The Jersey Broadcaster

NEWSLETTER OF THE NEW JERSEY ANTIQUE RADIO CLUB

July 2009 Volume 15 Issue 7

MEETING/ MEETING NOTICE ACTIVITY NOTES NEW MEETING LOCATION!

The July meeting will take place at Princeton's Bowen Hall (70 Prospect Ave- nue) on Friday, July 10th, at 7:30 PM. Directions to Bowen Hall are included in Reported by Marv Beeferman the June Broadcaster or may be found at the club's website (http://www.njarc. org). This month's meeting topic may include a look at Dr. Michael Littman's THE ON-LINE BROADCASTER exhibit of 1920s loudspeakers and 1930s cathedral radios in the Friends Center The New Jersey Broadcaster is now on- (a short walk from Bowen Hall). We may also briefly discuss LC resonators. line. To date, 97 of your fellow NJARC members have subscribed, saving the club over $1900 a year. Interested? Send your e-mail address to: come. Contact Al Klase at http://www. [email protected] skywaves.ar88net/ Be sure to include your full name. I recently received some very nice comments from member James O'Neal, a Last month, the club checked out its retired broadcast engineer, on the June new meeting location at Princeton's Bowen article "The Evolution of a New Jersey Hall. Except for a few minor glitches, all Radio Station." He questioned the two went well and it received the membership's columns in WAAT's broadcast log which seal of approval. A surprise accommoda- were suggested as being antenna currents. tion was an automatic beverage maker with James makes a good case in disproving a large selection of coffees and teas at 50 this assumption, but with space at a pre- cents a cup. The auditorium seating was Typical of Al's attention to detail is mium for this issue, we'll have to wait un- found to be quite comfortable and closed one of the many slides that supported til next month to get the whole story. Un- doors allowed anyone not interested in the his presentation. This one describes til then, take a look at the article; if you program to socialize outside without dis- the 1931 Hammarlund Comet. have any thoughts about what the num- turbing the presentation. Access to the bers really represent, please contact me so building was also relatively easy. we can get some other points of view. Described by one member as an "outdoor tailgater in the cool shade of the leafy trees of the InfoAge campus," get ready to spend a very relaxing day at our July 25th outdoor swapmeet. All the de- tails are in this month's Broadcaster. As an added feature, Al Klase has expanded the event into a "Ham radio play week- end" emphasizing 2-meter AM military field radios and general vintage operation. This will be an opportunity to get some of you "new guys" on the air. For those who are interested, sleeping accommodations Technical Coordinator Al Klase's pres- are available in Cottage #1 (bring a sleep- entation on the development of short-wave ing bag or fold-up cot) and some steaks communication receivers was a real crowd can be burned for Saturday dinner. The pleaser and the audio-visual support of- Military Radio Collectors Association fered by the auditorium's facilities was up will repeat their display at the museum on Sunday afternoon. Please let us know Dave Sica's artist conception of a to the standards that were available at the "harrowing experience." Read about David Sarnoff Library. your level of interest; your suggestions for enhancing the event are most wel- it on page 8 of this month's Broad- caster. July 2009 Volume 15 Issue 7 Page 2

