sidb@ARDC (AED) (03/07/86)
For Rich and all the other radio history buffs, The book that I was talking about the other day is "The Continuous Wave, Technology and American Radio, 1900-1932" by Hugh G. J. Aitken: Princeton University Press 1985. ISB N 0-691-08376-2 The book is about the transformation of radio in this country from the spark thru, arcs, the huge alternators and then to vacuum tubes. The book covers all the companies that I had heard about in the dim, dark days of the past, like NESCO, GE, Federal, the various de Forest companies and even the formation of RCA. Some of the names of the heros are Alexanderson, Bullard, Elwell, Fessenden and Armstrong just to mention a few. Did you know that all of Armstrong's patent on the superhet was tossed out by the Supreme Court? Most were given to Frenchman who claimed to have invented it and shown it to Armstrong during WW1. The book is full of all kinds of interesting stuff. Amateur radio gets a pretty good mention in the book. I doubt if the author is a ham? See you on '79 next time in Yuma. Sid WB2TNO