[TenTec] OT: First voice broadcast a hoax?

[Ron Notarius W3WN]

This really isn't the place for this discussion... so I will make one last
comment and then shut up.

Last month, the University of Pittsburgh had a presentation on Fessenden (he
was a professor & department head there).  As part of that presentation,
there were newspaper clippings displayed championing his acheivements, and
as memory served, they were dated long before his death.  Had I suspected
this was going to come up, especially here, I would have noted more details.
So suffice to say, I have some reservations on the issue of declaring this a
hoax.

Again, before I start getting more posts from the reflector police
complaining about the discussion, and I already have, this is really more
suited to a reflector discussing communications history.

Incidently, the presenters included the Chair of the Mathematics Department
(NA0B), the Dean of the University Honors College (W3HRK), and the founder
of FlexRadio Systems (K5SDR).  After the program, several of us took a peek
at the W3YI shack (running as the K3F Special Event Station), and I'll tell
you, the FlexRadio system that they have was very impressive.  (But I still
like W3WH's Orion better!  There!  Back on track)



-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of Ron Castro
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2006 6:06 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] OT: First voice broadcast a hoax?


That may well be, but considering that Fessenden was a notorious egotist,
and that he published hundreds of articles, why would he have waited over 25
years to even mention the event to someone who could document it?  It's even
more suspicious that DeForest was prominently mentioned in a New York Times
article:

"Unlike Fessenden's purported broadcast, the De Forest radio broadcasts were
noted in the press. The New York Tribune reported on May 15, 1907, "There is
music in the air about the roof of the Hotel Normandy these days. A good
deal of it is being collected by Lee de Forest's wireless telephone, ready
for distribution to possible purchasers.""

In a 1925 Radio News article, De Forest made the claim that he was the first
to broadcast speech and music, and no one, including Fessenden, disputed the
claim.  Assumably Fessenden or at least one of his associates would have
read the claim and disputed it, but not a word was ever published in
opposition.

Fessenden's first documented mention of the event didn't come until five
months before his death in 1932.  Maybe he got the year wrong and the
broadcast was actually Christmas Eve 1907, but that still makes De Forest
the first.

"We report...you decide!"

      Ron  N6IE
 www.N6IE.com
(Formerly N6AHA)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Notarius W3WN" <wn3vaw at verizon.net>
To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2006 2:15 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] OT: First voice broadcast a hoax?


> Ron,
>
> I glanced at that link this morning.  Seems to me that the main thrust of
> the article is that due to a lack of documentation, the author has his
> doubts about Fessenden's claims.
>
> However, it also struck me that the author was primarily unhappy that the
> event wasn't documented to the heavy degree that something would be today.
> As we don't now how extensively the author did his research, I'd question
> as
> to whether or not the fact that he didn't find anything is in and of
> itself
> a contradiction of Fessenden's claims.  And at the time the claims were
> first made, I don't recall hearing of anyone who would have been around at
> the time disputing them (which well could have happened, I grant you.)
> It's
> not on the same level as, say, KDKA's claim to be the "first" broadcaster,
> which was not only disputed by other pioneer broadcast stations, but
> ultimately isn't quite true (KDKA was issued the first government license
> to
> broadcast, which is not the same thing, Westinghouse PR to the contrary).
>
> So while I'd concede that there's some doubt cast, pending further data
> (and
> not lack thereof), I'd say that claiming that Fessenden's transmission is
> a
> hoax is going a bit too far.
>
> 73
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of Ron Castro
> Sent: Monday, December 11, 2006 12:57 AM
> To: Ten Tec List
> Subject: [TenTec] OT: First voice broadcast a hoax?
>
>
> Two weeks from today on Christmas Eve is the100th anniversary of Reginald
> Fessenden's first voice broadcast, but a new study casts serious doubt
> that
> the event ever occurred!  I know this is way off topic, but I was so blown
> away when I ran across the article, published in Radio World Magazine's
> October issue, that I couldn't resist putting a link to it on my website,
> www.N6IE.com .  If you're a radio history buff, check it out!
>
>      Ron  N6IE
> www.N6IE.com
> (Formerly N6AHA)
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