Forward This article first appeared in the TCA magazine numbered Vol. 18, No. 2, April, 2016. Since that writing, I have, mostly by accident, found much more information on Hammond and will be expanding the original. First, I will copy the article as it appeared and after I will add the additional newly found facts...
Identification of the Radio Equipment used on the NC-4 The initial article in the May 2016 TCA magazine on the flight of the NC-4 contained this picture, fig.1, of the radio equipment that held the vacuum tubes that made the first trans-Atlantic crossing possible. This author felt compelled to identify the devices used. They are...
The first trans-Atlantic flight by the US Navy is an often-overlooked event in aviation history along with the most important part of the communication equipment necessary to complete that task- the vacuum tube. By orders from the Assistant Secretary of the US Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, plans for large, long-range flying boats were drawn as...
General Electric’s Vacuum Tube Contributions – 1915 – 1918 by Jerry Vanicek and Joe Gruber Expanded and revised article that appeared in the Vol. 17 #6, December, 2015 TCA Magazine. Beginning in 1912, the Research Laboratory at GE was constantly experimenting and making developmental samples that could be used in their general quantity production fully...
Hugo Gernsback was born in 1884 in Luembourg and immigrated to the US in 1904 to market an improved dry cell battery, and later became a citizen. In that same year he opened a small mail order business called “The Electro Importing Company.” All he did was an immediate success. At some point he opened...
By Joe Gruber Vacuum tube collectors may ask- What is the Eaton tube anyhow? This author will attempt to answer that question along with addressing the description of each tube in that collection. Esteemed tube collectors Jerry Vanicek and Lauren Peckham laid a foundation as to the identity of each tube, keeping in mind that...
Illustrations from the Joe Gruber collection as stated. While most collectors know, including this author, why De Forest made his type T (tubular) audion to meet the competition in 1916, it escapes me why he made it with only 1 filament. De Forest had been trying for several years to prevent west coast makers from...
With Pictured Examples from the Joe Gruber Collection Click on the picture above to see the large view France It did not escape the French military, with war imminent with Germany, that much work was going to be necessary in the area of telecommunications to speed up development and industrial output. To that end, the...
Much earnest tube development, around the world was taking place in the time period starting in 1900. In the UK, Fleming was working on the “Edison Effect” light bulb and saw its potential for use in communication. This became the Fleming Diode. At the same time, H. J. Round, working for the Marconi Wireless Telegraph...
This author is going to try and present the information on H. W. McCandless and Paul Wallace and the related documents without comments or speculation. While some information is known regarding McCandless, much of his early work is a mystery due to a fire that destroyed his tubes sales records in the beginning. Tyne quote...