INFOAGE THE JERSEY BROADCASTER is the newsletter of the New Jersey Antique AT THE Radio Club (NJARC) which is dedicated IMS to preserving the history and enhancing the knowledge of radio and related dis- ciplines. Dues are $20 per year and meetings are held the second Friday of By Ray Chase each month. The Editor or NJARC is not liable for any other use of the contents of this IMS is the International Microwave publication. Symposium, organized annually by the Microwave Theory and Techniques Sec- PRESIDENT: Other displays in the historical area Richard Lee tion of the IEEE. This year, it was held came from NEM (National Electronics (914)-589-3751 at the Boston Convention and Exposi- Museum in Linthicum, MD) where the tion Center from June 9th to the 12th. IEEE stores some of their permanent his- VICE PRESIDENT: Harry Klancer torical displays, the Museum of Wireless (732)-238– 1083 and Steam in East Greenwich, RI who had a small display of Fessenden artifacts, and SECRETARY/EDITOR: the Raytheon Co. that provided some very Marv Beeferman (609)-693-9430 early magnetrons and displayed several of the first Radar Ranges. TREASURER: Initially, I had no idea how much inter- Sal Brisindi est these historical displays would create, (732)-308-1748 yet all through the three-day exposition SERGEANT-AT-ARMS (WEST) : What might you ask does an Interna- there was continuous traffic through the Rotating tional Microwave Symposium have to area. Most visitors took the time to exa m- do with InfoAge? Well, think about it... ine the displays and posters and read the SERGEANT-AT-ARMS (EAST): the development and mass production of Rick Weingarten descriptive material. Who would have (732 )-370-8206 radar just prior to and during World War thought that this generation would be that II was the beginning of today' s huge interested in the history of microwave? TRUSTEES: and far-flung microwave industry. The show was an eye opener for me as Ray Chase (908)-757-9741 Camp Evans played a pivotal roll in Phil Vourtsis (732)-446-2427 well. There were over 500 manufacturers, Tom Provost (609)-259-7634 the creation of this industry and so IEEE technical institutions and agencies dis- invited InfoAge to be a participant. playing on the main floor. I have been TECHNICAL COORDINATOR: This annual convention and trade show essentially out of touch with current mi- Al Klase always has a historical exhibit area that (908)-782-4829 crowave technology for the last 20 years fits perfectly with our mission so I of- and it did not take long for me to realize TUBE PROGRAM: fered to make it happen. how many advances have been made Gary D’Amico A local Boston IEEE volunteer, Paul since then. Today, everything is super (732)-271-0421 Martynuik, coordinated the planning for tiny and in the GHz range. Only the test SCHEMATIC PROGRAM: this effort. He sent me preliminary equipment has gotten larger and horribly Aaron Hunter sketches of the area and stands that we more expensive. Automotive avoidance (609)-267-3065 could use, and arranged for my VIP cre- radars are being produced at 75 GHz and dentials. All this was at no cost to Info- CAPACITOR PROGRAM: some equipment was showing up to 385 John Ruccolo Age at a trade show where booth space GHz...microwaves have now turned into (609)-426-4568 goes for up to a hundred dollars a square nanowaves. foot. The symposium turned into a very re- RESISTOR PROGRAM: The historic exhibit area was 50' x Walt Heskes warding experience for me while Camp (732)-205-9143 50' on the main floor and InfoAge ended Evans/InfoAge received a lot of publicity. up with a full corner, taking up about An interesting side note: as a displayer, I WEB COORDINATOR: one-fifth of the total space. I brought received an invitation to the Chairman's Dave Sica artifacts, displays and posters that would (732)-382-0618 dinner on Monday evening at the Harvard http://www.njarc.org best show our Marconi heritage as well Club; needless to say a first class affair at as the Army's history of radar at Camp a very historic venue. Then. on my re- MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY: Evans. I should have brought even turn, I was at the NJARC club meeting at Marsha Simkin more since extra space was available. 33 Lakeland Drive Princeton. Not bad - Monday at Harvard, Barnegat, N.J. 08005 However, we ended up with twice the and Friday at Princeton; what a way to (609)-660-8160 space that Paul originally indicated that bookend a week. we could occupy.

July 2009 Volume 15 Issue 7 Page 3

The InfoAge display area.

Some "high frequency" military electronics.

The Zahl tube and X- band beacon display.

