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 September 1, 2016
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