Harold Beverage

Infobox_Scientist
name = Harold Beverage

---

caption =
birth_date = 14 October 1893
birth_place = North Haven, ME
death_date = 27 January 1993
death_place = Port Jefferson, NY
residence = Stony Brook, NY
nationality = American
field = Electrical engineering
work_institution = RCA
alma_mater = University of Maine
doctoral_advisor =
awards = IEEE Medal of Honor

Dr. Harold Henry "Bev" Beverage (14 Oct 1893 in North Haven, ME - 27 Jan 1993) is perhaps most widely known today for his invention and development of the wave antenna, which came to be known as the Beverage antenna and which for the last few decades has seen a resurgence in use within the amateur radio and broadcast DXing hobbyist communities. Less widely known (outside of the community of science history researchers) is that Bev was a pioneer of radio engineering and his engineering research paralleled the development of radio transmission technology throughout his professional career with significant contributions not only in the field of radio frequency antennas but also radio frequency propagation and systems engineering.

Biography

Harold Henry Beverage received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maine in 1915, and went to work for General Electric Company the following year as a radio-laboratory assistant to Dr. Ernst Alexanderson. In 1920, he was placed in charge of developing receivers for transoceanic communications at the Radio Corporation of America in Riverhead, New York. Three years later, at the age of 30, he received the IRE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Prize "for his work on directional antennas."

RCA named Beverage chief research engineer of communications in 1929, a position he held until 1940. At that time, he was promoted to vice president in charge of research and development at RCA Communications Inc., a subsidiary of the Radio Corporation of America. He retired in 1958 from that position and as director of radio research, but continued to work in communications as a consultant.

In 1938, the [http://www.radioclubofamerica.org Radio Club of America] presented him with its [http://www.radioclubofamerica.org/news.php?page=banquet.html Armstrong Medal] for his work in the development of antenna systems. The Beverage antenna, the citation said, was "the precursor of wave antennas of all types." Beverage was awarded the IRE Medal of Honor in 1945, "In recognition of his achievements in radio research and invention, of his practical applications of engineering developments that greatly extended and increased the efficiency of domestic and world-wide radio communications and of his devotion to the affairs of the Institute of Radio Engineers." [http://www.ieee.org/portal/pages/about/awards/pr/mohpr.html] In awarding him its Lamme Medal in 1956 the American Institute of Electrical Engineers cited him "for his pioneering and outstanding engineering achievements in the conception and application of principles basic to progress in national and worldwide radio communications."

Mr. Beverage died on 27 January 1993 at the John T. Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson, L.I. He was 99, and lived in Stony Brook, New York.

