Legends Of The 1921 Transatlantic Tests

LEGENDS OF THE 1921 TRANSATLANTIC TESTS1

By David and Julia Bart

Who were the men responsible for the 1921 Transatlantic Tests? The following biographical information provides some background regarding these intriguing individuals. Those directly involved in the experiment included: Ernest V. Amy, Edwin H. Armstrong, George E. Burghard, Minton Cronkhite, Paul F. Godley, John F. Grinan, and Walker P. Inman. In addition, we have included information about Harold H. Beverage; although he did not directly participate in the tests, his discussions with Godley and the adoption of Beverage’s wave antenna system made him, in our view, an important contributor to the experiment’s success. Some of these individuals started their careers as youth involved in amateur radio and then stayed in the radio field, some left radio for other opportunities, and some were involved in the broader electrical industry. Their lives were fascinating. We hope you enjoy these brief biographies about the legends of 1921.

EDWIN H. ARMSTRONG (1890-1954) 3

Edwin Armstrong explaining the superregenerative circuit to the Radio Club of America in room 306, Havemeyer Hall, Columbia University, New York City, 1922.

Armstrong, one of the greatest inventors of the 20th century and one of the key fathers of modern radio communications, led a complicated, eventful, and tragic life. His biography is the subject of many books and articles. For our purposes here, he was an American electrical engineer and inventor who invented the regenerative circuit (vacuum tube feedback oscillator), the superregenerative receiver, the superheterodyne receiver, and frequency modulation (FM) radio transmission. He held 42 patents and received numerous awards, including the first Medal of Honor awarded by the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE, now IEEE) in 1917, the French Legion of Honor, 1941 Franklin Medal and IRE’s 1942 Edison Medal. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and included

Legends of the 1921 Transatlantic Tests in front of the Greenwich, Connecticut station shack -- Standing (L to R): John F. Grinan, Ernest V. Amy, Edwin H. Armstrong, George E. Burghard, Minton Cronkhite; Seated front: Walker P. Inman; Not shown: Paul F. Godley (or Harold H. Beverage).2

in the International Telecommunication Union’s roster of great inventors. Armstrong was an inspiration and a major contributor to the Radio Club of America (RCofA), authoring more papers (26) than anyone else in the club’s history. He received the first Armstrong Scroll and the first Armstrong Medal, named in his honor, from RCofA, in addition to his many other awards and citations. His tragic death by suicide in 1954 shortchanged the world of his potential future ideas and inventions. Armstrong’s regenerative feedback circuit (1912) took wireless telegraphy out of the spark-gap, crystaldetector stage into continuously amplified sound. His superheterodyne circuit (1918) underlies all modern radio and radar reception. His superregenerative receiver (1922), although not commonly used in general commercial receivers, did find widespread use in specialized applications such as IFF transceivers and low data rate applications. His wide-band frequency modulation or FM circuit (1933) provided a novel system of high-frequency broadcasting which excludes noise and forms the core of developments in high-fidelity sound. A student of legendary physicist and educator Michael Pupin at Columbia University, Armstrong’s contributions to the U.S. Army Signal Corps in World War I earned him the rank of Major. After the war, he sold his patents for both the regenerative and superheterodyne circuits to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. In 1922, after the Transatlantic Tests, he sold his patents for the superregenerative circuit to the Radio Corporation of America (R.C.A.). His relationship with David Sarnoff, R.C.A.’s powerful president, evolved from one of mutual respect and partnership as well as supportive friends into bitter enemies over time, but in 1921, both admired the other’s work. In fact, Armstrong married Sarnoff’s young secretary, Esther Marion MacInnis, in 1923 and built Marion what is described as “the world’s first portable radio” as a wedding gift. The circuits used and tested in the 1921 Transatlantic Tests form the basis for all modern radio and radar communications. Armstrong’s regenerative circuit made possible loud speaker reception. His superheterodyne receiver circuit became the basis of ordinary radio receivers. The superregenerative receiver circuit provided greater amplification and made high-frequency shortwave communication much more effective. Armstrong first described his system for shortwave communication in a paper read before the IRE in January 1920 that was published in February 1921. This was only a year after he presented his method to receive weak signals, or shortwaves, at RCofA in December 1919. Success with the 1921 Transatlantic Tests was greeted with wide acclaim, and both Pupin and Sarnoff visited the 1921 test cabin in Greenwich, Connecticut. Amy graduated from Columbia University in Electrical Engineering. He served in World War I in the Engineering Corps, and returned to work with Edison and Marconi. He joined R.C.A. in 1922. He later formed Amy, Aceeves and King, a consulting engineering firm, of which Amy was president. He received more than 30 patents, including one for an All Wave Receiving System regarding antenna systems and arrangements for supplying a radio receiver with actuating or signal voltage, thereby maintaining the highest ratio of signal voltage to interference or noise voltage. Amy designed and constructed the antenna for the 1BCG transmitter. He also developed early vacuum tube transmitters for commercial marine use, high power short wave transmitters and directional antennas and multi-coupler master antenna systems used in FM and TV broadcasting. Amy was a long time contributor to, and the assistant editor of, the Proceedings. He co-authored with George Burghard “The History of 1BCG” in the 1950 publication The Story of the First Trans-Atlantic Short Wave Message: 1BCG Commemorative Issue of the Proceedings of the Radio Club of America. He also co-authored an influential book, Radio Transmitters, in 1930 with Harry Franklin Dart. Amy was a founding member of the RCofA. He appeared in the initial wireless call book (a set of mimeographed sheets) that listed approximately 30 wireless radio operators; it was issued by RCofA in 1910 and is the father of all subsequent radio call-books. Amy served as treasurer, vice president, and president of the club, and was a long time director. Amy received an Armstrong Medal in 1950 for his work in the 1921 Transatlantic Tests, and was also named an Honorary Member of the club. Amy was the last surviving member of the 1921 Transatlantic Tests, and he was the only member other than Armstrong to receive both the Armstrong Medallion and the Armstrong Medal as well as a Pioneer Citation and other awards for his contributions to wireless and radio communications. Amy was a charter member of the Armstrong Memorial Research Foundation.