Historic Camp Evans

A FINAL FAREWELL commodate the attendant security and Sarnoff Corporation's executives and staff access issues, especially given its ex- who, over the past nine years have done FROM THE panding business in government security so much to help make the Library a desti- DAVID SARNOFF technologies. When I started working nation for educational, professional, and here in 1998, the Library received per- scholarly audiences. I am also especially LIBRARY haps 100 visitors in a year; in the last grateful to our board members who, in year, that number has multiplied to 1,400 that nine years, have guided the Library's Our June meeting at Princeton's Bo- through our field trips, programs, and growth; to the New Jersey Historical wen Hall was well-received by the NJARC tours. That still small number, magnified Co mmission and the Secretary of State for membership. Some photos of the evening by the hundreds of thousands of visitors their operating support grants; to many follow this article, but they are tempered to our website, promised only to increase other grantors and donors for their finan- by the fact that some 10 minutes away, a as we continued to promote the Library's cial support; to the allied organizations very nostalgic era of our club's history offerings to tour companies and regional who share an interest in promoting science was coming to a close. Let's wish our school districts. and technology; to the teachers and princi- friend and fellow club member Alex Ma- My board and I are meeting with a pals who brought their classes to our new goun the best of success in all future en- variety of institutions. We are focusing field trip programs; to the contractors and deavors, especially his efforts to pass on on and meeting with representatives of dozens of volunteers who helped rebuild the David Sarnoff legacy and history to those that will enable greater access to the museum, organize and preserve the caretakers as worthy as he has been...Ed. the remarkable and inspiring stories told archives, and stage our amazing variety of by David Sarnoff and the people of RCA educational programs; and of course to Dear Friends of the Library, in research, invention, and innovation, you, the many friends of the Library, from the ma instays of American economic all these areas and more. Thank you all! The Sunday Times of Trenton will run success. We are exploring opportunities a story on the closing of the David in-state and out, and while it is too early Sincerely, Sarnoff Library by the end of the year. to discuss these options, we look forward The Library's success in attracting field to making an announcement in the next Alex trips and tour groups has outgrown our month. host Sarnoff Corporation's ability to ac- For now, we are eternally grateful to July 2009 Volume 15 Issue 7 Page 4

WELCOME TO BOWEN HALL

Of course, when some of us get our hands on a new toy, it's imperative that we figure out, as my dad used to say, "where the feet grow."

