TenTec
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [TenTec] In praise of older technology

To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] In praise of older technology
From: Brian Carling <bcarling@cfl.rr.com>
Reply-to: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2014 18:14:08 -0500
List-post: <tentec@contesting.com">mailto:tentec@contesting.com>
And maybe they were too busy fighting a war to play radio.

Best regards - Bry Carling



> On Feb 24, 2014, at 6:03 PM, k6jek <k6jek@comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> We're cruising toward the 100 year anniversary of SSB. It definitely 
> qualifies as older technology.
> 
> It was the famous John Carson patent for SSB filed in 1915 that used the 
> antenna circuit for more than just radiating. He suppressed the carrier with 
> a balanced modulator but sliced off the opposite sideband in the antenna 
> coupler. That's a higher Q tuner than your average MFJ.
> 
> I've never understood why it took so long for amateurs to pick up SSB. AT&T 
> had it in commercial service in 1927. A couple of guys did stuff in the 
> '30's. But not until the Stanford experiments in 1947 and the QST articles 
> the next year did it really start to take off. Maybe it took cheaper and 
> better components that came out of WWII to make it practical for hams. Or 
> maybe it was just  wasn't interesting to them.
> 
> 
>> On Feb 24, 2014, at 1:08 PM, k6jek wrote:
>> 
>> There is a lot to be said for an antenna as a resonant circuit. One of the 
>> very early SSB patents did just that. They sliced off the carrier and 
>> opposite sideband at the antenna.  Now if I can just remember who that was. 
>> I bet one of you can
>> 
>> 
>>> On Feb 24, 2014, at 12:42 PM, Ron Notarius W3WN wrote:
>>> 
>>> Loomis was a quack.  I'd rather hang out with Reginald Fessenden
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 02/24/14, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
>>> 
>>> Doug, I think you've been hanging out with Mahlon Loomas too long!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> And for those of you who can't remember who he was, it might be worth your
>>> while to look it up.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I bet most of you didn't even know that wireless communications was invented
>>> by a DENTIST!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Yes, he also invented the very first Aerial, although some might argue it
>>> was Benjamin Franklin.
>>> 
>>> Franklin only used the kite wire to capture electricity; Loomas used it as
>>> an Aerial to send and receive signals.
>>> 
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahlon_Loomis 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Though his patent for a wireless telegraph was in 1872, as I recall he
>>> discovered this about 4 years earlier. Hard to remember exactly. I was
>>> just a young whipper snapper back then.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> So guys, take it from me; next time you're having problems with your
>>> antenna, don't ask an engineer, consult your dentist!
>>> 
>>> Hey, I oughta know... I work for an antenna company!
>>> 
>>> ;-)
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> What does all of this have to do with Doug's comment?
>>> 
>>> Everything.
>>> 
>>> Mahlon discovered that if he made the length of the wire of the TX and RX
>>> aerial the exact same length, communications was much more reliable. Thus
>>> you might conclude that the length of wire was determining the frequency.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> But that's not quite accurate.
>>> 
>>> Actually it was transmitting on (almost) all frequencies, but only
>>> efficiently radiating into the ether on the wavelength associated with the
>>> length of his aerial. So specifically, the aerial, not the transmitter,
>>> determined the frequency being radiated into the distant ether. In the near
>>> field, a broad frequency spectrum was being radiated.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ... at least that's my understanding of what was happening. 
>>> 
>>> Then again, how would I know?
>>> 
>>> I'm neither an engineer nor a dentist!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>>> 
>>> (Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Doug Reid
>>> Back when I started out, we used a spark generator and the frequency was
>>> determined by the length of our antenna...... 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> TenTec mailing list
>>> TenTec@contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> TenTec mailing list
>>> TenTec@contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> TenTec mailing list
>> TenTec@contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TenTec mailing list
> TenTec@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>