Ernest V. Amy.

HAROLD H. BEVERAGE (1893-1993) 5

Beverage was born in North Haven, Maine, in 1893. As a teenager, he built a home-made wireless set through which he picked up signals from the Carpathia, the ship that rescued the Titanic’s survivors. In 1915, he graduated from the University of Maine and went to work for General Electric Company as a radio-laboratory assistant to Dr. E. F. Alexanderson. During World War I, he worked on radio transmission technologies for naval applications, and on

adaptations for voice transmission. He studied the effects of extremely long antenna wires through a variety of experiments in 1919. In 1920, Beverage was placed in charge of developing receivers for transoceanic communications at the R.C.A.’s Riverhead, New York research facility. He became the first chief research engineer at the newly created RCA Communications in 1929. Beverages early work at R.C.A. led to what is still referred to as the “Wave Antenna” or “Beverage Antenna”, for which he received his first patent. This antenna became a standard for long-wave receiving. His work later extended to ultra-short wave equipment as well. Beverage later rose to vice president of research and development and also director of radio research, where he worked until his retirement. Although Beverage did not participate directly in the 1921 Transatlantic Tests, he had a profound influence upon them. Godley met Beverage during Godley’s voyage to Ardrossan, Scotland, to erect the receiving station for the tests. Beverage convinced Godley to use a specially designed, highly sensitive, and directional 1,300-foot antenna, the Beverage Antenna. This choice increased the receptivity of the Ardrossan receiving station, and played an important role in the success of the experiments. Beverage was widely recognized throughout his career. He held 41 patents. He was known for the wave antenna and also for the diversity reception system that he co-developed with H. O. Peterson. He was a Fellow Director and Honorary Member of RCofA. He was also a member of the IRE and American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE)(both now IEEE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), International Geophysical Union (IGU), and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). In 1923, when he was just 30 years old, he received the IRE’s Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize for his contributions to the development of transoceanic radio, and in 1937, he became IRE president. In 1938, RCofA presented him with the Armstrong Medal for his work in the development of aerial systems. The Beverage antenna, the citation said, was “the precursor of wave antennas of all types.” Beverage received the IRE Medal of Honor and the AIEE’s Lamme Gold Medal. He was a charter member of the Armstrong Memorial Research Foundation.

Harold H. Beverage.

Harold H. Beverage at his Amateur Radio station, possibly at the University of Maine, circa 1915.

