The legacy of Major Edwin Howard Armstrong, the inventor of FM radio, was saluted at the Audio Engineering Society convention in New York this past weekend. As part of a celebration of the 70th anniversary of Armstrong’s first FM transmissions, the AES event offered an expanded version of a panel discussion first held at Armstrong’s Alpine, N.J. tower site in June.
Panelists included Armstrong’s great-nephew, Robert Carter Brecht, as well as several Armstrong colleagues and acquaintances. Renville McMann, who worked for Armstrong beginning at age 13, shared his memories of the atmosphere in Armstrong’s Columbia University laboratory and at the Alpine tower site. Armstrong historian Mike Katzdorn presented a display of vintage equipment, including Armstrong’s 1935 FM modulator breadboard.
The discussion was broadcast on WA2XMN, the experimental station operating from Alpine on Armstrong’s original 42.8 MHz frequency. Steve Hemphill of Solid Electronics Labs, who built the WA2XMN transmitter, was also on the panel, moderated by Radio World’s Scott Fybush. Look for more on the AES event in an upcoming edition of Radio World.
AES Recalls Armstrong
AES Recalls Armstrong