Belar Electronics Laboratory founder Arno Meyer has died, according to the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers, which told its members that Meyer died at his Malvern, Pa., home “after a period of diminished health.” He was 90 years old.
A memorial service is scheduled for June 2 at the St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church in Malvern, Pa. The time has not yet been announced.
Meyer co-founded the West Chester, Pa., monitoring equipment manufacturer in 1964 alongside his first wife Isobel (whose name supplied the “Bel” in Belar) after learning that his then-employer, ITA Electronics, intended to exit the broadcast business.
He is credited with developing the first DSP-based AM, FM and TV broadcast modulation monitors, as well as the AM stereo system (proposed by RCA), according to Belar’s website. Belar also says its SCA monitors were the industry’s first all-digital units. Additionally, Meyer assisted with the development and rollout of TV multichannel sound systems.
[Read our 2010 article “Meyer Approaches Audio With Care”]
Not long after Belar was founded, the Federal Communications Commission began to use Belar monitors to verify measurements of commercial FM broadcast stereo performance standards, according to the company website.
Meyer also held a patent for a modulation monitor, and his modulation measurement technology has helped to improve the quality of AM and FM transmission systems.
[Read RW’s 2014 article “Arno Meyer and the Age of FM Stereo”]
Meyer was a member of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and of the Society of Broadcast Engineers.
In 2001, the National Association of Broadcasters recognized Meyer’s many achievements with the NAB Radio Engineering Achievement Award. The association that year called Belar monitors “the industry standard.”
Radio World invites readers to comment on this or any story. Email [email protected] to share your thoughts, memories and reactions.
