[Hallicrafters] First MW Broadcast. Do You Know? |
Duane Fischer, W8DBF
dfischer at usol.com
Sun May 1 11:54:08 EDT 2011
Hi All,
As I was sorting through the myriad of different things I have written over
the decades, I came upon this interesting item.
Do you know who made the first commercial transmission with a commercial?
Do you know who made the first commercial radio broadcast and when it was?
Now before you do an Internet search for the answers, I am just curious how
many of you remember this important bit of radio history. Do not be ashamed
if you do not know, as thos who do not know, or remember, are in the
definite majority!
Here is the answer:
Frank Conrad worked forWestinghouse. He had only a seventh
grade education. He worked on his radio transmitter in his
garage. His voice got sore from talking so much into the
microphone, so he brought out a phonograph. The music he
played was the first ever transmitted over the air. He soon
ran out of record albums, a local record store offered to
loan him albums if he would mention their name on the air.
This was the first ever commercial.
When the head of Westinghouse learned of Frank's radio
transmissions from his garage, he recognized the potential.
He asked Frank if he could build a transmitter on top of the
Westinghouse building. KDKA was born.
The first transmission was on November 2, 1920 at 6:00 PM EST
It was on KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Frank Conrad
broadcase the election returns for the presidential election.
There were very few home radio receivers in 1918-1920. Most
of Frank's transmissions were heard by Ham radio operators.
Duane Fischer, W8DBF - WPE8CXO
E-Mail: dfischer at usol.com
Hallicrafters web site: www.w9wze.net
HHRP web site: hhrp.w9wze.net
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