History of radio

The pre-history and early history of radio is the history of technology that produced radio instruments that use radio waves. Within the timeline of radio, many people contributed theory and inventions in what became radio. [http://inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/radio.htm The Invention of Radio] inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/radio.htm ] Radio development began as "wireless telegraphy". Later radio history increasingly involves matters of programming and content.

* * Date unconfirmed

FM and television start

In 1933, FM radio was patented by inventor Edwin H. Armstrong. FM uses frequency modulation of the radio wave to minimize static and interference from electrical equipment and the atmosphere, in the audio program. In 1937, W1XOJ, the first experimental FM radio station, was granted a construction permit by the FCC. In the 1930s, standard analog television transmissions started in Europe, and then in the 1940s in North America.

Marconi/Tesla priority dispute

In 1943, Tesla's patent (number "645576") was reinstated as holding priority in the "invention" of modern radio by the U.S. Supreme Court shortly after Tesla's death. The validity of the patent was never in question in the case. This decision was based on the fact that prior art existed before the establishment of Marconi's patent. Ignoring Tesla's prior art, the decision may have enabled the U.S. government to avoid having to pay damages that were being claimed by the Marconi Company for use of its patents during World War I (as, it is speculated, the government's initial reversal to grant Marconi the patent right in order to nullify any claims Tesla had for compensation).

FM in Europe

After World War II, the FM radio broadcast was introduced in Germany. In 1948, a new wavelength plan was set up for Europe at a meeting in Copenhagen. Because of the recent war, Germany (which did not exist as a state and so was not invited) was only given a small number of medium-wave frequencies, which are not very good for broadcasting. For this reason Germany began broadcasting on UKW ("Ultrakurzwelle", i.e. ultra short wave, nowadays called VHF) which was not covered by the Copenhagen plan. After some amplitude modulation experience with VHF, it was realized that FM radio was a much better alternative for VHF radio than AM. Because of this history FM Radio is still referred to as "UKW Radio" in Germany. Other European nations followed a bit later, when the superior sound quality of FM and the ability to run many more local stations because of the more limited range of VHF broadcasts were realized.

Later 20th century developments

In 1954 Regency introduced a pocket transistor radio, the TR-1, powered by a "standard 22.5V Battery". In the early 1960s, VOR systems finally became widespread for aircraft navigation; before that, aircraft used commercial AM radio stations for navigation. (AM stations are still marked on U.S. aviation charts). In 1960 Sony introduced their first transistorized radio, small enough to fit in a vest pocket, and able to be powered by a small battery. It was durable, because there were no tubes to burn out. Over the next twenty years, transistors displaced tubes almost completely except for very high power, or very high frequency, uses.

Color television and digital

*1963: Color television was commercially transmitted, and the first (radio) communication satellite, Telstar, was launched.
*Late 1960s: The USA long-distance telephone network began to convert to a digital network, employing digital radios for many of its links.
*1970s: LORAN became the premier radio navigation system. Soon, the U.S. Navy experimented with satellite navigation.
*1987: The GPS constellation of satellites was launched.
*Early 1990s: amateur radio experimenters began to use personal computers with audio cards to process radio signals.
*1994: The U.S. Army and DARPA launched an aggressive successful project to construct a software radio that could become a different radio on the fly by changing software.
*Late 1990s: Digital transmissions began to be applied to broadcasting.

Telex on radio

Telegraphy did not go away on radio. Instead, the degree of automation increased. On land-lines in the 1930s, Teletypewriters automated encoding, and were adapted to pulse-code dialing to automate routing, a service called telex. For thirty years, telex was the absolute cheapest form of long-distance communication, because up to 25 telex channels could occupy the same bandwidth as one voice channel. For business and government, it was an advantage that telex directly produced written documents.

Telex systems were adapted to short-wave radio by sending tones over single sideband. CCITT R.44 (the most advanced pure-telex standard) incorporated character-level error detection and retransmission as well as automated encoding and routing. For many years, telex-on-radio (TOR) was the only reliable way to reach some third-world countries. TOR remains reliable, though less-expensive forms of e-mail are displacing it. Many national telecom companies historically ran nearly pure telex networks for their governments, and they ran many of these links over short wave radio.

21st century development

Internet radio

Internet radio consists of sending radio-style audio programming over streaming Internet connections: no radio transmitters need be involved at any point in the process.
*"Early technology wars": Push or pull, streaming media or multicast

Digital audio broadcasting

Digital audio broadcasting (DAB): appears to be set to grow in importance relative to FM radio for airborne broadcasts in several countries.

Related articles

* Digital audio broadcasting
* XM Radio
* Sirius Satellite Radio
* Wireless LANs
* Personal area networks
* Digital Radio Mondiale

Legal issues with radio

When radio was first introduced in the 1930’s many predicted the end of records. Radio was a free medium for the public to hear music for which they would normally pay. While some companies saw radio as a new avenue for promotion, other feared it would cut into profits from record sales and live performances. Many companies had their major stars sign agreements that they would not appear on radio. [ [http://www.serci.org/docs/liebowitz.pdf liebowitz.dvi ] ] [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/inside/cron.html frontline: the way the music died: inside the music industry: chronology - technology and the music industry | PBS ] ]

Indeed, the music recording industry had a severe drop in profits after the introduction of the radio. For a while, it appeared as though radio was a definite threat to the record industry. Radio ownership grew from 2 out of 5 homes in 1931 to 4 out of 5 homes in 1938. Meanwhile record sales fell from $75 million in 1929 to $26 million in 1938 (with a low point of $5 million in 1933). Although it should be noted that the economics of the situation were also affected by the fact this took place during the Great Depression. [ [http://www.edwardsamuels.com/copyright/beyond/articles/csusa6.htm Creativity Wants to be Paid ] ]

The copyright owners of these songs were concerned that they would see no gain from the popularity of radio and the ‘free’ music it provided. Luckily, everything they needed to make this new medium work for them already existed in previous copyright law. The copyright holder for a song had control over all public performances ‘for profit.’ The problem now was proving that the radio industry, which was just figuring out for itself how to make money from advertising and currently offered free music to anyone with a receiver, was making a profit from the songs.

