Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

[g4tut]

The 1945 Proposal by Arthur C. Clarke for Geostationary Satellite Communications

British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90

Sir Arthur C. Clarke's most famous prediction on the future is his proposal of geostationary satellite communications published in the Wireless World magazine in 1945. Not considered seriously at the time it became a reality within 20 years with the launching on 1965 April 6th of Intelsat I http://samadhi.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/QuickLooks/intelsat1QL.html Early Bird the first commercial geostationary communication satellite.

A satellite in an equatorial circular orbit at a distance of approximately 42,164 km from the center of the Earth, i.e., approximately 35,787 km (22,237 miles) above mean sea level has a period equal to the Earth's rotation on its axis (Sidereal Day=23h56m) and would remain geostationary over the same point on the Earth's equator. In 2002 the Clarke Orbit had over 300 http://www.satsig.net/sslist.htm satellites.

The first reference to geostationary satellites is Clarke's letter to the editor titled Peacetime Uses for V2 published in the 1945 February issue of Wireless World (page 58). Arthur Clarke in his Scientific Autobiography Ascent to Orbit published 1984 says that he had forgotten about this letter till he was reminded of it in 1968 by the engineering staff of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.

A 150 dpi scanned image of page 58 of an original 1945 Wireless World magazine is linked at http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/1945ww_feb_058.html

Clarke privately circulated in 1945 May a proposal titled The Space-Station: Its Radio Applications in six typed manuscripts. The top copy of that is now in the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. It was reprinted in Spaceflight, Vol 10. no 3, March 1968 pp 85-86 and in Ascent to Orbit pp 57-58.

In Ascent to Orbit Clarke says the paper with original title The Future of World Communications was written in late June and submitted to the RAF censor on July 7th. It was sent to Wireless World on August 13th and accepted on September 1st. The editor had changed title to Extra-Terrestrial Relays and published it in the 1945 October issue of Wireless World (pages
305-308).

The 150 dpi scanned images of pages 305-308 of an original 1945 Wireless orld magazine is linked below. Note that the last two pages reprinted in Ascent to Orbit have been reformatted omiting an illustration on page 307 which had no Figure number. See link at http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/1945ww_oct_305-308.html

See also details of the Wireless World Magazines images
http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/provenance.html

http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/



You may also find this item to be of interest
Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90 (http://www.southgatearc.org/news/march2008/arthur_c_clarke_dies.htm)






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[K8JHR]

Fascinating bit of history. The brief interview found in the linked materials was worthwhile, too. Thanks.

As I kid, I imagine he made a lot of bets on what the future would hold - and I wonder how many he collected on! Given this particular prediction of space based communications, I wonder what he thought of AMSAT, OSCAR, Digital Satelite TV and Radio, GPS, and all that we have today developed over the past 60 years or so.

Thanks for posting. /// Richards - K8JHR ///
================================================== ==

[G3SEA]

Aloha Arthur C Clark

Passing of another Great Mind.

KH6/G3SEA

[k5co]

I read a great deal of SF as a boy, much from Clarke as well as Asimov and Heinlien.......great writers and thinkers all. I am certain that they contributed to my own creative nature, which has been enough to keep me housed and fed for many years.

[KI4ITV]

I read a great deal of SF as a boy, much from Clarke as well as Asimov and Heinlien.......great writers and thinkers all. I am certain that they contributed to my own creative nature, which has been enough to keep me housed and fed for many years.

I could not agree more, having grown up reading all of this stuff I could get my hands on. Clarke and Asimov were clearly responsible for allowing me to think in ways most of my friends in school didn't. Very few of them anyway.
Being one of the early serious skateboarder hippies, I found that I usually had to find a group of known nerds if I really wanted to talk... or the response would probably be, "Hey man, what ya' been smokin', got any more dude?"
Funny when you think about it.

It has me wondering who is writing the stuff of the future for todays youth?
Anyone know?

[n6tx]

Remembering Sir Arthur C. Clarke
by H. Paul Shuch, N6TX
Executive Director Emeritus, The SETI League, Inc.


The official obituaries have already been written, most eloquently, and I'm sure you've read them. This is a personal remembrance of Arthur Charles Clarke, science fiction author extraordinare, advisor to The SETI League, life member of AMSAT, and the world's second greatest communications engineer, who passed away on 18 March 2008, at the age of 90, of complications arising from post-polio syndrome.

Although Clarke has had a direct influence on my whole career (whose hasn't he influenced?), and we had corresponded from time to time, I did not actually meet him in the flesh until January of 2000. It was a memorable meeting (more about which later). Certainly the first Clarke SF novels I read (in high school) included _Childhood's_End_ and _Prelude_to_Space_. But it was his brief article 'Extraterrestrial Relays,' in the monthly radio journal Wireless World, that had its most profound early impact on me.

In 1961, I was a high school student, and a radio ham, and the youngster sitting in the back of the room at Project OSCAR meetings, watching my mentors design and build the world's first non-government communications satellite. I remember thinking 'this is what I want to be when I grow up.' We had all read Clarke's seminal article, and (although OSCAR 1 was a low-orbiter) were already thinking about the geosynchronous orbit that he 'invented' back in 1945.