GEORGE E. BURGHARD (1895-1963) 6

Burghard graduated from Columbia University and served in World War I commanding the Compass School at the Pelham Bay Naval Training School. After the war, he returned to Columbia, graduating from the Law School. Burghard was a close friend of Edwin H. Armstrong, and he organized and led the Armstrong Memorial Research Foundation. Burghard served as president of RCofA and George E. Burghard. served for almost 50 years on its board of directors. He was a senior member of the IEEE, trustee of Lenox Hill Hospital, and a member of the engineering council of Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science. He was a member of the Veteran Wireless Operators Association (VWOA), ARRL, Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) and other organizations in radio and wireless. An internationally renowned stamp collector, he was elected to the roll of Distinguished Philatelists by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain. Burghard was described as a fun, suave, outgoing young man with a large capacity for life, who was intensely interested in radio. He was, in that time and place, the perfect foil for Armstrong, drawing Armstrong out of himself and helping him to know the world. Burghard had a flair for dress and conversation, a fast foreign car-a Delage-all of which Armstrong envied, yet Burghard’s devotion to Armstrong’s genius grew with the years. Burghard was a founding member of RCofA and served as recording secretary and later as president as well as its legal counselor. He appeared in the initial wireless call book (a set of mimeographed sheets) that listed approximately 30 wireless radio operators that was issued by RCofA in 1910; it is the father of all subsequent radio call-books. Burghard was at the key when 1BCG made its first contact with Godley in Scotland, as later confirmed with relayed long-wave messages sent back to the U.S. by British Marconi and R.C.A. engineers (see Grinan’s biography below regarding confirmations of the first complete messages.) Burghard presented a report on the 1921

George Burghard at radio station EB in 1910.

Transatlantic Tests to RCofA, “Station 1BCG,” on Dec. 30, 1921, which appeared in the Proceedings. Burghard co-authored with Ernest V. Amy “The History of 1BCG” in the 1950 publication The Story of the First Trans-Atlantic Short Wave Message: 1BCG Commemorative Issue of the Proceedings of the Radio Club. Burghard received an Armstrong Medal in 1950 for his work in the 1921 Transatlantic Tests. Burghard was also a charter member of the Armstrong Memorial Research Foundation.

MINTON CRONKHITE (1919-1971) 7

Cronkhite was the owner and president of Liberty Electric Company in Stamford, Connecticut. He was a noted builder of model railroads and executed models of the Santa Fe Railroad for several expositions, including the World’s Fairs in 1933 and 1939. For those who grew up in Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry housed the ultimate model railroad display layout: the 50-by60-foot O scale “Museum & Santa Fe Railway” built in 1941 that depicted the U.S. from Chicago to Los Angeles, which operated in the museum for 60 years prior to its renovation and ultimate replacement in 2002. The RCofA’s 1921 Transatlantic Test station was located in a small shack on the Greenwich, Connecticut, property of Minton Cronkhite. Cronkhite served as RCofA’s Corresponding Secretary, and later as a Director. He received an Armstrong Medal from RCofA for his participation in the 1921 tests.

Minton Cronkhite.

PAUL F. GODLEY (1889-1974) 8

Godley was one of the foremost receiving experts in the U.S. in 1921, operating station 2ZE in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. He was a member of the ARRL’s Advisory Technical Committee members and a member of the IRE. He designed the famous Paragon receivers and was selected to travel to Ardrossan, Scotland, for the 1921 Transatlantic Tests. Godley himself designated Ardrossan as the reception site due to its geographic location, southwest of Glasgow, since there was no high land between it and New York. Godley sailed aboard the SS Aquitania following a testimonial banquet in New York City given in his honor. During his voyage, Godley met Harold Beverage, who convinced him to use a specially designed, highly sensitive, and directional 1,300-foot antenna, referred to as the Beverage Antenna. By midnight on December 7, 1921, Godley completed his installation in a tent on the Ardrossan Moor, where he picked up a 60-cycle synchronous spark signal that he later identified as station 1AEP, nine other spark transmitting stations, as well as 15 other stations including 1BCG who used vacuum tube transmitters. His reception of continuous wave (CW) signals transmitted at less than 200 meters and meagre power of 1kW from across the Atlantic demonstrated viability for low power transmissions using vacuum tubes, and the capabilities of reception with superheterodyne and regenerative circuits using a Beverage antenna. Godley summarized the experiment in “Transatlantic Tests” published in the January 1922 issue of Wireless World and in the “Official Report of the Second Transatlantic Tests” in the February 1922 issue of QST. Afterward, during a brief stay of just a few hours in London, Godley was introduced to Senator Marconi, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Jackson, Alan A. Campbell Swinton, and other distinguished members of the Wireless Society of London, known today as the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB). Upon his return, Godley experimented with even lower wavelengths (higher frequencies), further demonstrating the viability of long distance communication and short line-of-sight communication in the medium-to-ultra high frequency ranges. Godley started his career by helping to build the first chain of transcontinental wireless stations in the Amazon basin of South America, and he worked with deForest and the

Paul F. Godley circa 1939.

