[Milsurplus] Crystal history book

[hwhall at compuserve.com]

>So, at one time, crystals were made in-house at Midland, and in the '30's it was a mom and pop operation for the most part, so have wondered why it could not be restarted as a cottage industry again.<

I suspect that it could be, but the economics of startup & material costs could be a show stopper given the rather small market for crystals. I wonder if AF4K Crystals had looked into the possibility of manufacturing. It might make more sense for someone to do as an avocation without the need for making a profit.
WayneWB4OGM

-----Original Message-----
From: CL in NC via Milsurplus <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
To: Milsurplus <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sun, Jul 31, 2022 9:47 am
Subject: [Milsurplus] Crystal history book

I know there is a movie out called 'Crystals go to War', but there was also a book about the subject with a different title.  The crystal industry in the 1930's was almost a home cottage industry that had to be ramped up during WW II.  In the book, all the crystals  problems were explained and how they were overcome.  But one of the biggest, the one that caused all the FT241 type failures, and the book reported that crystals in newly manufactured equipment packed and shipped to the ETO, were dead on arrival.  This problem was actually solved years earlier by AT&T (may have been GE, memory slip) , but they did not tell anybody about it because their primary WW II function was not building crystals.  It took independent discovery on part of the other crystal makers to solve the issue, and after the war,  AT&T (maybe GE) said, "Oh yea, we figured that out, why didn't you ask?".  I bought a manual from Tucker Electronics when they were selling off their inventory prior to shutti
 ng down, the manual was for a piece of equipment I had and used by a manufacturer in crystal testing.  In it were several typewritten pages, just stuck in the book, from the Midland Company, describing a certain procedure to use during the night shift and the grinding of blanks.  So, at one time, crystals were made in-house at Midland, and in the '30's it was a mom and pop operation for the most part, so have wondered why it could not be restarted as a cottage industry again.

Charlie, W4MEC in NC
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