September 1966 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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The September 1966 issue
of Radio-Electronics magazine had a plethora of good News Briefs, including
an item where editor Hugo Gernsback is presented with yet another honor - this time
from the International Press Group. It's like today with
Dr. Ulrich Rohde
(N1UL), who, deservingly, seems to be receiving new commendations and awards
on a regular basis. To some extent, I think the organizations exploit the fame and
accomplishments of the recipient to get themselves into the headlines. In the "Famously
Wrong Technology Predictions" department, COMSAT's president, Dr. Joseph Charyk,
declared that direct satellite-to-home television broadcasting was not a likely
possibility. Sylvania's General Telephone & Electronics Corp. demonstrated a
laser-based missile tracking system which could locate "lost" rockets up to eight
miles away in cloud cover within seconds, then lock on and track them. Read on...
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News Briefs
  Hugo Gernsback Honored by International
Press Group
The International Union of the Radiotechnical and Electronics Press (L'Union
internationale de la Presse radiotechnique et electronique) has elected Hugo Gernsback
a Member of Honor of the association, "in recognition of his outstanding services
in the fields of radiotechnical and electronic journalism.
Mr. Gernsback was notified of the honor in a letter by Eugene Aisberg, president
of the Union, old-time friend, and publisher of five magazines in the field of electronics
in France:
"Dear Friend Gernsback:
I am very happy to address you this witness of affection and admiration from
your confreres of the world electronic press."
The Union is composed of editors of publications in the electronics field and
includes leading publishers and editors in a large number of countries and languages.

Sylvania engineer Robert Johnson inspects beam reflector (left
tube), tracking telescope (center tube) and receiver unit (right tube) of the electrically
scanned laser system.
New Laser "Radar" Has Electric Scanning
An electrically scanned laser is the first that can relocate a rocket momentarily
lost in the clouds; mechanically scanned lasers cannot move fast enough to rediscover
a moving target once it is lost. The new laser, by General Telephone & Electronics
Corp., can pinpoint a rapidly moving target to within 12 inches at a height of 8
miles. The optical-beam deflector consists of 20 movable and 8 stationary mirrors.
The 20 movable mirrors are attached to piezoelectric prisms activated by alternating
current and direct the beam to 2,000 locations within a half-second after contact
with the target is lost. As soon as the beam strikes the target and is again reflected,
the ground receiver shuts off the deflector and locks the system onto the moving
target.
TV Direct from Satellites Not Likely, Says Comsat Head
Dr. Joseph V. Charyk, president of the Communications Satellite Corp., does not
believe that television broadcasts are likely to be relayed direct to homes from
satellites. Instead, he thinks broadcasts will go from space to ground stations
and then be distributed by existing television networks.
Direct satellite transmission would create a propaganda broadcast problem, and
many governments might object to their citizens receiving material the satellites
might broadcast. There would also be a serious economic problem, as existing television
networks would probably object to any type of broadcast that would bypass them and
possibly terminate the reason for their existence.
Phone Call Direct-Dialed from U.S. to Switzerland
Just 90 years after Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone at the Philadelphia
Centennial Exposition, a direct-dial telephone call was made between Philadelphia
and the continent of Europe. Lowell Wingert, vice president of the Long Lines Department
of AT&T, made the call at a session of the International Communications Conference.
He dialed 200-2-33-10-11. The 200 is the international "area code." The 2 routed
the call to Switzerland, and the other six digits are the telephone number of Jean
Rouviere of the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee, Geneva.
Mr. Wingert told the meeting that direct customer dialing between selected central
offices in New York City and several European cities would be introduced on an experimental
basis next year.
General Sarnoff Proposes an International Patent System
A global patent system, using satellite communications and electronic data processing,
would be an important step in spreading technology more equitably around the world,
General Sarnoff stated to the Patent, Trademark & Copyright Research Institute
of George Washington University.
"The fragmented array of national patent systems," said the RCA chairman, "inhibits
the swift and equitable worldwide distribution of patent benefits. When we can transmit
an idea around the world in less than if, second, why must years elapse before that
idea can be validated within or outside the country of origin?
"The instruments for such a system include the coming worldwide array of high-capacity
satellites and the emerging generation of high-speed electronic data processing
and information storage systems."
New Undersea Cable System First to Use Transistors
Bell Telephone Laboratories' new undersea telephone cable system can carry nearly
six times as many two-way conversations as any present US undersea cable. The new
SF system, as it is called, provides for 720 two-way channels, compared to 128 two-way
circuits in the previous SD system.
Transistor amplifiers, used for the first time, help broaden the bandwidth and
therefore increase the number of voice channels. The transistors are expected to
have an even longer life than the estimated 25 years of tubes previously used in
such amplifiers. The amplifiers will be spaced 10 nautical miles apart, and each
will provide a gain of about 40 dB.
The first cable used in the new system is expected to be a 1,250-mile stretch
between Jacksonville, Fla., and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
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