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January 1947 Radio News
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early
electronics. See articles from
Radio & Television News, published 1919-1959. All copyrights hereby
acknowledged.
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The first facsimile (fax) machines
for home use were receive only, and got their data not from the telephone line but
from a commercial broadcast radio receiver. Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and
Finch Telecommunications were two of the earliest entrants into the realm. As opposed
to modern digital fax machines, these analog systems used a scanning raster light
beam and a photodetector to read and encode the original document image, and then
a complimentary scanning method on the receiving end literally burned the image
into special thermal paper. The Radio Historian website has an excellent article covering
the history of radio facsimile, and how its being was motivated by the newspaper
industry fretting over market share being lost to commercial AM and FM radio.
Facsimile Receiver
 Persons attending the recent convention
of the National Association of Broadcasters witnessed the first public demonstration
of the new Finch facsimile receivers for home use.
Available in table and console models, this modern facsimile recorder is combined
with an FM-AM home receiver to provide complete home entertainment. The cabinets
in which these models are housed are of specially selected woods.
The facsimile recorder is capable of scanning 28 square inches per minute at
105 lines per inch. The radio provides both standard and 88-108 mc. FM sound program
reception.
This unit is being manufactured by Finch Telecommunications, Inc., 10 East 40th
Street, New York 16, New York.
Posted March 6, 2023
(updated from original post on 9/1/2016)
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