List of Patents

[http://www.pentodepress.com/receiving/patents/1381089.pdf U.S. Patent 1,381,089 Jun. 7, 1921 Radio Receiving System (the Beverage Antenna)]
*US patent|1697945 Jan. 8, 1929 Phasing of antennas with artificial lines
*US patent|1989965 Aug. 5, 1931 Means for testing recorded sound -- automatic check film
*US patent|1819589 Aug. 18,1931 H.H.B. % H.O. Peterson --Means for eliminating fading on high frequencies (filed1/2/26)
*US patent|1849608 Mar. 15,1932 Frequency modulate or mark/space for AGC (automatic gain control)
*US patent|1874865 Aug. 30, 1932 Acoustic combining system - mix reflections
*US patent|1874866 Aug. 30, 1932 Method for eliminating fading -- basic rectifier telegraph
*US patent|1888065 Nov. 15, 1932 Differential volume control for diversity artificial line
*US patent|1917290 Jul. 11, 1933 H.H.B. & H.O. Peterson -- Rotating switch, diversity
*US patent|1917291 Jul. 11, 1933 H.H.B. & H.O. Peterson -- Artificial line pickup delay, diversity
*US patent|1987889 Jan. 15, 1935 H.H.B. & H.O. Peterson --Means for eliminating fading switch or different beats
*US patent|2014581 Sept. 17, 1935 Remote control system for relay stations
*US patent|RE19784 Dec. 10, 1935 Aerial system -- balanced bridge to reduce engine ignition noise of aircraft
*US patent|2025190 Dec. 24, 1935 Multiplex signaling -- commutator and frequency change for multiplex
*US patent|2028860 Jan. 28, 1936 Receiving system-rectifier high frequency for C.W. Hansell electrolytic recorder
*US patent|2034738 Mar. 24, 1936 Radio telegraph repeater -- electronic, no relays
*US patent|2067432 Jan. 12, 1937 Radio communication -- frequency diversity
*US patent|2069831 Feb. 9, 1937 H.H.B. & H.O. Peterson -- Fading eliminator -- different beat notes
*US patent|2070418 Feb. 6, 1937 Multiplex cable code with diversity receivers
*US patent|2076361 Apr. 6, 1937 Crystal oscillator monitor for centralized control
*US patent|2081730 May 25, 1937 Television system -- AGC based on density of film
*US patent|2084760 June 22, 1937 System for radio spectography, horizontal sync on oscillograph
*US patent|2095050 Oct, 5, 1937 Signaling-space between carrier and sidebands, phone
*US patent|2112877 Aug. 5, 1938 Centralized control relay stations
*US patent|2138134 Nov. 29, 1938 H.H.B. & G.S.W. Short signaling -- antennas cancel reflections
*US patent|2144215 Jan, 17, 1939 Electrical energy measuring system frequency modulation
*US patent|2146301 Feb 7, 1939 Warren Knotts & H.H.B. -- Frequency assignments for relay stations
*US patent|2173156 Sept. 191 1939 Amplitude modulation reception -- change to phase modulation
*US patent|2247743 Jul. 1, 1941 Antenna -- phased loop, basis RCA TV receiving antenna
*US patent|2255374 Sept 9, 1941 System for noise reduction - noise random, signal in phase
*US patent|2271909 Feb. 3, 1942 Ultra short wave noise elimination -- balance local noise vertical suppressor
*US patent|2405991 Aug. 20, 1946 Secrecy system -- shift signals between multiplex channels
*US patent|2414791 Mar. 4, 1947 Radio receiving system -- local oscillator varied by signal-noise bursts
*US patent|2487513 Nov. 8, 1949 Radio relay system - frequency selection for relay stations

External links

* [http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/history_center/biography/beverage.html Biography with Lamme Gold Medal]
* [http://www.acmi.net.au/AIC/BEVERAGE_BIO.html Adventures in Cybersound - Harold Henry Beverage, Dr. 1893-1993]
* [http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/legacies/beverage.html IEEE History Center, Legacies, Harold H Beverage 1893-1993]
* [http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/oral_histories/abstracts/beverage1ab.html Harold Beverage Interview July 1, 1968]
* [http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/oral_histories/abstracts/beverage138ab.html Harold Beverage Interview March 16-17 1992]
* [http://www.oldradio.com/archives/people/Harold_Beverage Harold Henry Beverage - Explorer of the Wavelengths]
* [http://www.infoage.org/p-69Beverage.html Radio Pioneer Harold Beverage 2BML]
* [http://exax.net/letter.html A Letter from Harold Beverage]
* [http://www.maine.gov/newsletter/dec2003/belfast_photos.htm Photos of Beverage and his Ham Station]
* [http://www.qsl.net/aa3px/beverage.htm AA3PX -Several Photos of Harold Beverage]
* [http://www.qsl.net/aa3px/patents.htm AA3PX - List of Patents]
* [http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barrybev&id=I00093#s1 Rootsweb WorldConnect Project, Beverage and Extended Family, Barry Beverage]
* [http://www.liwhs.org/article.html Spotlight on a Radio Pioneer, Harold H Beverage 1893-1993, Long Island Wireless Historical Society (reprint of an article by J Marshall Etter W2ER in Proceedings of The Radio Club of America Inc.)]
* [http://www.nrcdxas.org/articles/WaveAntenna.pdf The Wave Antenna, A New Type of Highly Directive Antenna, Proceedings of the AIEE, February 1923]