmuss, Founder, Principal 51 West 84th Ave., Suite 301 Denver, Co. 80260 PHONE: (303) 263-6353 FAX: (303) 862-7170 ckirmuss@frontier.net www.kirmussaudio.com
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL
DIRECTORY LEONARDO
PANTHER PINES CONSULTING
William P. Fredrickson 11300 W. 89th Street Overland Park, KS 66214 PHONE: (913) 495-2614 CELL: (913) 909-4492 Bill.fredrickson@ leonardocompany-us.com www.leonardocc.com
John Facella, P.E., BSEE, MBA, Principal PHONE: (978) 799-8900 pantherpinesconsulting@gmail.com www.pantherpinesconsulting.com
Communications & Management Consulting
Robert A. Lopez, P.E., President 8305 Bergenline Avenue #9 North Bergen, NJ 07047 PHONE: (973) 449-5249 rlopez@rlacommunications.com www.rlacommunications.com
A communications engineering consulting company serving public safety and commercial wireless industries.
TWR Lauren Libby, International President 300 Greyson Drive Cary NC 27511 PHONE: (719) 331-7051 llibby@twr.org www.twr.org
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Sean Johnson, President 2023 Case Pkwy Twinsburg, OH, 44087 PHONE: (330) 486-0706 x302 CELL: (330) 541-6585 FAX: (330) 486-0705 sean.johnson@rfi.com.au www.rfiamericas.com
Manufacturer of antennas and RF conditioning equipment for LMR
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TOWER INNOVATIONS, INC.
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Bruce R. McIntyre, President 107 Dunbar Ave., Suite E Oldsmar, FL 34677 PHONE: (813) 818-8766 CELL: (727) 439-3683 FAX: (813) 925-0999 bruce@towerinnovationsinc.com www.towerinnovactionsinc.com
Dr. Theodore S. Rappaport, P.E., Ph.D PO BOX 888 Riner, VA 24149
Technical consulting, engineering and design services in the field of wired and wireless communications systems, equipment and devices.
Wireless consulting, Communications structures
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UTILITY TELECOM CONSULTING GROUP
WIRELESS TOWERS, INC.
George R. Stoll, President 9850 S. Maryland Pkwy Las Vegas, NV, 89183 PHONE: (303) 840-2878 CELL: (303) 475-0414 FAX: (303) 840-1129 george.stoll@utcg.com www.utcg.com
Larry Shaefer, President 115 N. Walker St. Angleton, TX 77515 PHONE: (713) 522-7000 CELL: (713) 526-8000 Lshaefer@sbcglobal.net www.wireless-towers.com
Texas Tower Site Leasing
Consulting Engineers
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RCA CALENDAR
EVENTS
CALENDAR
Visit the event calendar on the RCA website for the most up-to-date event information.
RCA EVENTS
INDUSTRY EVENTS AGL VIRTUAL SUMMIT November 12, 2020 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET
RCA MEMBER NETWORKING ROUNDTABLE November 10, 2020 9 p.m. Eastern Virtual
2020 RCA TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM AND AWARDS PROGRAM November 21, 2020 Virtual
AGL SOUTH WIRELESS SUMMIT March 21–24, 2021 Nashville, TN
IWCE 2020 May 22–25, 2021 Las Vegas, NV
RCA INTERVIEW SERIES FEATURING MARGARET LYONS
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS: CONNECTED IMPACT June 28 – July 1, 2021 Barcelona, Spain
CONNECTIVITY EXPO August 3–6, 2021 Boston, MA
APCO INTERNATIONAL August 15–18, 2021 San Antonio, TX
December 8, 2020 9 p.m. Eastern Virtual
DAYTON HAMVENTION May 21–23, 2021 Xenia, OH
AWA ANNUAL CONVENTION August 17–21, 2021 Rochester, NY
SUPPORT RCA WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION Help RCA continue its mission of advancing wireless art and science for the betterment of society by making a tax-deductible donation today! RCA believes in the future of the industry and your contribution will help us with the important work of encouraging the next generation of wireless pioneers and entrepreneurs. Consider making a donation in someone’s honor as a memorial or gift. Donate online at www.radioclubofamerica.org/donate-to-rca/ or call us at (612) 405-2102 to contribute.
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OPPORTUNITIES TO SUPPORT RCA The Radio Club of America provides many opportunities to support the organization and its activities. Sponsors can make specific requests or provide funding for general operations.
INDIVIDUAL SUSTAINING DONATIONS Make a difference in how quickly we progress with our many initiatives for young people, young wireless professionals and those in established careers. We encourage any member who is impressed with the operations of the club to make a tax-deductible donation earmarked to sustaining operations. Donations to support our day-to-day operations are critical to our future as an organization. You can also select RCA as your full or partial beneficiary on an IRA, so funds are tax-free to RCA, or set up a monthly donation through a credit card or ACH withdrawal.
CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS AT SPECIFIC EVENTS Networking is a key reason many of our members get involved and stay active with RCA. Breakfasts, cocktail parties and other social events can be underwritten by sponsors who receive promotional considerations for their donations and heightened visibility to the membership.
3 YEAR SUSTAINING CORPORATE SPONSORS There is a unique set of advantages to corporate sponsors who participate in our three-year program. See our summary of benefits by level of sponsorship.
SCHOLARSHIPS Donate to an existing scholarship fund or create your own and you will be supporting university students pursuing wireless communications as a career.
YOUTH ACTIVITIES The Youth Activities program brings the excitement of learning about amateur radio and vivid lessons in science, math and electronics to middle and high school children in this unique and innovative program sponsored by RCA.
HOW YOU CAN APPLY YOUR DONATIONS A variety of funds are available to support specific goals of the initial donors and RCA operations. Please contact RCA for more information on these opportunities. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
General Club Operations (unrestricted) Archive Preservation Barone-DiBlasi-Facella Biggs Brownson DeMello Award Continuing Education Dettra, Finch General Grants in Aid Goldwater Grebe Gunther Legacy Fund Link Meyer Meyerson Poppele Tom Sorley Memorial Fund to RCA Youth Activities Richard G. Somers Youth Edu Fund
RCA is classified as a 501(c)(3) organization under IRS rules. Contributions may be tax deductible in the United States depending on a person’s individual tax situation.
HOW TO SPONSOR/DONATE The RCA donations form is on the website. Please contact our Executive Secretary, Amy Beckham, for more information on any of these opportunities. She can be reached at 612.405.2012 or amy@radioclubofamerica.org.
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