Fast forward to the early 1970s. I had become an aerospace engineer, and was running a small Silicon Valley microwave company, developing receivers for the first geosynchronous earth imaging and communications satellites. I had a small (16 foot - gigantic by today's standards) satellite TV dish in my back yard, and read in Coop's Satellite Digest that Clarke himself had a similar dish perched on the balcony of his Colombo residence.

That Clarke lived in Sri Lanka bore a certain technological irony. Because the Earth's center of mass is not at its geographical center (ours is a lumpy planet), even perfectly circular satellite orbits tend to decay over time. From the Clarke Belt, if active station-keeping is disabled (or if the satellites run out of the hydrazine fuel burned by their thrusters), the birds tend to drift to the 'low' point in their orbit, a stable resting point over the Indian ocean. This satellite graveyard was well in view of Arthur's five meter dish, so I like to think that the dormant geosats were all going home to papa.

In 1979 (by now an engineering professor), I chanced to be in Hawaii, touring the Comsat telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) station on the North end of Oahu. My host showed me a brief PR film called "Pathways to the World," narrated by none other than ACC. There was a scene showing him standing under his dish, and I thought this would be a great thing to show my students. I asked the Comsat people how I might obtain a print of the film. "Do you have access to an Intelsat terminal?" I was asked. I did indeed (my old homebrew 16 foot dish and C-band receiver). I was given a satellite name, and a transponder number, and a time about a week hence. When I arrived home on the Mainland I aimed my dish and tuned my receiver appropriately, and videotaped "Pathways to the World." How's that for appropriate use of Clarke's technology?

I've since shown that tape to a couple of thousand students, and still cherish it in my video collection. Following the US Congress canceling the NASA SETI program in 1993, several organizations (included the nonprofit, membership-supported SETI League) emerged to fill the void. I was tapped as The SETI League's Executive Director, and one of my first tasks was to recruit luminaries to serve on our advisory board. Arthur accepted graciously, without hesitation. I enjoyed our rich email correspondence these past several years, touching sometimes on SETI matters, sometimes on communications technology and science, and sometimes on science fiction. When I went on lecture tour to India in 2000, Sir Arthur kindly invited me to take a side-trip to Colombo, and pay him a visit.

Arriving at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo, I saw a familiar face in the lobby -- Arthur's brother Fred, whom I had met in the UK a few years prior. Not only did I not know we were staying in the same hotel; I had no idea Fred was in Sri Lanka! That's how small a world we inhabit, and Arthur helped to make it so. Fred's wife Babs had just died two months prior, and he came to visit his brother, and to mourn. Fred and I stayed up most of the night together, sharing songs and poetry, and reminiscing about this elegant woman who dazzled me the one time I had met her.

Next day, it was off to Arthur's home (Fred and I together.) When questioned by the hotel concierge earlier as to my business in Colombo (there was a war on, so they asked such questions), I had simply said I was there to visit a friend. Now, as I hired a car and gave that same concierge the address, his eyes widened in a mixture of recognition, surprise and respect. It seems Arthur's house is well known in Colombo!

You may recall that when Isaac Asimov died a few years back, Clarke eulogized him as 'the world's second-greatest science fiction writer.' That gave me an idea.

Visiting Arthur in his home, I brought the customary gift. Not the traditional bottle of wine, since I no longer live in California; instead, I wrote the song 'Extraterrestrial Relays' , brought along my guitar, and had a chance to sing it to Arthur, his brother, and his staff. Arthur was delighted, and asked for a copy. I was prepared, and made him a formal presentation of the original. The sheet music is inscribed "to Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the world's second greatest communications engineer." I heard later that Arthur had framed that page, and placed it on the wall in the room of his house which he wryly called his "ego chamber."

Arthur once told me that he would gladly lend his name and support to our SETI League efforts, and that I could feel free to ask him for anything -- except money. I respected that request, figuring that his name on the masthead was worth far more than millions in the bank. But, on my one visit to Colombo, he gave me a cheque anyway. And that's a story in itself:

When Clarke invented the geostationary communications satellite (OK, so some will say that Tsiokolvskii *really* invented it; Clarke merely refined and published it), he coined the contraction ComSat, for Communications Satellite. He contributed the name into the public domain, never expecting such technology to emerge within his lifetime. Years later, when the Communications Satellite Corporation was formed, they adopted the trademark Comsat. But their leaders knew where the term really came from, and, though under no legal obligation to do so, wanted to make a token payment to Clarke, in gratitude. So, they gave him one share of Comsat common stock.

Over the years, what with stock splits and dividend reinvestments, that one share had multiplied to several, and Clarke began to receive small cheques in the mail from Comsat from time to time. I was in his house when one of those checks arrived, and just happened to be talking to Arthur while he was going through the mail. He promptly handed over to me a dividend cheque from Comsat, saying "here -- for The SETI League."

Only, I never cashed that cheque. It's framed now, and hanging on my wall, and some poor Comsat accountant is probably wondering to this day why their accounts show a discrepancy of $4.75.

Now, whenever I look at that cheque, I will fondly remember Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, the world's second greatest communications engineer. Next time I see Fred Clarke, it will, sad to say, again be to mourn.

