[ARC5] Magnetron/Klystron 1936-40
Leslie Smith
vk2bcu at operamail.com
Sat Nov 16 03:18:56 EST 2013
G'day list.
This is interesting. I remember a cover picture on the front page of
Electronics Australia when I was in high school.
(That was 457 BC, not BC-457)
An article in the magazine featured the Varian brothers, and stated
they developed the Klystron on a budget of $100, but this is an
approximation.
They were given a room to work in and a budget for materials of $100
in exchange for 1/2 the royalties on the Klystron.
They did this work between '36 and 39.
In contrast, the magnetron was developed in Manchester (or Birmingham)
I forget which in 1940. The Brits got more power from their unit, and
their work assisted the US RADAR development a good deal.
Cleeton got his PhD in the mid-30s, and he worked at about 1cm so ...
this must be around 30GHz. I'd take 24GHz as "close".
Whatever he used - it swept the GHz region where ammonium absorbed.
God only knows how they measured what they were doing at that
frequency, back then. Amazing!
Anyway, Cleeton/Williams must have had more than an acorn 955 in their
pocket.
What do other list readers know?
This is interesting.
73 de Les Smith
vk2bcu at operamail.com
On Sat, Nov 16, 2013, at 12:49, Geoff wrote:
> I thought the Brits and MIT Rad Lab developed the magnetron during WW2.
>
> Carl
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Dawson" <wb3akd at earthlink.net>
> To: "David Stinson" <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>; "ARC-5 List"
> <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, November 15, 2013 2:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] 77 GHZ
>
>
> >I think the prize goes to Cleeton and Williams at U Mich in the early '30's
> >for discovering the absorption spectra of Ammonia at 24 (I think) GHz.
> >
> > Used Western Electric Magnetrons as models and scaled them down in size to
> > the desired frequency to generate the RF.
> >
> > Polished brass parabolic mirrors on transmit and receive, selenium rod as
> > a detector.
> >
> > Wavelength measured with metal diffration gratings.
> >
> > Ammonia at 1 ATM in a rubberized canvas bag, they observed absorption of
> > the microwave energy.
> >
> > The idea came from their consideration that if quantumtheory was true,
> > then there ought to be an absorption line at 24 GHz or so, and they found
> > it. Opened up the field of microwave spectroscopy, as far as I know.
> >
> > Pretty durn neat for the time.
> >
> > 73
> >
> > Tom
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "David Stinson" <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>
> > To: "ARC-5 List" <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
> > Sent: Friday, November 15, 2013 1:40 PM
> > Subject: Re: [ARC5] 77 GHZ
> >
> >
> >> Similar surprise:
> >> I have an Aircraft Radio Corporation 1945 catalog, flogging their surplus
> >> parts from cancelled contracts at the end of WWII.
> >> All kinds of Command Set parts being offered.
> >>
> >> But they were also offering feedlines, cavities
> >> and other "plumbing" for 21 GHZ.
> >> Who knew anyone was "plumbing" 21 GHZ in 1945?
> >> ______________________________________________________________
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