[ARC5] Radios and the Canal

[Richard Knoppow]

Snipping here...
    My S-36 is an RBK-13

    I think there is more to the shift of the FM band from 
the experimental 50 Mhz band than RCA politics.  Part was 
the development of tubes and other components that allowed 
higher frequency operation economically.
    BTW, Armstrong's first name was Edwin.  He had a rather 
rocky relationship with David Sarnoff, part of the problem 
was Armstrong's somewhat difficult personality. They also 
disagreed on the band for FM, Armstrong wanting the lower 
frequency one.
    RCA conducted a patent suit against Armstrong for years 
despite RCA's lawyers telling Sarnoff it was not valid. 
Armstrong was eventually driven to suicide but his widow 
continued to fight and eventually prevailed.  In the mean 
time Murry Crosby and others at RCA had developed 
alternative methods of generating and receiving FM.
    The real boost for FM came with the invention of a 
practical method for stereo transmission and the FCC order 
that set manufacturers had to make radios that received both 
AM an FM, or at least a certain percentage of production.
    There were not many stations on the old 50 Mhz band, 
perhaps thirty across the country. It was experimental and 
very few people had receivers.  Even after commercialization 
on the "new" band c.1948, there were not many stations, 
again because there were not many receivers.  Broadcasters 
sell the audience and if the audience is not large enough 
they have nothing to sell. Broadcasting of all types has 
been in increasing trouble since the growth of the Internet 
because there is too much competition causing the audience 
to become diluted. A number of early FM broadcasters dropped 
out because they found they could not make money from it. 
For example M-G-M/Lowes Inc had stations in New York 
(WMGM-FM) and Los Angeles (KMGM) which it sold within a 
couple of years.  KFI, in Los Angeles, obtained a CP for a 
"new" band FM station that was to be the most powerful in 
the country (250,000 watts ERP) but never developed it 
because they decided it would not be profitable. There were 
many others.
    The history of broadcasting in the U.S. is very 
interesting and has its roots in the earliest days of 
wireless.  The founding and evolution of RCA is an important 
factor.  There are several good books on the history of 
both.  If anyone is interested I will post a bibliography.
    BTW, I think there is a valid argument that TV would 
have benefited by putting off its commercialization for a 
few years and eliminating the VHF band.  I think the 
pressure came from companies who held patents that would be 
profitable only if products using them could be sold soon. 
RCA was probably the most influential player but Hazeltine 
Labs and Allen B. DuMont were also in the game.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com