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November 1959 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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Radio-Electronics
magazine's November 1959 issue had a few interesting tidbits in the News Briefs
section. The first is a note about Major Edwin Armstrong's estate having won a patent
infringement case against the Emerson Radio & Phonograph Co. Maybe he wouldn't
have committed
suicide by jumping out a window if he hadn't had to fight so many IP (intellectual
property) battles in his lifetime. Interestingly, the news also mentions that he
received more than $5 million in royalties for his FM radio patents. Another item
of note is the introduction of secondary radar (aka IFF, identification friend or
foe, in military terminology). IFF is not a passive reflected signal system, but
uses a transponder in the aircraft to reply to the received signal on an offset
frequency. The reply can include parametric information about the aircraft such
as altitude, a unique identification (squawk) number, etc. It is a significant enhancement
to primary radar, particularly in crowed environments. A scan of the entire page
is included if you want to see more of what was considered important news of the
day.
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News Briefs
Left - ordinary radar display; Right - same scene with synchronizing
system.
FM's Major Armstrong got further posthumous vindication in his
long-running legal battle against radio and TV set manufacturers. Judge E. L. Palmieri
found Emerson Radio & Phonograph Co. guilty of having infringed patents filed
in 1933 and reissued in 1940 concerning "important discoveries in the radio art."
The inventor of wide-band frequency modulation received almost $5,000,000 in
FM royalties during his lifetime. His first patent infringement suit, against RCA
and NBC, was settled for nearly $1,000,000. His widow and estate have six more similar
suits pending.
Air Traffic Safety will be improved greatly with the general
adoption of a new "secondary radar" system commissioned recently at New York's International
Airport. The new radar beacon system differs from ordinary radar in that, instead
of depending on reflections from aircraft, it sends out a triggering signal that
trips a transponder in the aircraft, which sends back a pulse to the interrogating
radar. These are of course vastly stronger than reflections, greatly increasing
the range of the system. This is especially important in the case of fast-moving
jets.
The new system requires two additional pieces of apparatus. One is an interrogator
on the ground to send 6-μsec pulses at 1030 mc via a small antenna atop the regular
radar antenna. The other is a transponder in the plane, a device somewhat similar
to the IFF equipment of World War II. It returns 1/2-μsec pulses so coded as
to help the ground operator identify the plane. A special synchronizing system also
helps by reducing "clutter" from unwanted signals (see photo).
The system is now in use at three New York area control points and is expected
to go into 13 other major air-traffic centers within a few months. At least one
airline has already equipped its planes with transponders, and others are installing
them rapidly. It's anticipated that savings in time and fuel, as well as human life,
will be substantial. The system was coordinated and installed by Airborne Instruments
Labs, Mineola, N.Y.
Danger from Radar and similar high-power generators of microwaves
is being lessened aboard the guided-missile cruiser Galveston and other ships similarly
equipped, by placing a small neon lamp on each man's uniform. The lamps light up
at power levels equal to 5-6 milliwatts per square centimeter of body area - about
half the minimum safe level for humans. Discovery of the technique is credited to
Lieut. Walter Johnson of the Navy Medical Corps, who stumbled onto it the uncomfortable
way, while carrying a number of neon bulbs in his back pocket.
Posted April 6, 2022
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