The Arc Radio Transmitter,

1880-1920

Ed Callaway
Sunrise Micro Devices
ed@sunrisemicro.com
Spark vs. Arc

Spark: A transient electrical discharge

Arc: A continuous electrical discharge

Introduction

How does one make a radio transmitter with

parts from an 1890s hardware store?
Arc Transmitters

Prehistory
The Carbon Arc
Development of the Arc Transmitter
Whatever happened to ?
Prehistory-1
Sir Humphrey Davy develops carbon arc
lighting 1840s
Outdoor carbon arc lighting becomes
popular 1850s
Tesla and JJ Thompson independently design
high-frequency alternators to eliminate
carbon arc audio noise 1890
Work later extended by Ernst Alexanderson to
make the first continuous-wave RF transmitters
(~50 kHz) for Reginald Fessenden 1900s
Prehistory-2
Elihu Thomson discovers (1892):
An arc loaded with inductance and capacitance
can produce oscillations, even if supplied with
DC, and
Both the frequency of oscillation and efficiency
can be increased by applying a magnetic field
perpendicular to the arc
Magnetic field removes heavy, slow, positive ions from
the arc
The Arc
RFC L

LV
DC
B
C

~500 Vdc

Negative resistance: The voltage across the

arc goes down as the current across it goes
up
As current goes up, the arc gets fatter more
parallel conduction paths lower voltage drop
across the arc
Operation of the Arc Oscillator

Ld RFC Ls

id is
LV
ia
DC
Cs

~500 Vdc Rd Rs
William Duddells Singing Arc

LV
DC

~500 Vdc
Valdemar Poulsen

Developed the telegraphone, the first audio

wire recorder, 1898-1900
Began experimenting with Duddells arc in 1902
Discovered that the frequency of oscillation
could be increased by letting the arc burn in
hydrogen
By 1908, produced an arc with output power
and frequency high enough to be a practical RF
source
The Arc Transmitter
Arc Competitive Non-Ideality
Money was in radiotelegraphy, not telephony,
at the time
But the start-up time of the arc was too slow,
and variable, to be simply keyed on and off
Solution: FSK! (of a kind)
Keying inductance in and out of the antenna
circuit
Narrow-bandwidth receiver hears only the key-
down frequency
 Cyril Elwell
Palo Alto Student/Entrepreneur (Stanford 08)
Bought the U.S. rights to the Poulsen arc in
1909, for use in voice transmission
Formed the Poulsen Wireless Telephone and
Telegraph Co. (1909)
Funding from David Starr Jordan (President, Stanford
University); other faculty members
Formed the Federal Telegraph company (1910)
Left in 1913
Arc Competitive Advantages
As a continuous wave, rather than the
(repetitive) damped wave from a spark
transmitter, the signal was narrowband
Demonstrated radiotelephony (1909)
Demonstrated multiple simultaneous
transmissions without interference (1910)
Killer app: 30 kW arc had better range than
existing 100 kW spark at the Navys new
Arlington, Virginia headquarters station (1912)
Acoustically quieter than a spark station
although not quiet
Leonard Fuller

Hired as Federals Chief Engineer in 1913

Put large arcs on a firm scientific basis
Developed design equation relating input
power, wavelength of operation, optimum
magnetic field strength, and type of
hydrocarbon atmosphere used:
B = K(Pin)1/2 /
Designed several 1,000 kW arc transmitters
for Federal (1918)
1 MW Arc Transmitter (1918)
Whatever happened to...?

Federal Telegraph Co. hired Lee DeForest to

design receivers using vacuum tube diode
detectors (1911)
Developed audio amplifier and oscillators
based on the audion (the vacuum tube
triode) (August 1912)
Whatever happened to...?
Peter V. Jensen and Edwin S. Pridham left
Elwell and Federal in 1911
Developed the Magna Vox (latin: Great
Voice), a.k.a., the loudspeaker
First public demonstration: Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco, Dec. 10, 1915
Formed Magnavox Corporation in 1917
Jensen later formed Jensen Industries, now
International Jensen, Inc. (IJI).
Whatever happened to...?

Leonard Fuller settled at Berkeley (1930-

1943) with Ernest O. Lawrence; the little-
known cyclotron connection
65-ton magnetic field pieces of the 1 MW
transmitters used for the first 27- and 37-inch
diameter cyclotrons
Navys Annapolis arc transmitter sent to
Columbia University, used to confirm (in 1939)
the discovery of atomic fission.
 27-inch Cyclotron

M. Stanley
Livingston,
E. O.
Lawrence
Federal Telegraph 80-ton magnets
Sundown
By 1920 vacuum tubes were becoming
prevalent
Use of short waves reduced the need for
high power, enabling tubes; also eliminated
arcs due to their frequency limitations
Audible silence of tube transmitters an
underappreciated blessing
 Conclusion
High-power transmitters were possible before
vacuum tubes, and were developed to a high
level of sophistication and power
The arc was the first practical use of negative
resistance, and the first active electronic device
The Federal Telegraph Co. left a long, yet
underappreciated, legacy
Arguably the first tech company in Silicon Valley
(except for the silicon, of course . . .)