The test case was against Bamberger Department Store in Newark, New Jersey in 1922. The store was broadcasting music throughout its store on the radio station WOR. No advertisements were heard, except for at the beginning of the broadcast which announced “L. Bamberger and Co., One of America’s Great Stores, Newark, New Jersey.” It was determined through this and previous cases (such as the lawsuit against Shanley’s Restaurant) that Bamberger was using the songs for commercial gain, thus making it a public performance for profit, which meant the copyright owners were due payment.

With this ruling the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) began collecting licensing fees from radio stations in 1923. The beginning sum was $230 for all music protected under ASCAP, but for larger stations the price soon ballooned up to $5,000. Edward Samuel’s reports in his book The Illustrated Story of Copyright that “radio and TV licensing represents the single greatest source of revenue for ASCAP and its composers […] and average member of ASCAP gets about $150-$200 per work per year, or about $5,000-$6,000 for all of a member’s compositions. Not long after the Bamberger ruling, ASCAP had to once again defend their right to charge fees in 1924. The Dill Radio Bill would have allowed radio stations to play music without paying and licensing fees to ASCAP or any other music-licensing corporations. The bill did not pass. [ [http://www.edwardsamuels.com/illustratedstory/isc2.htm Chapter Two ] ]

Exotic technologies

* Meteor scatter
* Earth-Moon-Earth communication

ee also

* Radio
* Amateur radio history
* History of science and technology
* History of television
* Timeline of radio
* Birth of public radio broadcasting
* Spark gap transmitter
*
*

Notes and Citations

# Broadcasts had also been available from Louisiana and Alabama since 1922.
# Broadcasts were also available from North Carolina and Georgia.
# Broadcasts were also available from Colorado since 1921.
# Radio broadcasting in Java briefly ceased after a station was destroyed by lightning.
# Broadcasts from Argentina had also been available as is the case today.
# Radio broadcasting had also been received from Italy, since Vatican City lies within the vicinity of Rome as is the case today.
# Radio broadcasts did exist in the Bahamas prior to 1936. Before then, they were received from the United States.
# Also received radio broadcasts from nearby Yugoslavia.
# Broadcasting in Aden ceased in 1946-1947 and again from 1948-1955.
# Andorra also received radio broadcasts from Spain.
# Radio broadcasts from the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands had also been available.
# Broadcasts had also been received from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
# Broadcasts had previously been received from South Africa
# Malta had also received radio broadcasts from Italy. The British adopted a radio service on the island to counter Fascist propaganda.

Footnotes

References

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* Gleason L. Archer Personal Papers (MS108), Suffolk University Archives, Suffolk University; Boston, MA. [http://www.suffolk.edu/files/Archives/MS108_findaid.pdf Gleason L. Archer Personal Papers (MS108) finding aid]
* Kahn Frank J., ed. "Documents of American Broadcasting," fourth edition (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1984).
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*"The Prestige", 2006, Touchstone Pictures.
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External links

* " [http://www.tfcbooks.com/teslafaq/q&a_038.htm A Comparison of the Tesla and Marconi Low-Frequency Wireless Systems] ". Twenty First Century Books, Breckenridge, Co.
* [http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/history_center/swiss_marconi.html Marconi's Early Wireless Experiments, 1895] IEEE History Center
* [http://www.zianet.com/sparks/sparkmakers2.html Sparks Telegraph Key Review]
* [http://earlyradiohistory.us/ Early Radio History]
* [http://www.esmartstart.com/_framed/250x/radiondistics/hertzian_radiation.htm Radio waves, the Hertzian Radiation: what it is and how it happens.]
* [http://www.infoage.org Information on the development of Radio at Camp Evans, NJ]
* " [http://inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/radio.htm The Invention of Radio] ". inventors.about.com.
* [http://langaitis.zenonas-old.radios.fotopic.net/ Zenonas Langaitis — Old radios from Lithuania * (Europa, Baltic States, past USSR]
*" [http://library.thinkquest.org/27887/gather/history/radio.shtml The Invention of the Radio] ". Through the wires, a century of communication, library.thinkquest.org.
* " [http://www.lostartsmedia.com/nikolatesla.html Presentation of the Edison Medal to Nikola Tesla] ". Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Held at the Engineering Society Building, New York City, Friday evening, May 18, 1917.
*" [http://www.marconi.com/Home/about_us/Our%20History/Publications%20Archive/GEC%20Publications%20Archive/GEC%20Journals/GEC%20Review/v11n1s/p37.pdf Guglielmo Marconi and Early Systems of Wireless Communication] ". Marconi.com. (PDF file)
* " [http://ns1763.ca/radio30/radio-first-30yrs.html Timeline of the First Thirty Years of Radio 1895 – 1925] ; An important chapter in the Death of Distance". Nova Scotia, Canada, March 14, 2006.
* [http://ontarioplaques.com/Plaque_Toronto89.html Ontario Plaques - The Rogers Batteryless Radio]
* Brazilian experimenter [http://paginas.terra.com.br/arte/landell_de_moura/english.htm Roberto Landell de Moura]
* Portuguese Radio History: [http://telefonia.no.sapo.pt Telefonia Sem Fios - História da Rádio em Portugal]
* [http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/history_wireless.htm Cybertelecom :: Radio History (legal and regulatory)]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca Canadian Broadcasting Corporation archives]