[w1yw]

I am appalled that we, as hams, take verifiable facts--from links actually in the article so written-- and spout them so differently, unfairly, and inappropriately from reality.

Here are the facts:

1) Clarke's speculations described geostationary--MANNED-- SPACE STATIONS, not SATELLITES. His passing mention in the quoted letter fails to account for a means of STABILIZING an orbital satellite and thus making it possible. Instead, Clarke opted for manned stations with rockets to keep the orbit stable;
2) ...thus Clarke' did indeed point out the usefulness of geostationary orbits for constant earth illumination, but failed to provide a viable mechanism to do so;
3) Clarke's geostationary SPACE STATIONS, in over 50 years of the Space Age, have NEVER been acheived.
4) Dr. Harold Rosen invented the GEOSTATIONARY COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE--and was granted patent for said inventiveness;
5) Rosen's inventive insight of stabilizing through satellite SPIN, and using circular polarization (ergo no angular sensitivity with the rotation of the antenna) turned science fiction into human progress. Clarke did not because his suggestion to make the orbit STABLE (i.e. rockets and warm bodies)was, well, some would argue, silly. Anyway, we never have done it. YOU can be the first!

Clarke was a science fiction writer; some do seem to argue that he was an 'inventor', but do not impart the inventiveness of others to him or anyone else when it is not factual and thus not deserved.

Read the darn article (in the link), and LOOK UP Harold Rosen--or J.R. Pierce for that matter. LEARN something!

OK:-)?

73,
Chip W1YW


'

[w1yw]

...and notice the 'false fact' about Intelsat 1--which was NOT the first geostationary communications satellite.

Syncom2 and Syncom 3 were.

Or are we to pretend that reality doesn't exist before it is "commercial"?

Dispute the facts? Present your evidence friends--or correct your errors rather than propagate them.

Thanks again.

73,
Chip W1YW

[w1yw]

Remembering Sir Arthur C. Clarke
by H. Paul Shuch, N6TX
Executive Director Emeritus, The SETI League, Inc.


The official obituaries have already been written, most eloquently, and I'm sure you've read them. This is a personal remembrance of Arthur Charles Clarke, science fiction author extraordinare, advisor to The SETI League, life member of AMSAT, and the world's second greatest communications engineer, who passed away on 18 March 2008, at the age of 90, of complications arising from post-polio syndrome.

Although Clarke has had a direct influence on my whole career (whose hasn't he influenced?), and we had corresponded from time to time, I did not actually meet him in the flesh until January of 2000. It was a memorable meeting (more about which later). Certainly the first Clarke SF novels I read (in high school) included _Childhood's_End_ and _Prelude_to_Space_. But it was his brief article 'Extraterrestrial Relays,' in the monthly radio journal Wireless World, that had its most profound early impact on me.

In 1961, I was a high school student, and a radio ham, and the youngster sitting in the back of the room at Project OSCAR meetings, watching my mentors design and build the world's first non-government communications satellite. I remember thinking 'this is what I want to be when I grow up.' We had all read Clarke's seminal article, and (although OSCAR 1 was a low-orbiter) were already thinking about the geosynchronous orbit that he 'invented' back in 1945.

Fast forward to the early 1970s. I had become an aerospace engineer, and was running a small Silicon Valley microwave company, developing receivers for the first geosynchronous earth imaging and communications satellites. I had a small (16 foot - gigantic by today's standards) satellite TV dish in my back yard, and read in Coop's Satellite Digest that Clarke himself had a similar dish perched on the balcony of his Colombo residence.

That Clarke lived in Sri Lanka bore a certain technological irony. Because the Earth's center of mass is not at its geographical center (ours is a lumpy planet), even perfectly circular satellite orbits tend to decay over time. From the Clarke Belt, if active station-keeping is disabled (or if the satellites run out of the hydrazine fuel burned by their thrusters), the birds tend to drift to the 'low' point in their orbit, a stable resting point over the Indian ocean. This satellite graveyard was well in view of Arthur's five meter dish, so I like to think that the dormant geosats were all going home to papa.

In 1979 (by now an engineering professor), I chanced to be in Hawaii, touring the Comsat telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) station on the North end of Oahu. My host showed me a brief PR film called "Pathways to the World," narrated by none other than ACC. There was a scene showing him standing under his dish, and I thought this would be a great thing to show my students. I asked the Comsat people how I might obtain a print of the film. "Do you have access to an Intelsat terminal?" I was asked. I did indeed (my old homebrew 16 foot dish and C-band receiver). I was given a satellite name, and a transponder number, and a time about a week hence. When I arrived home on the Mainland I aimed my dish and tuned my receiver appropriately, and videotaped "Pathways to the World." How's that for appropriate use of Clarke's technology?

I've since shown that tape to a couple of thousand students, and still cherish it in my video collection. Following the US Congress canceling the NASA SETI program in 1993, several organizations (included the nonprofit, membership-supported SETI League) emerged to fill the void. I was tapped as The SETI League's Executive Director, and one of my first tasks was to recruit luminaries to serve on our advisory board. Arthur accepted graciously, without hesitation. I enjoyed our rich email correspondence these past several years, touching sometimes on SETI matters, sometimes on communications technology and science, and sometimes on science fiction. When I went on lecture tour to India in 2000, Sir Arthur kindly invited me to take a side-trip to Colombo, and pay him a visit.

