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September 1959 Radio-Electronics
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics.
See articles from Radio-Electronics,
published 1930-1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.
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AI-enhanced version of the original image shown below.
Radio-Electronics
magazine ran a monthly "News Briefs" section that corralled happenings in the
industry. Included were inventions, product announcements, events,
demonstrations, job promotions, company headlines, and even death notices.
Notably in this 1959 installment was the announcement of the passing of one of
the
Varian brothers, Russell. He and his brother, Sigurd, are credited with
inventing the klystron microwave tube. Also highlighted was the short-lived
phenomenon called the Ovitron. It was a current-amplifying device that consisted
of two plates immersed in an electrolyte, with a control grid modulating the
current - essentially a liquid tube as opposed to a vacuum tube. The Ovitron
suffered the same fate as the
Pony Express - solid
state devices soon rendered the Ovitron as unnecessary to the world of
electronics as the telegraph did to the Pony Express's rapid message delivery
service. The tunnel diode was breaking into the mainstream during this period as
well. Read on for more...
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News Briefs
 Dr. Russell H. Varian, who with his brother Sigurd, invented the klystron, died July 28, at the age of 61, following a heart
attack which felled him while aboard the cruise ship Northwind, west of Juneau.
Besides the klystron, a device vital to radar important in parametric
amplifiers, Dr. Varian held more than a hundred patents in the fields of
microwave electronics and applied physics. He was chairman of the board of
Varian Associates, a California electronics firm he helped found 11 years ago.
Ovitron Corp., Detroit, Michigan.
Dr. Harold Lyons, in charge of "Bird of Time" project and
atomic clock's inventor, shows how in a satellite it could check the theory of
relativity.
New device for switching or modulating high wattage ac with small direct
currents is the Ovitron, a recently developed electrochemical cell. It's simple
- two load-connected electrodes and a grid control element immersed in an
electrolyte, permanently sealed in a small container. It is made by Ovitron
Corp., Detroit, Mich. The electrodes are normally coated with a nonconducting
oxide film. Voltage applied to the control element polarizes the electrodes at
once, making the oxide film conductive by forcing metal ions into it. Current
can then flow freely between the electrodes. Typical unit being shown in the
photo by C. R. Allen has power gain up to 28 db and controls up to 770 ma with
only 32 ma. Internal resistance is about 2 ohms. Printed specs so far refer to 6
operation at 60 cycles, but the device has been operated at 1,000 cycles with
little difference. Units have already been built for handling up to 15 amperes.
The diagram shows an Ovitron in the on condition with do control excitation
obtained from the load current with two small diodes. A variable resistor
substituted for the switch at upper left allows continuous modulation of the
load current.
Tunnel diode promises large amounts of amplification at
frequencies that may run up to 10,000 mc. Power required may be less than of
that required by a transistor. First described by the Japanese scientist Esaki
in 1958, the tunnel diode, according to RCA and G-E scientists, is a n-junction
composed of materials more heavily doped with impurities than conventional
diodes and so made that the barrier layer between p and n sections is very thin. A low forward bias is placed across the diode. As this bias
is increased, the current increases more rapidly than standard diode theory
would predict. Electrons that would not normally have enough energy to get
"over" the barrier are said to "tunnel" through it. As the bias is increased
still further this tunneling effect drops off and the diode begins to act more
like a conventional type. This causes an actual decrease of current as the
voltage is being increased. Raising the voltage still more causes the current to
rise again in a normal manner. Because of the negative resistance portion of
the voltage current curve, the diode can be used as amplifier or oscillator. In
a press preview given by General Electric Co. in New York an FM receiver using
only a single tunnel diode plus an ordinary diode detector was demonstrated.
Output was sufficient to operate an audio amplifier in a normal manner. Also
displayed were an oscillator that held frequency while being alternately put in
an oven and a tube of liquid nitrogen. A gain of 30 db at one-mc bandwidth was
obtained in the 100-mc region and, up to 80-db gain has been gained in special
narrow-band systems. Still in the developmental stage and possibly a number of
years from practical application, the tunnel diode may have important
applications wherever light weight and independence from environment, low
noise at high frequencies or fast action is important. Examples are satellites
or portable and citizens radio; many types of uhf communication and even uhf TV;
control and switching, where the tunnel diode can act 100 times faster than a
transistor.
"Laundromat" approach to the paper-work problems of the small
business man is promised by RCA's data processing centers, first of which was
opened at Cherry Hill, N. J., recently. Built around RCA's 501 computer, the
centers will be open to businesses not large enough to justify ownership of a
data-processing system. In some cases, a week's work may be brought in and run
through in part of a morning. In others, the volume of business may justify
installing some equipment in the customer's office. In medium-sized
businesses, this would be sufficient simply to transmit information to the
processing center; the results would be returned to the customer in paper form.
In even larger establishments, complete input and output circuits might be
maintained in the customer's office - thus work could be done almost as fast as if
the business owned a data processor.
Bird of Time is the name given by Hughes
Aircraft engineers to their latest project, a clock in a satellite, to be used
to check Einstein's theory that a clock traveling at great speeds would
apparently run slower than one on the earth. Such a clock would have to be
extremely accurate, if any difference were to be noted at speeds attainable by
present satellites. A special master clock weighing only 30 pounds is under
construction for the purpose. Its error is estimated as less than a second in
1,000 years. The theory that time moves more slowly at speeds approaching that
of light is one of the most intriguing facets of the relativity theory. It is a
favorite theme of science-fiction stories in which, for example, the hero bids
farewell to his 20-year-old sweetheart at the spaceport, returning "a year"
later to find her 20-year-old great-granddaughter. At the 18,000-mile-per-hour speed of the satellite, however, the expected difference in time between
the moving and earthbound clocks would be only about 1/60 second a year. Besides
checking the theory of relativity, the atomic clock would be useful in
measurements of the shape of the earth, in checking whether space is the same in
all directions, and in measuring the velocity of light or radio waves.
Thermoelectric air conditioner for submarines will use the Peltier effect in which
current passing through the junction of two dissimilar materials in the right
direction takes heat away - it cools. RCA Labs has already demonstrated solid
-state materials in an electronic refrigerator and to cool a small room. Now
they'll work out the details for a Navy sub, using this principle discovered by
a French physicist over 100 years ago. Building blocks of the devices, which
contain no moving parts, can theoretically be combined for almost any capacity
of cooling. The limiting factor appears to be the heat exchange, or means of
getting rid of the heat which the thermoelectric materials absorb from the
air which is cooled. In ships, this may not be a serious problem, since
unlimited cooling water is available. Materials developed thus far promise
quietness, compactness, ruggedness, little maintenance and long life, as
contrasted with the relatively complex air conditioners of today.
Anti-radar inventor Dr. Otto Halpern has received $340,000
for his development of a method for absorbing high-frequency waves. The payment
climaxed an 18-year fight with the Government. Dr. Halpern's method was used by
the Navy in World War II. Later the Air Force adopted the invention, and used it
on planes during the Korean war to scramble enemy radar. Having received nothing
for his idea during the hostilities, he tried to patent it after the war. The
application was turned down on the grounds that it would endanger national
security. Then he tried in vain to get a cash settlement from the Navy. Dr.
Halpern initiated court action, at the same time continuing negotiations with
the Government, with the result that the Navy made the cash settlement. He also
received a warm letter of appreciation from the Defense Secretary.
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