ogy. The 2009 inductees were William INFOAGE Kenneally, Michael R. Mirarchi and WALL OF HONOR David Noyes. 2009 Although their biographies make for interesting reading, the night's entertain- ment was really provided by a first-hand By recollection of the true flavor of the frus- Marv Beeferman trations, intrigues and personal "war sto- ries" experienced by these individuals. At a time when pop stars monopolize Although they are too extensive to relate the news headlines, it's a breath of fresh here, one in particular, where an experi- air to meet and learn about a few local mental surveillance balloon escaped from individuals whose talents and contribu- its tether and traveled over North Korea, Michael R. Mirarchi: Recognized for tions also made a difference. Although really caught my attention. laser rangefinders and designators. their names and accomplishments have faded from consciousness some years ago, Michael Mirarch's 40 year career with it is a credit to InfoAge to bring these in- the U.S. Army began at the Evans Area. dividuals and their families back into the During the early part of his career, he con- spotlight, even if it is just for an evening. ducted theoretical and exploratory investi- On Saturday, June 6th, a group of gations into the design and fabrication of NJARC members attended the annual experimental laser systems. The Army Wall of Honor reception in the Marconi was just discovering the potential applica- Hotel dining room. The Wall of Honor tion of the use of lasers to provide long permanently recognizes the efforts of range information for targeting and to des- those pioneers whose major contributions ignate targets for laser seeking munitions. to electronic research were performed at As with all previous Wall of Honor He was instrumental in the design of im- Camp Evans, the site of the present-say installations, NJARC member Dave portant laser subsystems, such as a ruby InfoAge Science and Learning Center and Sica was there to videotape the event. laser resonator, an optically pumped laser the NJARC Museum of Radio Technol- (Nice threads, Dave.) cavity and the optics used on a laser trans- July 2009 Volume 15 Issue 7 Page 5 mitters and receivers. with the Army Security Agency which 1964-74: Chief of the Advanced Avionics As a laser expert, Michael Mirarchi was responsible for signals intelligence Systems Division of the Army Avionics was instrumental in the research and de- and electronic countermeasures opera- R&D Laboratory at Fort Monmouth. Mr. velopment of laser/electro-optical equip- tions. The ASA was composed primarily Kenneally was responsible for the transla- ment and equipment such as laser target of soldiers with the highest scores on tion of operational requirements into avi- designators, rangefinders, laser search and Army intelligence tests and was tasked onic systems design including issues of track sets, laser radars and laser counter- with monitoring and interpreting military helicopter low-level, nighttime flight op- measures. He transformed laboratory communications of our adversaries, n-i erations. demonstrations of laser range finders and cluding North Korea. 1974-77: AMC Project Officer for the designators into smaller and more com- With his military experience as a Stand-Off Target Acquisition Radar pact systems that could be carried by the background, Mr. Noyes joined the Elec- (SOTAS) which was an airborne radar warfighter or installed in munition sys- tronic Warfare Laboratory in 1979 where integrated with a ground-base computer tems. he was instrumental in the design, test processing system. and operation of radio propagation meas- 1977-82: SOTAS Deputy Project Man- uring equipment for investigating artifi- ager. cially generated ionized clouds for use in 1982-85: Army Technical Director for ionospheric radio propagation. integration of Army operational require- Mr. Noyes was heavily involved in ments with those of the Air Force. solving critical technical problems for the 1985-88: Deputy for RSTA in CECOM use of high frequency direction finding at Camp Evans. equipment on both airborne and ground- 1988-93: Managed Fort Monmouth Of- based systems in Vietnam. He was also fice of the Systems Planning Corporation. instrumental in the development and From 1993 until his retirement in 2005, fielding of systems so important to the Mr.Kenneally worked as the Technical Cold War. Manager for Intelligence and Electronics After his retirement, Mr. Noyes' fun- Warfare at the MITRE Corporation in Ea- David Noyes as a Korean linguist with damental understanding of signal intelli- tontown, NJ. He was the technical lead Company A (321st USASA) in 1962. gence resulted in his selection as an in- for a number of system engineering stud- Mr. Noyes served at one of the North structor to teach new employees of the ies for advanced IEW systems and he au- Korean communications "intercept" Intelligence and Information Warfare thored several studies on combat identifi- sites from which "A" Company oper- Directorate about this important technol- cation and large scale IEW simulations ated ogy. His legacy lives through the many and field tests. people he taught. THE 2009 EARLY TELEVISION CONVENTION

By Dave Sica

This article has also appeared in the July Mrs. Noyes accepting for her husband. 2009 "AWA Journal"...Ed