Arriving at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo, I saw a familiar face in the lobby -- Arthur's brother Fred, whom I had met in the UK a few years prior. Not only did I not know we were staying in the same hotel; I had no idea Fred was in Sri Lanka! That's how small a world we inhabit, and Arthur helped to make it so. Fred's wife Babs had just died two months prior, and he came to visit his brother, and to mourn. Fred and I stayed up most of the night together, sharing songs and poetry, and reminiscing about this elegant woman who dazzled me the one time I had met her.

Next day, it was off to Arthur's home (Fred and I together.) When questioned by the hotel concierge earlier as to my business in Colombo (there was a war on, so they asked such questions), I had simply said I was there to visit a friend. Now, as I hired a car and gave that same concierge the address, his eyes widened in a mixture of recognition, surprise and respect. It seems Arthur's house is well known in Colombo!

You may recall that when Isaac Asimov died a few years back, Clarke eulogized him as 'the world's second-greatest science fiction writer.' That gave me an idea.

Visiting Arthur in his home, I brought the customary gift. Not the traditional bottle of wine, since I no longer live in California; instead, I wrote the song 'Extraterrestrial Relays' , brought along my guitar, and had a chance to sing it to Arthur, his brother, and his staff. Arthur was delighted, and asked for a copy. I was prepared, and made him a formal presentation of the original. The sheet music is inscribed "to Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the world's second greatest communications engineer." I heard later that Arthur had framed that page, and placed it on the wall in the room of his house which he wryly called his "ego chamber."

Arthur once told me that he would gladly lend his name and support to our SETI League efforts, and that I could feel free to ask him for anything -- except money. I respected that request, figuring that his name on the masthead was worth far more than millions in the bank. But, on my one visit to Colombo, he gave me a cheque anyway. And that's a story in itself:

When Clarke invented the geostationary communications satellite (OK, so some will say that Tsiokolvskii *really* invented it; Clarke merely refined and published it), he coined the contraction ComSat, for Communications Satellite. He contributed the name into the public domain, never expecting such technology to emerge within his lifetime. Years later, when the Communications Satellite Corporation was formed, they adopted the trademark Comsat. But their leaders knew where the term really came from, and, though under no legal obligation to do so, wanted to make a token payment to Clarke, in gratitude. So, they gave him one share of Comsat common stock.

Over the years, what with stock splits and dividend reinvestments, that one share had multiplied to several, and Clarke began to receive small cheques in the mail from Comsat from time to time. I was in his house when one of those checks arrived, and just happened to be talking to Arthur while he was going through the mail. He promptly handed over to me a dividend cheque from Comsat, saying "here -- for The SETI League."

Only, I never cashed that cheque. It's framed now, and hanging on my wall, and some poor Comsat accountant is probably wondering to this day why their accounts show a discrepancy of $4.75.

Now, whenever I look at that cheque, I will fondly remember Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, the world's second greatest communications engineer. Next time I see Fred Clarke, it will, sad to say, again be to mourn.


Money equals effort, Paul. I am sure in coming months we will find out what ACC found truly worth affecting a change in.

73,
Chip W1YW

[N7PLC]

My DISH Sat-TV was dark today for a minute of silence.

[wr5aw]

Here are the facts: [rhetoric removed]
Typical useless negative rhetoric that completely misses the point (selective facts conveniently left out).

OK:-)?

I was also a big SF fan who enjoyed the works of Arthur C. Clark, Asimov and Heinlien. Heinlien was probably my favorite. I loved their SF. But it was Clark's Chronicles of Narnia that I enjoyed most. They were all great writers. But most of all they were great visionaries and forward thinkers.

[N7BXY]

He will be missed by those of us who have read his Science Fiction works. He had a good 'run' . Age 90 years is (at least to me) a good run.

Without regard to whom was the most qualified to produce a proposal or idea for a viable orbiting station for whatever purpose, he will be missed. I never equated him with the idea of the orbiting station, just for his most excellent Science Fiction 'imagination' in his writings. Let us be big enough to give credit to the man for what he has done. Not take exception for a proposed idea, correct or not.

[g4tut]

NASA statement on the death of Arthur C. Clarke

WASHINGTON - The following is a statement from Alan Stern, NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at Headquarters in Washington, regarding the death of Arthur C. Clarke:

"Arthur Clarke was a gifted writer of science and science fiction, and an unparalleled visionary of the future, inspiring countless young people throughout the middle and later 20th century with his hopeful vision of how spaceflight would transform societies, economies, and humankind itself.

"Although his personal odyssey here on Earth is now over, his vision lives on through his writing; he will be sorely missed."

[KW0U]

What nobody has mentioned yet is his "other" work on radio--ground control radar for instrument landing approaches. During WW2 he was an RAF officer involved in developing this system, which was later critical to the Berlin Airlift. His (somewhat fictionalized) experiences are told in the entertaining book "Glide Path."

His was the first science-fiction I ever read, at age 10, and his work really opened up my mind. I also had the honor of meeting him at a science-fiction convention in 1967. (Lester Del Ray had attacked some of the points in "2001" and he had fun defending the movie.) Experiences nowhere near some of the contact stories posted on this thread, but ones that positively influenced my life. RIP Arthur, you will be missed by millions.

