Radio broadcast .. (1922-30)

Record Details:

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RADIO BROADCAST '33 the most baffling problem of radio telephonic communication. For some time prior to the development of the Heising system, methods of producing continuous waves, which are essential to radio telephone communication, were known to radio engineers. But the best, of the pre-Heising modulation systems failed in controlling any but the lowest power. "By what process," I asked Mr. Heising at his New York laboratories of the Western Electric Company, "were you led to discover your system of modulation?" " During my college days I realized that radio telephony would never come to its own until we were able to control high powers of continuous wave energy by means of the voice. All efforts had been concentrated on perfecting the microphone so that it could handle high powers and heavy currents flowing through it. "Instead of aiming to solve the weaknesses of the microphone, I sought other means. This naturally led me to make the experiments resulting in the system of constant potential modulation." This phrase, "my college days," may lead the reader to think of Mr. Heising as an old man. He is not; he is young, of quiet mien and deliberate manner. My conversation with him convinced me that Mr. Heising's inventive genius lies in his ability to visualize his problem graphically. His conception of electric circuits is so clear that he mentally sees the minute currents throbbing through the circuits. As a result, instead of attempting to scale insurmountable obstacles he quickly perceives the weak point, through which he can attain his objective. Immediately after obtaining his Master of Science degree at Wisconsin in 1914, Mr. Heising joined the research forces of the Western Electric Company. His success in dealing with problems in modulation resulted in the award, in 1921, of the Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize by the Institute of Radio Engineers. This is the highest tribute which the radio fraternity can bestow upon a fellow § scientist. When I learned that his first patent, which established the basic principle of the Heising system, was applied for within six weeks after he began his experimental work with the Western Electric Company, I asked: "How were you able to-solve in so short a time this tremendously important problem on REGINALD A. HEISING which experienced engineers had been working so many years before you were out of your teens?" " I did not realize I was working on an important problem," answered Mr. Heising. "My first step was to get a concrete idea of what was needed and to consider the various ways in which it could be met. By imagining the various possibilities in operation, I was able to eliminate most of the possibilities which occurred to my mind. So 1 very soon concentrated my efforts upon the control of the space current of the generating tubes, instead of, as had been the practice in the past, attempting to control the current by varying the resistance of the antenna circuit. "It required but a few laboratory experiments to prove the correctness of the principle, and patents were quickly obtained. Later experiments proved that constant plate potential, with variation of the current in accordance with speech was not as effective as control of the plate potential by the voice, with constant current." " You say you did not realize the importance of the problem? Had you realized it, do you believe you would have been as quick in your success?" " I do not mean that I did not realize the