Paul F. Godley’s radio station 2ZE in 1914.

United Wireless Telegraph Company. Godley met Armstrong at a meeting of RCofA, where he described his work in the Amazon and Armstrong described receiving the stations transmissions at his home in Yonkers, New York. Those discussions culminated in Godley’s design of the Paragon line of radio receivers manufactured by Adams-Morgan Company using a modification of Armstrong’s newly patented regenerative circuit. After meeting with Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence Tuska, Godley supported the publication of QST and wrote the first issue of the ARRL Handbook. He later served as a design engineer, for Liberty Electric Company, vice president and general manager of Farrand Mfg. Co., and as vice president of ChalmersGodley Corporation. Godley became a Fellow and President of RCofA; a Fellow and Life Member of IRE (now the IEEE), and a founding member of the Association of FCC Consulting Engineers. He was recognized and honored with a bronze plaque by the Executive Council of the Second Radio District. The ARRL presented him a Sheepskin Award and an Award of Merit. RCofA presented him the Armstrong Medallion. VWOA gave him the Marconi Memorial Award and the deForest Audion Award. Broadcasting Magazine ran a feature story about him in 1946. Godley published many articles in the Proceedings about his research. He was the Technical Editor for Wireless Age and Radio Editor for the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He served as Vice President, President and Director of RCofA.

JOHN F. GRINAN (1894-1957) 9

“Johnny,” as he was called by most everyone, started in radio in 1909 and became the world’s most famous amateur operator. He was the first to send direct transcontinental signals, he sent the first transcontinental relay message, he sent the first transcontinental message, and sent the first transatlantic short wave message from station 1BCG in 1921. His own station, 2PM in New York City, was known to every amateur and local commercial operator before World War I, and he held three world records: for sending the first relayed transcontinental message across the U.S. from New York City to California, for sending the first direct signals across the continent, and for sending the first wireless message (professional or amateur) across the Atlantic from America to Ardrossan, Scotland. Known as “one of the prettiest fists in radio” for his distinctive style at the wireless key, Grinan was the chief operator for the 1BCG 1921 Transatlantic Tests at the Greenwich, Connecticut station, and he was the operator who sent the first complete and widely confirmed messages to Godley in Scotland. Grinan was born in Kingston, Jamaica B.W.I., where his family owned and operated sugar plantations. He introduced amateur radio to Jamaica during the 1930s, where he set up station NJ2PZ and later VP5PZ thru which he communicated regularly with his friends in the U.S. and all over the world. In 1940, Grinan donated his station equipment to the Government of Jamaica, which became the first licensed broadcast station, ZQI, in Jamaica. He was an early proponent of FM broadcasting to the government of Jamaica. This station became even more famous than old 2PM. In later years, he lived in St. Petersburg, Florida where he died of a heart attack at age 61. Grinan was vice president of Continental Radio Corporation (wholesale distributors for RCA-Victor), a member of the Government Wireless Board, Broadcasting Board, and Electricity Board. He was also chairman of the board of Grinan Estates, Ltd. Grinan received RCofA’s Armstrong Medal for his work.

John F. Grinan. John Grinan’s radio station 2PM in 1916.

WALKER P. INMAN (1895-1954) 10

Inman was step son of James Buchanan Duke, President of the American Tobacco Company, Duke Power Company (now Duke Energy), and the major benefactor and trustee of Duke University. Inman’s life included airplanes as well as yachts, cooks, butlers and his step-sister, Doris Duke, the wealthiest woman in America when she turned 21. Inman lived on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, moved to the Riverside Hotel in Reno, Nevada, and later to Greenville Plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina. His divorce proceedings in 1928-1929 were front page news. Divorce testimony included accusations by Walker’s wife that he fraternized with other women, including Juva Marconi, Guglielmo Marconi’s niece. Ms. Marconi had recently

obtained her own divorce in Reno. Speculation holds that perhaps their alliance stemmed from Walker’s contribution to short wave radio when participated in the 1921 Transatlantic Tests. Previously, he served in World War I. Inman’s early interest in radio and his participation in station 1BCG were noted in his obituary as significant accomplishments. He is credited with playing an important role in development of Duke University’s Medical School and Hospital. Inman received RCofA’s Armstrong Medal and he participated in the 1BCG radio station monument unveiling.