[w6em]

I am appalled that we, as hams, take verifiable facts--from links actually in the article so written-- and spout them so differently, unfairly, and inappropriately from reality.

Perhaps, just a confusion between Clarke's dreams and a development of the concepts. His ideas, just the same, were his. So, to some, perhaps dreamer is synonymous with inventor. Or, is 'creator of the concept' a better descriptor here?

.........Clarke was a science fiction writer; some do seem to argue that he was an 'inventor', but do not impart the inventiveness of others to him or anyone else when it is not factual and thus not deserved.

Here, your use of 'inventiveness' is inappropriate. 'Adaptation/development of Clarke's ideas' is a much more appropriate descriptive phrase. Somewhat akin to DaVinci's flying machine and the Wright Brothers (or, was it someone else in Europe, again, who beat them to it?).

The USPTO is full of patents for items that used legal means to obtain protection for 'inventions' that really weren't their ideas in the first place.

......... LEARN something!

OK:-)?

73,
Chip W1YW

Perhaps it is he who diminishes a positive obituary to a great man who motivated thousands of young folks to pursue careers in science and engineering who should learn something. Clarke did it not with boastful "look at what I did" statements, but through encouragement to dream of future possibilities.

73.

[w1yw]

ACC has/had nothing to do with ham radio.

Even tangentially--as mentioned here--he did not invent the geostationary satellite. Dr. Harold Rosen did.

ACC pointed out that one could conceive of a satellite that orbited synchronously with terrestrial rotation; presented an untenable means of acheiving that--that has not been done in the 50 plus years of the space age; and showed, appropriately, that said satellite ERP's were within the means of practical consideration.

We have no space stations at geo orbits--never have-- and we use spin dynamics to stabiliize satellites so that they actually ARE 'geo-synchronous' when at geo synch orbits.

That missing half of the 'puzzle' amounted to taking an IDEA and making an INVENTION from it. It is the same leap as saying the Da Vinci 'invented manned flight', just by presenting some ideas. Of course, Da Vinci did no such thing.

I won't address the sci fi stuff--it ain't ham radio. And the rest is persiflage.

73,
Chip W1YW

[w1yw]

NASA statement on the death of Arthur C. Clarke

WASHINGTON - The following is a statement from Alan Stern, NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at Headquarters in Washington, regarding the death of Arthur C. Clarke:

"Arthur Clarke was a gifted writer of science and science fiction, and an unparalleled visionary of the future, inspiring countless young people throughout the middle and later 20th century with his hopeful vision of how spaceflight would transform societies, economies, and humankind itself.

"Although his personal odyssey here on Earth is now over, his vision lives on through his writing; he will be sorely missed."


So what? Nothing to do with ham radio. Where is the ham radio tie-in?

73,
Chip W1YW

[w1yw]

Typical useless negative rhetoric that completely misses the point (selective facts conveniently left out).

OK:-)?

I was also a big SF fan who enjoyed the works of Arthur C. Clark, Asimov and Heinlien. Heinlien was probably my favorite. I loved their SF. But it was Clark's Chronicles of Narnia that I enjoyed most. They were all great writers. But most of all they were great visionaries and forward thinkers.


Kindly tell us what the 'point' is--and it's relation to ham radio.

73,
Chip W1YW

[w1yw]

Typical useless negative rhetoric that completely misses the point (selective facts conveniently left out).

OK:-)?

I was also a big SF fan who enjoyed the works of Arthur C. Clark, Asimov and Heinlien. Heinlien was probably my favorite. I loved their SF. But it was Clark's Chronicles of Narnia that I enjoyed most. They were all great writers. But most of all they were great visionaries and forward thinkers.


Too bad he didn't write it...

[wd4gpo]

I too like many of you fellow SF fans grew up reading the works of Arthur Clarke as well as Robert Heinlein, Ben Bova, Joe Haldeman and even Piers Anthony among many many others. They sparked the imagination of many of us.

Here's a link to a You tube clip that Arthur C. Clarke recently released on his 90th birthday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qLdeEjdbWE

Arthur, you will be missed.

Pete
WD4GPO

[w6em]

ACC has/had nothing to do with ham radio.

Periferally, perhaps. Some of his readers were motivated by his radio concepts and likely became interested in radio because of them. And, as stated earlier, one of his perfected radio ideas was usefual against the Third Reich. Do you want to deny him that credit?

Even tangentially--as mentioned here--he did not invent the geostationary satellite. Dr. Harold Rosen did.

You sure like to pimp this fellow Rosen's name. Was he your mentor/benefactor? Smoke the same brand of cigars that you do? Your neighbor or fellow parishoner?

ACC pointed out that one could conceive of a satellite that orbited synchronously with terrestrial rotation; presented an untenable means of acheiving that--that has not been done in the 50 plus years of the space age; and showed, appropriately, that said satellite ERP's were within the means of practical consideration.

So, what. Edison tried to bully DC for utility power, but we still respect his other noteworthy accomplishments, in spite of that behavior. Clarke was an idea man, not someone into the nuts and bolts so much.


I won't address the sci fi stuff--it ain't ham radio. And the rest is persiflage.

