March 1939 QST
Table
of Contents
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles
from
QST, published December 1915 - present (visit ARRL
for info). All copyrights hereby acknowledged.
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During the Golden Age of Radio (admittedly
a subjective term), electronics innovators were generally as likely to be hobbyists
(amateurs) as they were to be professionals with college degrees. In fact, according
to this open letter from Eugene F. McDonald, president of Zenith Radio Corporation,
in 1939, his company recognized the fact that most of their best ideas came from
amateur radio operators, and that their engineering staff was populated overwhelmingly
with Hams. Accordingly, the letter was a solicitation to amateurs to submit their
ideas to the company to give designers not just valuable technical information gleaned
from real-world experimentation (aka the School of Hard Knocks) but also insight
into what type of equipment the Ham world would like to have made available for
sale.
Wouldn't it be great to still see the foundational electronics brands start re-appearing
on store shelves again (yes, and online, too)? Would it mean anything to you to
still be able to buy a made-in-America television or radio from RCA, Zenith, Westinghouse,
Crosley, Farnsworth, or Sylvania? If you're visiting from Germany, how about a Braun
or a Klein & Hummel? Here from Spain? How would a spanking new Magnadyne sitting
on the table scratch an itch? Find some of your own country's vintage equipment
manufacturers here on the Radio Museum website.
Amateurs - Your Thoughts May be Worth Money
Amateurs - Your Thoughts May be Worth Money
(Zenith Radio Corporation Letter)
Zenith Radio Corporation
6001 Dickens Avenue Chicago
To Radio Amateurs:
This is an invitation to every "ham" in the world.
Most advertisers in magazines, newspapers, etc., tell you how to spend your money.
This is not that type of message.
I have always contended that the credit for most of the major developments we
have in radio have been due to the American amateur. The radio industry's enormous
laboratories have done little but refine that which the amateur discovered. The
Zenith Radio Corporation is always ready to reward amateurs who send us suggestions
that we have not before had, if we adopt them.
We haven't an engineer in our laboratory over forty years old - they're all ex-"hams,"
progressive and very much open-minded. To them nothing is impossible. We have found
that it is not always the fellow who knows all the rules of why things won't work
that produces real results. As a matter of fact, the contrary is usually true.
If you want to see an example of development, drop into a Zenith dealer's store
and examine the Wavemagnet model of radio, just put on the market, using no antenna,
ground or battery. This is not a set built for "hams." This job was suggested by
an amateur and the improved shielded loop was refined by our laboratory. If you
know how to build this loop better, tell us and, if your suggestion is novel and
we adopt it, we will reward you.
So, you see this was not an ad telling you how to spend your money. It is just
an invitation for more of you to correspond with us on further developments.
Cordially yours,
E.F. McDonald, Jr.
Posted May 19, 2021 (updated from original post on 10/23/2013)
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