Walker P. Inman.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

David Bart is Vice President of RCA and a Fellow, Director, and Life Member of both RCA and the Antique Wireless Association as well as Chairman of the RCofA Publications Committee. He is a Life Member of ARRL, the former 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.

SOURCES

1Herein, the Proceedings = Proceedings of the Radio Club of America. 2The Story of the First Trans-Atlantic Short Wave Message, Proceedings of RCofA 1BCG Commemorative Issue, Oct. 1950, p. 10. 3Lessing, L.P., The Late Edwin H. Armstrong, Scientific American, Vol. 190, No. 4 (April 1954), pp. 64-69; Lessing, L. (1956), Man of High Fidelity: Edwin Howard Armstrong, A Biography, (Philadelphia: Lippincott); Lewis, T. (1991), Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, (New York: Edward Burlingame Books); The Legacies of Edwin Howard Armstrong, Radio Club of America, 1990. 4Obituary: Ernest V. Amy, Proceedings, Mar. 1979, p. 18; Burghard, G., Eighteen Years of Amateur Radio, Proceedings, July 1923, p. 3. 5Etter, J. M., A Tribute To Harold H. Beverage, Proceedings, May 1993, p. 3; AA3PX’s Antenna Page: Harold Beverage, https://www.qsl.net/aa3px/beverage.htm, accessed Aug. 20, 2021; Harold H. Beverage Biography, ETHW Oral History, IEEE, https://ethw.org/Harold_H._ Beverage, accessed Aug. 20, 2021; Wallen, A. (1988), Genius at Riverhead : A Profile of Harold H. Beverage, (North Haven, ME: North Haven Historical Society). 6Obituary: George Ehret Burghard, Proceedings, Feb. 1964, p. 9; Burghard, G. E., Eighteen Years of Amateur Radio, Proceedings, July 1923, p. 3; Silent Key: W2GEC 1895–1963, Quarter Century Wireless Association, https:// qcwa.org/w2gec-01000-sk.htm, accessed Aug. 18, 2021; Radio Club of America 25th Anniversary Yearbook, 1934, p. 13. 7Obituary: Minton Cronkhite, New York Times, Nov. 13, 1971; Member biography: Minton Cronkhite, Golden Jubilee Yearbook, 1909-1959, Radio Club of America, p. 185; Orr, S., Minton Cronkhite and Chicago’s Magnificent Museum & Santa Fe layout, The Midnight Railroader, http://midnightrailroader.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_27. html, accessed Aug. 17, 2021. 8Obituary: Paul F. Godley, Proceedings, Mar. 1974, p. 20. Meyers, R., First Transatlantic Message on 200 Meters, Proceedings, Mar. 1974, p. 3; Nelson, W., An Interview With Paul Godley, Proceedings, Mar. 1975, p. 3; Paul F. Godley Member Profile, Golden Jubilee Yearbook, 19091959, Radio Club of America, p. 189; Paul Godley Set Up a Receiving Station at Ardrossan in 1921, Amateur Radio From Scotland, www.amateurradio.eu/gm/silent-keys/2zepaul-godley.html, accessed Aug. 10, 2021; GB2PG-Paul Godley: An Investigation into the 1921 Transatlantic Tests, Dec. 2, 2011, gb2pg.blogspot.com/2011/12/investigationinto-1921-transatlantic.html, accessed Aug. 10, 2021; Transatlantic Tests Mark 99th Anniversary, ARRL News, Dec. 9, 2020, http://www.arrl.org/news/transatlantic-testsmark-99th-anniversary, accessed Aug. 18, 2021; Radio Club of America 25th Anniversary Yearbook, 1934, p. 22. 9John F. Grinan Obituary, Golden Jubilee Yearbook, 19091959, Radio Club of America, p. 142, 143; The Jamaica Amateur Radio Association: Its History And Organization 1939-2005, https://www.jamaicaham.org/downloads/ Jara%20History.pdf; Radio Club of America’s 25th Anniversary Yearbook, 1934, p. 27. 10W.P. Inman Dies; Duke Trustee, 60, New York Times, Sep. 20, 1954, p. 23; Walker Patterson Inman (18951954) - Doris Duke’s Half Brother, Oakland Municipal Airport Register, https://oaklandairfield.org/index.php/ people/walker-patterson-inman-1895-1954, accessed Aug. 7, 2021.