I see. A good description of your contributions as well.

[N7BXY]

Why is the gentleman with the "1" call so insistant in taking Mr. Clarke's obituary and making it an issue of what he did not do? The negativity expressed reflects a complete misunderstanding of who Mr. Clarke was, and the purpose of this article/obituary.

Arthur C. Clarke was a visionary! He had a wonderful imagination and I am certain was responsible for coloring the minds of many of us with his most excellet Science Fiction writings. Being of direct concern to "Ham Radio" was never an issue in this circumstance. This was simply an obituary of a man who positively impacted many lives and imaginations through his Science Fiction writings.

What a grouch.....

[N7YA]

Chip is back and in full Chip mode! How was the vacation?

Regardless of anyones arguments, Arthur Clarke's contribution to SF writing is unchallenged, and he just so happened to have some great ideas that, strangley enough, ended up as very useful applications. This much i know about him...aside from that, im no expert on Mr. Clarke. I grew up reading text and reference books and never dug into his work as much...who knows, maybe i WAS reading some of his influence afterall.

I do remember a show he hosted about mysteries and myths, and at the end, he always gave a presentation on how it was all BS...even if i disagreed with him on certain subjects, i still found this very entertaining, and some points i agreed with him on (seriously, how old can the Loch Ness monster be by now??). But at least noone here is disputing his impact on SF writing, nor his intellect...the rest of this thread will be arguing for the sake of arguing only...but for entertainment value, i feel it will be put up a notch higher now.

Good to see you back Chip, your antagonistic approach is far more entertaining than Vito's...he's basically the only competition these guys have had!! Sometimes he makes some very valid points, and he gains marks for confidence, but you take the argument into an entirely new and colorful direction, and you arent quite as ego-driven...this vitriolic website has missed you! I better go put another pot of coffee on because i KNOW you are just getting warmed up! What else can i do, 9X0R cant hear me over the KW ocean...not to mention not being able to hear him over the CBers and children on his calling frequency...such is the life and times of the little pistol DXer i suppose, but i digress.

I am also willing to bet that Lee, in some very small, metaphorically plutonic way, has missed you too. ;-) This should be good.

In closing, my condolensces go out to Mr. Clarkes family and wide ranging sea of friends he obviously had. The world needs more active and critical thinkers and i know he will be missed.

[w1yw]

Other than to state the obvious--ACC was a SF writer--I have neither addressed what ACC was, nor in any way 'dissed' his memory.

Instead, I have questioned the logic and motivations of several of you here, because:

1) this topic has absolutely nothing to do with ham radio;
2) rather than address facts--as response--some of you feel compelled to pose false characterizations and motivations about me.

I'm calling it like it is....

Here are the fun 'facts' I 'learned' from you guys on this thread so far...

1) ACC wrote the Chronicles of Narnia (NOT!)
2) ACC was, allegedly, easy about giving his name to projects, but not his money (that's interesting; let's see who gets money from the ACC estate/foundation);
3) ACC was the "inventor" of the geosynchronous satellite (NOT!);
4) ACC was an "inventor" (NOT! No patent bears his name, at least as refenced in his 'bio', which curiously lists his honorary degrees twice. I learned it here!);
4) what a ham or two defines as 'ham' is 'ham'. Forget the license, the applied use of the wireless art in such, and so on.

I think we should honor and celebrate MORE the lives of those HAMS who have passed away... on qrz.com. Put it up as news. Those are great tributes to colleagues. But if you want to bring a science FICTION guy on here, at least have a ham radio tie-in.

73,
Chip W1YW

[w6em]

I think we should honor and celebrate MORE the lives of those HAMS who have passed away... on qrz.com. Put it up as news. Those are great tributes to colleagues.

Yes, let's do remember Hiram Percy Maxim and the family legacy: the machine gun. (And, all the good that's accomplished)

But if you want to bring a science FICTION guy on here, at least have a ham radio tie-in.

Re-read and learn......

Clarke was a great man. His legacy of masterpieces will continue to inspire young readers.

Writers of today are too focused on reporting the horrors of malevolent government leaders. I suppose, for good reason. Whether its who's buying sex or telling reporters that what the people want doesn't matter..... And, the one that take's the cake: "It's just a @#$*& piece of paper!" (the Constitution).

[NN4RH]

1) this topic has absolutely nothing to do with ham radio;


Here’s the ham radio connection you’re looking for Chip. It took me about 15 minutes to contrive this story, so bear with me.

In 1942, a sci-fi writer name George Smith published a story in Astounding Science Fiction. The story line involved the US Army Signal Corps setting up a system of interplanetary communications “stations” located at various Lagrangian points.

At Lagrangian points as you know the satellite position remains more or less fixed relative to two larger objects, for example the Earth-Moon or Earth-Sun, or in the case of Smith’s story, specifically Venus-Sun.

Now here's the tricky part: If you do not think about it too much, you might use the word “synchronous” in connection with Lagrangian points. Now, if you don’t think about it too much and are careless enough and know nothing about physics or astronomy, you can think that this is analogous to “geosynchronous”.

So here’s the punch line:

The title of GO Smith’s 1942 story was “QRM Interplanetary”.

QRM – Ham Radio. Get it? Ha. Ha.