David Noyes: Recognized for significant The long-standing NTSC television accomplishments in the area of signal in- standard in the United States, first imple- telligence. WilliamJ. Kenneally: Recognized for mented in black-and white in 1941, sup- surveillance radar systems. posedly died with the "analog shutoff" of David Noyes is a recognized expert in June 2009. Our first color system, CBS's the area of Signals Intelligence with mili- Mr. Kenneally has a long and diverse spinning color wheel "field sequential" tary service in the US Army Security career of service: design supposedly died in 1953 when Agency (ASA) and over 40 years of ser- 1962-64: Served as a Lieutenant in the RCA's all-electronic color system was vice in the Electronic Warfare Labora- Army Signal Corps stationed at the Sig- adopted as the second NTSC standard. tory, the Electronic Warfare Reconnais- nal Corps Research and Development The truth is that neither of these well- sance and Surveillance Directorate and its Laboratory at Camp Evans. He was re- known "deaths" is completely true. Al- successor organization, the Intelligence sponsible for the development of an auto- though the "analog shutoff" has been the and Information Warfare Directorate. matic terrain following flight control sys- subject of much public discussion, it was Mr. Noyes served his military duty tem for Army helicoptors. only at this year's Early Television Con- July 2009 Volume 15 Issue 7 Page 6 vention that many of us were reminded of welcome his son, Dr. Reinhard Bruch, pleasure to witness a conversation be- the details behind the little -known who discussed his father's many accom- tween Cliff and Stan Lebar as they dis- "second wave" of CBS field sequential plishments. Dr. Bruch provided a unique cussed field sequential color systems. All color as used in the Apollo space program the color cameras sent to the moon used of the 1960s and 1970s. color wheels. I clearly remember sitting spellbound Daryl Hock presented a wonderful, de- in front of our old black-and-white set tailed documentation of his painstaking watching those fuzzy live television im- restoration of a 1931 RCA field trial re- ages of man's first steps onto the moon ceiver. live - forty years ago! How appropriate James O'Neal offered his painstakingly that not one, but two of the presentations documented journey to find the truth at this year's Early Television Convention about Reginald Fessenden's legendary De- offered a unique "behind the scenes" per- cember 24, 1906 broadcast, commonly spective on television technology of the cited as the first radio entertainment pro- Apollo space program. grams broadcast to a general audience. The Early Television Foundation perspective on the accomplishments of After much investigation, O'Neal has re- hosted the seventh annual Early Televi- this television pioneer. For example, luctantly come to the conclusion that Fes- sion Convention this past May at its Mu- most of us have seen the famous photos senden's famous broadcast probably never seum in Hilliard, Ohio. The weekend of television cameras being used at the happened. event kicked off with an auction of over a 1936 Olympics; Dr. Bruch described to Lloyd McIntyre described the Museum hundred vintage televisions. While many us how his father had built them. It was of Radio and Technology in Huntington, of the sets were, to put it kindly, of less another rare opportunity to hear a chapter West Virginia and Don Saltzman offered than museum quality, when coupled with of the story of television directly from an personal memories from 1951 regarding the weak economy, they presented a rare eyewitness to history. the famous CBS/RCA color war that re- opportunity for collectors to stock up on Mark Gray of Spacecraft Films dis- sulted in the omission of color wheels fixer-upper items at prices unseen for cussed Apollo video in general and from our televisions over the past five many years. touched on the process whereby the pro- decades (except, of course, at NASA). prietary slow-scan video from the moon Chuck Pharis made a valiant attempt to camera was converted for broadcast on resurrect the camera system in the 1948 earth. RCA TV remote truck. At one point, the Another highlight of the Convention entire museum was filled with smoke as a was hearing Stanley Lebar describe his power supply failed dramatically. Despite work on the cameras used in the moon the uncooperative electronics, Chuck feels landings. Stan was the Apollo 11 camera that success is within reach and we hope systems program manager at Westing- to see the truck systems in operation next house. He described the crude (by to- year. day's standards) technology and the in- So, although the field sequential color credible constraints on bandwidth, size, system officially died in 1953, it actually and weight his engineers had to work lived on until the seventies at NASA. And with to create the camera that brought us although NTSC officially passed away However, several less common items, those iconic live images from the moon. this year, it and CBS color live on at the especially those in fine condition, com- They were working with no design Early Television Museum. manded impressive prices. Interest was precedents; even the handle of the cam- The museum is open on weekends and high, especially from buyers outside the era had to be specially engineered to by appointment. It is located at 5396 United States. This was also the second meet never-before-considered challenges. Franklin Street, Hilliard Ohio 43026. Its year the Convention was broadcast live on Stan also discussed color camera systems website is www.earlytelevision.org. The the Internet and bidders were able to ob- used on later Apollo missions. These museum may be contacted at 614-771- tain several nice examples of collectible were based on the same field -sequential 0510 or at [email protected]. American sets. A nice RCA 621 went for principle as the "obsolete" CBS color nearly two thousand dollars. system! The auction was followed by a full af- Cliff Benham set up a demonstration ternoon of seminars. The Early Televi- of modern circuits displaying the original sion Convention is the only place you'll NTSC color system and CBS Field Se- find seminars focused on this particular quential Color. Originally requiring a narrow niche of the history of technology. spinning color wheel in front of a black- The presentations this year continued the and-white television screen, the CBS sys- fine tradition of high quality we've come tem was displayed on a tri-color kine- to expect at this event. scope, with no wheel, and fed by Cliff's Walter Bruch was the developer of the custom-designed processing circuits. PAL color system. We were pleased to It was a charming and unexpected Dave Sica and friends. July 2009 Volume 15 Issue 7 Page 7 July 2009 Volume 15 Issue 7 Page 8

