Read Online Dreamers and Deceivers by Glenn Beck - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Glenn Beck
Ads: Link
one of them ran up onto the stage and put Howard Armstrong’s treasured award right back into his hands.
• • •
When he got home from the meeting he told Marion all about it, and the two stayed up most of the night talking about the future. She’d been by his side through virtually every trial and tribulation, lending him her strength, and he loved her more every single day.
By morning, for the first time in years, the road ahead seemed bright.
Ever since David Sarnoff had asked him to tackle the static problem, Armstrong had been quietly at work. The challenge had been monumental, but now the prototype was nearly done—and wide-band frequency modulation would be an invention all his own that no man alive could ever dispute. Outside his wife and Harry Houck, only Sarnoff, now the president of RCA, had been privy to the progress so far. Finally, it was ready to be announced.
Armstrong wrote in his journal that morning:
An era as new and distinct in the radio art as that of regeneration is now upon us. After ten years of eclipse, my star is rising again.
A few sleepless days and nights later, a team of company engineers assembled in Armstrong’s temporary lab at RCA headquarters.
Howard turned on the latest model of the Radiola and then tuned in a signal until the sound was as clear as he could make it. There was music playing, a classical piece, exhibiting the thin, tinny audio of a typical program of the day.
“There are two transmitters upstairs,” Armstrong said. “One is broadcasting with yesterday’s technology, and that’s what you’re hearing now. Watch, and listen.”
Armstrong flipped a switch near him and a spark generator began spitting bright white arcs of electricity across its gap. The radio signal was immediately overwhelmed by interference and the program disappeared into the hiss.
With a sweeping gesture, Howard Armstrong then switched the output to the new FM receiver right beside him.
The same orchestra music filled the room, but the difference was breathtaking. For minutes they all listened in utter fascination—for the first time, a broadcast signal carried the full audio spectrum discernible to the human ear. And despite the static generator that was still going strong, the reception was so pure and clear that one could hear the whisper-quiet sound of the violinist turning his pages of music.
When the demonstration was over, David Sarnoff dismissed his team of engineers to the next room and took Armstrong aside.
“Well, you’ve done it again, Howard,” he said. “This FM business, it’s going to change everything one day.”
“One day?” Armstrong replied. “It’s changed everything already, starting today .”
“Let’s sit down over here,” Sarnoff said. When they arrived at the table, Armstrong saw what looked like a corporate contract was already waiting for them. “This is an agreement between you and RCA. Among other things it entitles you to a significant share of the profits that might come from your work here.”
Armstrong began to read. His enthusiasm began to leave him, though, before he’d even gotten halfway through.
“This transfers all my patents for FM over to your company.”
“That’s right. You and I will always know who invented it, but to the rest of the world, FM will belong to RCA. And that’s not all.”
“What else?”
“I’m not going to announce these results,” Sarnoff said, “and neither will you. Nothing you showed us here today will be made public.”
“What do you mean? You said this was another revolution—”
“And it is, but we’re not ready for it yet. We’ve only just gotten AM into widespread acceptance. I’ve got millions of radio sets out there in the market, and tens of millions more on the production line. That gear would all be obsolete, not to mention the stations and broadcasters who’d all have to replace their equipment overnight. Once people hear your new system, they’d never want to
• • •
When he got home from the meeting he told Marion all about it, and the two stayed up most of the night talking about the future. She’d been by his side through virtually every trial and tribulation, lending him her strength, and he loved her more every single day.
By morning, for the first time in years, the road ahead seemed bright.
Ever since David Sarnoff had asked him to tackle the static problem, Armstrong had been quietly at work. The challenge had been monumental, but now the prototype was nearly done—and wide-band frequency modulation would be an invention all his own that no man alive could ever dispute. Outside his wife and Harry Houck, only Sarnoff, now the president of RCA, had been privy to the progress so far. Finally, it was ready to be announced.
Armstrong wrote in his journal that morning:
An era as new and distinct in the radio art as that of regeneration is now upon us. After ten years of eclipse, my star is rising again.
A few sleepless days and nights later, a team of company engineers assembled in Armstrong’s temporary lab at RCA headquarters.
Howard turned on the latest model of the Radiola and then tuned in a signal until the sound was as clear as he could make it. There was music playing, a classical piece, exhibiting the thin, tinny audio of a typical program of the day.
“There are two transmitters upstairs,” Armstrong said. “One is broadcasting with yesterday’s technology, and that’s what you’re hearing now. Watch, and listen.”
Armstrong flipped a switch near him and a spark generator began spitting bright white arcs of electricity across its gap. The radio signal was immediately overwhelmed by interference and the program disappeared into the hiss.
With a sweeping gesture, Howard Armstrong then switched the output to the new FM receiver right beside him.
The same orchestra music filled the room, but the difference was breathtaking. For minutes they all listened in utter fascination—for the first time, a broadcast signal carried the full audio spectrum discernible to the human ear. And despite the static generator that was still going strong, the reception was so pure and clear that one could hear the whisper-quiet sound of the violinist turning his pages of music.
When the demonstration was over, David Sarnoff dismissed his team of engineers to the next room and took Armstrong aside.
“Well, you’ve done it again, Howard,” he said. “This FM business, it’s going to change everything one day.”
“One day?” Armstrong replied. “It’s changed everything already, starting today .”
“Let’s sit down over here,” Sarnoff said. When they arrived at the table, Armstrong saw what looked like a corporate contract was already waiting for them. “This is an agreement between you and RCA. Among other things it entitles you to a significant share of the profits that might come from your work here.”
Armstrong began to read. His enthusiasm began to leave him, though, before he’d even gotten halfway through.
“This transfers all my patents for FM over to your company.”
“That’s right. You and I will always know who invented it, but to the rest of the world, FM will belong to RCA. And that’s not all.”
“What else?”
“I’m not going to announce these results,” Sarnoff said, “and neither will you. Nothing you showed us here today will be made public.”
“What do you mean? You said this was another revolution—”
“And it is, but we’re not ready for it yet. We’ve only just gotten AM into widespread acceptance. I’ve got millions of radio sets out there in the market, and tens of millions more on the production line. That gear would all be obsolete, not to mention the stations and broadcasters who’d all have to replace their equipment overnight. Once people hear your new system, they’d never want to
Similar Books