(Well, jeez. Sorry. That’s the best I could to make a ham radio connection to AC Clarke.)

[NN4RH]

. . LOOK UP Harold Rosen--or J.R. Pierce for that matter. LEARN something!


Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, November 1959, p. 2020, J.R. Pierce, in a "Correspondance" article, attributes the the concept of 24-hour orbit communications satellites to A.C. Clarke.

Here's an excerpt from this letter:

"McCoy has referred to our paper (1) as no doubt only the first of many which will soon be published to demonstrate the tremendous capability of satellites for world and space communications. While it is certain to be one of many, it is not the first. Clarke proposed 24-hour orbit "stationary" communications satellites as early as 1945 (6), and one of us published concerning communications satellites in 1955 (7). It is also not noteworthy that the idea of an interplanetary relay satellite in a Trojan position was proposed as early as 1942.(8) A rather detailed analysis of the problems of interplanetary and interstellar radio communications was given as early as 1952(9)."

Ref (6) is to the AC Clarke 1945 Wireless World article, and Ref (8) is to the 1942 Astounding Science Fiction story by G.O. Smith.

[w1yw]

Heck, I don't care if Clarke was just a 'good' man; it's not a 'ham' topic.

Now SMITH...well, THERE's ham radio shinin' through! Of course we all know it was a pseudonym for.....


I mentioned Pierce because I thought he is another radio guy that hams need to know about, both from a geosat standpoint and a comm theory one. You might want to mention the content of the 1959 article...

Probably Rosen and Pierce were the key names in early geosynch satellites--as to opposed fuzzy wuzzy 'proposals':-)
73,
Chip W1YW
"It's only a switch....make sure you have something to say with it"

[w6em]

"For his effort, the geostationary satellite orbit known as the Clarke Belt was named in his honor." AR Newsline Report 1591.

Interesting. Is there a Rosen belt? (Perhaps that's a shot of Smirnoff with a twist.) :eek:

[w6em]

Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, November 1959, p. 2020, J.R. Pierce, in a "Correspondance" article, attributes the the concept of 24-hour orbit communications satellites to A.C. Clarke.

Here's an excerpt from this letter:

"McCoy has referred to our paper (1) as no doubt only the first of many which will soon be published to demonstrate the tremendous capability of satellites for world and space communications. While it is certain to be one of many, it is not the first. Clarke proposed 24-hour orbit "stationary" communications satellites as early as 1945 (6), and one of us published concerning communications satellites in 1955 (7). It is also not noteworthy that the idea of an interplanetary relay satellite in a Trojan position was proposed as early as 1942.(8) A rather detailed analysis of the problems of interplanetary and interstellar radio communications was given as early as 1952(9)."

Ref (6) is to the AC Clarke 1945 Wireless World article, and Ref (8) is to the 1942 Astounding Science Fiction story by G.O. Smith.

Sounds like Pierce had it right.

Ron, what possessed you to switch avatars from a 2N3904 to a Liquidambar styraciflua "ball"?

Totally off topic, but, people on the West Coast pay small fortunes for the trees (since they aren't native there). I had three planted in our last home in CA and they weren't cheap.

As you no doubt know, they're virtually a pest tree in the East. I must have 500 of them in various sizes in our home forest, the tallest of which is about 85 feet in the corner of my front yard.

So, gather up your seedlings and ship them west......

[K8JHR]

Mr. W1YW made his point. I wonder why he keeps on beating the horse.

I was really enjoying the discussion about Mr. Clarke, and this continuous wrangling over whether he was a visionary who just had an idea or was the real, actual, and undisputed "inventor" of X or Y is immaterial to me. He clearly relates to amateur radio because so many of us have said how they were profoundly influenced by his work.

So, I wonder why Mr. W1YW cannot just leave it at that. He is clearly outvoted, if not rebutted. Clearly some of us were enjoying the thread regardless of his "factual" rebuttal. Why keep raining on our parade route?

That's just MY take, anyway. Thanks for all the info on Mr. Clarke. It has been very interesting to me.

------------- JR - K8JHR ----------------

[N7YA]

JR,

Thats his style. I dont understand the logic either but thats ok. We all have the power to ignore what we dont agree with, some folks ignore that too. I may not understand his perception of zen, but i understand mine well enough to not worry about his.

If you go back and type in a search of all posts by N1IR/W1YW you will start to see the big picture regarding how he posts...then it wont be such a big deal since you will realize that this is just how Chip operates. Ive realized this and as a result, i have stopped taking everything so personally and started looking at posts on here as nothing more than a sidenote, entertainment really. By no means is he the only one, theres quite a few, but Chip is better than most...i actually LIKE reading his scathing posts for the reactions, if anything.

QRZ and eHam consists of a regular flow of normal hams with nothing to prove, they just want to jump into a conversation and exchange ideas and then get back to hamming. There is also a percentage of hams who are more "colorful", if you will. I wont lie, i enjoy commenting on these forums too, you can see that by the number of posts ive made. Theres nothing wrong with this, especially here at the bottom of the cycle...and im a DXer, trust me...i would rather be on the air than on the computer, but it is what it is.

