The AWA Review Volume 26 • 2013 Published by THE ANTIQUE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION PO Box 421, Bloomfield, NY 14469-0421 http://www.antiquewireless.org Volume 26, 2013 i Volume 26 book.indb 1 14/06/2013 2:54:15 PM Devoted to research and documentation of the history of wireless communications. THE ANTIQUE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION PO Box 421, Bloomfield, NY 14469-0421 http://www.antiquewireless.org Founded 1952, Chartered as a non-profit corporation by the State of New York. The AWA Review EDITOR Robert P. Murray, Ph.D. Vancouver, BC, Canada ASSOCIATE EDITORS Erich Brueschke, BSEE, MD, KC9ACE David Bart, BA, MBA, KB9YPD, Julia Bart, B.A., M.A. FORMER EDITORS Robert M. Morris W2LV, (silent key) William B. Fizette, Ph.D., W2GDB Ludwell A. Sibley, KB2EVN Thomas B. Perera, Ph.D., W1TP Brian C. Belanger, Ph.D. OFFICERS OF THE ANTIQUE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR: Tom Peterson, Jr. DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Robert Hobday, N2EVG SECRETARY: William Hopkins, Ph.D., AA2YV TREASURER: Stan Avery, WM3D AWA MUSEUM CURATOR: Bruce Roloson, W2BDR 2013 by the Antique Wireless Association, ISBN 978-0-9890350-0-2 Cover images are of cartons of tubes produced by E.B. Myers in Montreal in 1923-1925, (front cover) and of a tube produced by his factory in Cleveland in 1926, (back cover). Article begins on page 37. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy- ing, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Book design by Fiona Raven, Vancouver, BC, Canada Printed in Canada by Friesens, Altona, MB Volume 26 book.indb 2 14/06/2013 2:54:15 PM Contents Volume 26, 2013 Foreword . iv T IpS FOR Authors . vii LOetter T THE Editor ©2013 Bart Lee . 1 HAzeltine, THE Neutrodyne AND THE HAzeltine Corporation ©2013 Mike Molnar . 3 MAgneto-electric DiaL TelEgraphs ©2013 Franz Pichler . 21 Part II: Elman B. MyerS AND THE Vacuum-TubE Tangle © 2013 Eric P. Wenaas . 37 T he FIRST Heathkit, THE O-1 OscilloscopE ©2013 Erich E. Brueschke . 95 The Titanic’S IMpacT ON Wireless & Radio ©2013 David & Julia Bart . 113 The San Francisco Radio CluB, Since 1909 ©2013 Bart Lee . 133 RCA TV Development: 1929 - 1949 ©2013 Richard Brewster . 155 R obert E. Lacault AND THE INVENTION OF THE Ultradyne ©2013 David Willenborg . 179 LEee D Forest AND THE Invention OF Sound Movies, 1918-1926 ©2013 Mike Adams . 201 Volume 26 book.indb 3 14/06/2013 2:54:15 PM Foreword This year the AWA is celebrating the memory and impact of the Heathkit companies. In 2010 Erich Bruesche wrote the definitive Heathkit history in the AWA Review, listing all models made from the beginning in 1947 to 1956. At that time he did not have the original model, the O-1 oscilloscope. Well, now he has one, one of two in existence he thinks, and in this volume he lovingly describes it in detail. Erich has done his usual careful and thorough job of describing this instrument. What will he think of next? Again we are bringing you the AWA Review without charge to the member- ship. This comes as a free benefit to members—your dues are not affected by the distribution of this journal. The AWA Review is the AWA’s peer reviewed journal. It serves as a historical record where the facts are verified by one or more anonymous reviewers. That gives it some extra credibility as a source of sound reporting of history. The free printing and distribution of this Review are again made possible by a generous donation from a long standing AWA member who wishes to remain anonymous. His gift is an indication that he is committed particularly to historical documentation as a key part of our hobby. This year’s volume reflects a number of trends. One is our continuing use of colour. Not many articles on early radio history need colour, but those that do, manage to make excellent use of it. Another trend in the AWA Review is the continuing participation by international authors. This year we have an author from Austria. This year’s volume exhibits a great deal of dedication and energy on the part if its authors. The result is a number of fine efforts, the first described above and then the following: ■ Mike Molnar is a distinguished radio collector and historian. In this issue he chooses to tell about the development of the Neutrodyne circuit, not only as a technical achievement but also as a way for manufacturers to meet market needs while circumventing the restrictions placed on them by RCA. This turns out to be an achievement by an engineering group that spanned many decades and reached into diverse corners of radio and electrical development. ■ Prof. Franz Pichler has a lively interest in early telegraph instruments and their history. As a part of this interest he has acquired rare pieces of telegraph apparatus. His report this year is not only an account of telegraph history but also a description of how he acquired a rare telegraph sender and restored it to an operable state. ■ Eric Wenaas has written award-winning articles on important topics in radio iv The AWA Review Volume 26 book.indb 4 14/06/2013 2:54:16 PM history in this journal and elsewhere. In this volume he takes on the role of Elman B. Myers in early vacuum tube history. Through months of explora- tion of obscure correspondence Eric brings a new perspective to the impact of Myers’ work. He finds that Myers was a skilled tube designer and manu- facturer whose flame burned relatively briefly. Myers produced good tubes in unwelcome competition with RCA, and was put out of business mostly by the actions in court of RCA and its associated companies. ■ Although last year was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, still manuscripts about the event continue to arrive. This year we have a paper by David and Julia Bart about the impact of the Titanic disaster on maritime safety over the ensuing century. This paper was delivered at the 2012 annual banquet of the Antique Wireless Association and is reproduced for us here. As it turns out, the rate of maritime disasters has been declining, and much of this decline results from lessons learned from the Titanic. ■ Bart Lee is the official historian of the San Francisco Radio Club. As part of his role as historian, he shares with us some details of how the club began and its achievements and activities over the decades. As he reports, it turns out that the SFRC has a long and illustrious history of radio developments and of community service. Who better than Bart to impart this to us in his uniquely appealing style? ■ Richard Brewster ‘was there’ during the latter part of television history in the United States. When he wasn’t there, he took a lively interest in the documentation of history through reports, interviews and artifacts. In this volume he brings us evidence of the development of broadcast TV by RCA. His enthusiasm is evident in this article, as is his respect for the foresight and courage of David Sarnoff in supporting the project. ■ David Willenborg regretted the void of information on Robert Lacault, the inventor of the Ultradyne circuit. After literally decades of searching he came up with a description of Lacault’s origins, early training, exposure to renowned inventors, and his career writing for Hugo Gernsback. Willenborg was gratified to learn as much as he did after such a long delay, and when you read his account you too will be impressed. ■ Mike Adams has pursued a hobby of documenting the achievements of West Coast radio and electrical inventors. He does so in such a lively style that his articles and books and TV programs have a wide appeal. Here he has favored us with an account of how Dr. Lee de Forest invented sound movies. De Forest Volume 26, 2013 v Volume 26 book.indb 5 14/06/2013 2:54:16 PM was probably the radio inventor with the strongest educational preparation in the early decades of the 20th century. Adams speculates on why his inventions did not always reach their full market potential. Again this year our sincere thanks go to these authors for their fine work. A smoothly finished article often obscures the work that went into writing it, not to mention the time involved. We continue to use the services of experts in the field as peer reviewers. We believe that this process raises the overall quality of the AWA Review. Some of our reviewers have served in this role for a number of years now and deserve our special thanks. The reviewers for this issue are: David Bart, Julia Bart, Erich Brueschke, Neil Friedman, Gerry O’Hara, John Jenkins, Joe Knight, Virginia Lovelace, Robert Lozier, Tom Perera, Ludwell Sibley, Glenn Trischen, and Eric Wenaas. This year the Review undertook a project that I felt was long overdue. We invited book designer Fiona Raven to overhaul the design of the publication. What you see before you is the result of her skilled efforts. She has provided new templates for the layout of the material that will now continue in use, hopefully for years to come. We thank Fiona for her contribution. AWA members and others with an interest in wireless communication history are encouraged to submit manuscripts to the AWA Review. A section titled Tips for Authors follows. We try to make the publication effort more collaborative than challenging.