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April 1966 Radio-Electronics
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics.
See articles from Radio-Electronics,
published 1930-1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.
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Dr.
Albert W. Hull, whose passing is noted in this 1966 Radio-Electronics
News Briefs section, is credited with the invention of the dynatron, thyratron,
and magnetron high power radio frequency (RF) oscillators. He worked for many
years at the General Electric Research Laboratory (GERL) and held 94 patents -
not bad for a guy who started out as a Greek scholar. Also announced by
Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was a "sun-pumped" communications laser
for future use on deep space exploration craft. Note how at the time the
universe was deemed to be "some billions" of years old since the Big Bang, now
believed to be 13.787±0.020 billion years. That implies an uncertainty of only
0.145%, which seems a bit optimistic given that huge fudge factors for dark
matter and dark energy are require to make the current cosmological model fit
observed characteristics.
News Briefs:
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News Briefs
  A.W. Hull Dies at 83
The inventor of the magnetron and screen-grid tube and developer of "probably
more types of vacuum tubes than any other man" died at Schenectady on January 22,
1966. Dr.
Hull had been assistant director of the General Electric Research Laboratory from
1928 until his retirement in 1949. He remained a consultant and visited the office
daily till his final illness.
Dr. Hull's outstanding achievements in the vacuum-tube field also included development
of the dynatron and thyratron. He was a pioneer in the analysis of crystals by X-rays,
for which he received the Potts Medal from the Franklin Institute in 1923. He was
the recipient of many other honors, including the Liebman Prize (1930) for his work
on vacuum tubes, and the Presidential Certificate of Merit. He held 94 patents and
was the author or co-author of 72 technical publications.
Radio Billions of Years Old?
Radio waves that may have originated at the creation of the universe have been
picked up by scientists at Bell Labs and Princeton University. These waves come
from all directions and are picked up on radar and radio-astronomy receivers. They
may even be responsible for a small fraction of the noise visible on the screen
of your uhf TV set.
According to a widely held theory, the universe was at one time compacted into
a cosmic fireball, possibly ten times the size of our own galaxy. Some billions
of years ago the fireball "exploded," in what has been called the Big Bang. Radiation
emitted at that time may still be coursing through the universe.
Measurements of the intensity of this type of radiation at 7.3 and 3.2 centimeters
have yielded results that fit the theoretical spectrum of radiation emitted at the
time of the Big Bang. Additional measurements are being made to see whether the
radiation intensity does indeed follow this theoretical spectral curve.
The experimental sun-pumped laser, as used to transmit
television pictures over a light beam in its first experimental use. RCA
physicist Richard J. Torzaiski is seen reflected in the parabolic mirror as he
adjusts the equipment.
New Communications Laser Is Powered by Sunlight
The first step toward a 50-million-mile communications link between space
craft and earth was announced by RCA. The device is a "sun-pumped" laser - a
communications laser that takes its only power from the sun.
Sunlight is concentrated by a 31-inch parabolic mirror. The rest of the
equipment consists of the laser (a double-doped yttrium aluminum garnet [YAG]
crystal type), a modulator, optical elements and an optical receiver. The
equipment is installed on an equatorial mount so that it tracks the sun
automatically, and the sun's rays will be continually reflected from the mirror
onto the laser. It is expected that the laser will make it possible to
communicate between spacecraft in the vicinity of Mars and ground stations on
earth.
Russian "Inventor of TV" Dies
Boris Grabovsky, credited by the Russians with being the first person to transmit
TV, died at the age of 85, according to a Ukrainian newspaper. Grabovsky sent pictures
by wireless on July 26, 1928, from a camera to a receiver 40 yards away in Tashkent,
Uzbekistan. (Boris Rosing's experiments were strictly closed-circuit TV, with the
receiver's synchronism controlled directly from the transmitter.)
Other countries will dispute the Russians' claim of an absolute first. Experimental
work by Baird in England and Jenkins, Alexanderson, and the Bell Laboratories in
the United States was considerably earlier. Baird had, in fact, actually succeeded
in transmitting television pictures that were received across the Atlantic by February
1928. One of the "first" dates in the United States was April 27, 1927, when a TV
transmission took place from Whippany, N.J., to Bell Labs in New York City - a distance
of 30 miles.
In August, 1928, Hugo Gernsback initiated a regular scheduled daily television
program from his station WRNY, New York.
N. J. Court Says Husband Can Control Own TV
A New Jersey judge has firmly established the right of a husband to adjust the
volume of the domestic TV set, and further to enforce his right with the rabbit
ears, if necessary. Mrs. Erika Weckenmann, Paterson, N. J., charged her husband
with assault and battery, claiming that he turned the set down twice after she'd
turned it up. Finally, she said, he broke an indoor antenna over her head. Her husband
claimed that she had attacked him.
After hearing both sides, the judge announced: "The master of the house has the
right to turn down his own television set, especially on his day off," and dismissed
the case.
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