FOR SALE WANTED CONNECTIONS Check out NJARC’s capacitor program Rare or unusual wire recorders such for those most commonly needed replace as Soviet Type MH-61, WWII Signal ments. Contact John Ruccolo at any Free exposure for buyers and sellers! Corps RD-15/ANQ-1, GE model 20N. club meeting or call him at home (609)- Unless requested otherwise, each ad will Also wanted is an un-modified BC- 426-4568 to find out what’s available. run for two months in both the Jersey 652A with dynamotor. Contact Gary All proceeds go to the club. Broadcaster and the Delaware Valley Berg, 24 Pat Road, Newburgh, NY Oscillator. All buying and selling 12550 [email protected] transactions are the responsibility of the WWII AN/PRT-1 jammer. Basically a parties involved. spark transmitter with a timer made YOUR in the last months of WWII, complete Are you aware that NJARC now has a with a copy of the manual. Asking WANT resistor program which includes many $150 + shipping, or pickup. Contact commonly needed replacements? Gary Berg, 24 Pat Road, Newburgh, AD Contact Walt Heskes at any club meeting NY 12550. [email protected] for details. HERE!

WANTED: Radio repairmen and restorers. Run out of your own radios to work on? The club and Infoage have received a quantity of radio donations, some of which would look good in our museum. Others will be set aside for traveling displays, trading or resale as fundraisers. Many of these radios only need a good cleaning and polishing and a minor electrical checkout. Take one or two home with you and practice your skills...even if you just want to clean them up. Contact Ray Chase at our next meeting, at 908- 757-9741 or at [email protected].

THE GREAT The Army Signal Corps BC-412-B oscilloscope is easily recognized by its HIGH ALTITUDE large steel cover and its excessive SCOPE RESCUE weight. It was originally used with the first, mass-produced Army radar set, the CAPER SCR-268. This set determined the azi- muth, angular elevation and altitude of By the target and transmitted this informa- Note that the scope's tag indicates that the Dave Sica tion to a searchlight or a gun director. unit was "designed at Signal Corps radar laboratory, Camp Evans, Belmar, N.J. An interesting use of surplus BC-412's Most of us have a few of those "against was published in the August 1947 edition all odds" survival stories of vintage of Radio News. The article, "Build Your equipment that was headed for the dump- Own Television Receiver" used the BC- ster or was otherwise destined for some 412 as the basis for the receiver since, by similar ignoble fate. Some of these survi- this time, it was a cheap, war surplus item vors wind up in member's collections, but and normally expensive components used the noblest of them all are the ones that in the power supply were already included find their rest at the club's museum for all in the complete oscilloscope unit. of us to appreciate. Dave, being a modest It was noted in the article that the BC- individual, was somewhat reluctant to 412 scope selected for conversion must be share this story, but I'm glad I was able to equipped with a type pry it out of him...Ed. 5BP4 (white phosphor) A collector wished to donate an old cathode- ray tube Dave, with help of the radar oscilloscope to InfoAge. I lived (originally used in RCA's donor's son, wake a nearby and offered to pick it up. When I TRK-5 TV). It appeared BC-412-B oscilloscope got there, I found out that the ‘scope that some of the available from its long, dark weighed well over fifty pounds and was surplus scopes of the time sleep and expose it located in a crawl space over a garage! had a tube with a green- once more to the light Lowering it on a rope was a somewhat ish-tinted screen (green of day. Like a reluc- harrowing experience, but fortunately phosphor) that was not tant vampire, this both the ‘scope and I survived with nary a satisfactory for video re- relic would not be eas- scratch. It’s now part of Ray Chase’s ra- production. dar display in the Marconi Hotel. ily moved.