Among the color commentators here, we have goofballs, supreme egotists with nothing to offer, supreme egotists with a lot of knowledge, disruptors (they dont last long on QRZ, at least here they have moderators), geeks who base their entire self worth and existence on how good at ham radio they are, political ideologists from both sides of the fence, apologists, antagonists, folks who just like to see themselves on a screen, etc...the internet brings out the inner warrior that they cant bring out otherwise.

For the most part, these forums can be useful, especially right before the threads get hijacked and taken off to a cave somewhere, never to be seen on topic again. As far as staying on topic, or being ham radio related...well, no moderator has ever come into a thread and told everyone to stay on topic...ever! so out the window THAT goes. want an example...look at THIS particular post from me, its barely ham related and im not worried about anyone coming after me for it. I already said what i had to say about Mr. Clarke and his passing in a previous post. Im already at peace with myself.

The bottom line, if you arent already ahead of me on this, is to let Chip (and the others) speak his peace because he is going to anyway...not to mention the fact that if you criticize him for it, he will just reply with a post of the same thing...he is diligent, he will respond to each and every flame thrown his way individually so as not to confuse who he is directing it to. Hey, i respect his writing style. And Chip is also quite intelligent, you may rather enjoy not commenting on him at all and sitting back and reading his posts...he wont stop until the thread grinds to a halt. But thats enough about Chip, i can say what i like because i was banned from the Chip Fan Club a couple of years ago.

Internet Forums...a hobby ALMOST as great as ham radio itself!!

[NN4RH]

Here's a slightly better link between Arthur C Clarke and amateur radio:

In 2007 he wrote a Forward for a book entitled Communicating Disasters: An Asia Pacific Resource Book

The Tsunami also reminded us how disasters can make our information society vulnerable. When electricity and telephone services -- both fixed and mobile – went down in the worst affected areas, a century old technology came to the rescue: amateur radio enthusiasts restored the first communication links with the outside world, sometimes using the Morse Code to economise the power of car batteries. Courageous and resourceful ‘radio hams’ were at the forefront of relief efforts in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India, and Hambantota in Sri Lanka. In those early hours and days, Marconi’s faithful followers helped save lives and allowed a rapid appraisal of damage. As the President of the Radio Society of Sri Lanka remarked, “When all else is dead, short wave is alive.”

So . . ACC at least knew that amateur radio exists.

[w6em]

Here's a slightly better link between Arthur C Clarke and amateur radio:

In 2007 he wrote a Forward for a book entitled Communicating Disasters: An Asia Pacific Resource Book


The Tsunami also reminded us how disasters can make our information society vulnerable. When electricity and telephone services -- both fixed and mobile – went down in the worst affected areas, a century old technology came to the rescue: amateur radio enthusiasts restored the first communication links with the outside world, sometimes using the Morse Code to economise the power of car batteries. Courageous and resourceful ‘radio hams’ were at the forefront of relief efforts in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India, and Hambantota in Sri Lanka. In those early hours and days, Marconi’s faithful followers helped save lives and allowed a rapid appraisal of damage. As the President of the Radio Society of Sri Lanka remarked, “When all else is dead, short wave is alive.”


So . . ACC at least knew that amateur radio exists.

C'mon, Ron, give him the credit he deserves. He more than knew that it existed. And, he eloquently praised its intervention when fixed infrastructure failed.

"Marconi's faithful followers." I like that handle. It fits us pefectly, except, perhaps, the WinLink nerds.

Here we have FEMA mobile satellite trucks to augment our 'jump team' function. In places like Sri Lanka, likely not.

[KC0BUF]

Umm... I have to go with Chip on this one. It's fantastic that he knew ham radio existed, and I wish more people did. I have on my hard drive a copy of a Diet Mountain Dew commercial that has a somewhat humorous reference to ham radio. IIRC, Twister had a reference to ham radio, as did Contact, Frequency, and several of Heinlein's books. The general populace has plenty of fodder for knowing something about amateur radio... but, without a license, that doesn't make them a ham.

As far as the connection between ACC and inspiration to become a ham, I did not get into amateur radio because of Arthur C. Clarke. I'm not that fond of his writings, to be honest. I got into ham radio because of the powerful influence of several local hams who took the time to make radio look fun and interesting (two of the most important things to an at-the-time 13 year old boy.) These were people like my dad, N0GYE, and my mom, N0HIZ. People like John Potzmann, K0GWL, and his wife Anita, K0GWA. Luke Milka, N0QVO. Ace Hudson, AA0VM. Ethan Carnahan, W0EPD. The list goes on... unfortunately, some of these have gone on to become SKs. I note the passing of ACC with mild interest... but I miss my elmers who have passed on with fond remembrance. Those are the ones whose obituaries deserve to be on the front page of QRZ.com. Leave the non-ham celebrities to Slashdot and other sites. They get plenty of coverage as it is.

[KC0WWD]

I will miss Arthur C. Clarke.

[K6BBC]

And he was gay. Imagine that.

bbc

[K4WGE]

Typical useless negative rhetoric that completely misses the point (selective facts conveniently left out)

Chip's been contrary for years; it's his way of getting attention. As N1IR he posted on rec.radio.amateur.antenna as fractenna@aol.com. Usually he finished an argument threatening to sue anyone who disagreed with him. :)