Trials and Errors #46: A Remarkable XYL

In T&E this week, W7DGJ tells the story of a unique husband and wife. Our hobby has for many years celebrated the legacy of one of these, while the other (the wife) played a critical role and is often neglected in the discussion of her husband's legacy. Read this story here. And please, post your comments in this forum discussion. Thanks! Dave, W7DGJ

 

What a touching story! Thanks!

Armstrong was a brilliant engineer and it is our loss that his life ended before he could do even more. I wonder if the people at Motorola ever regretted their intransigence?

(Would love to hear Chip comment!)

 

Thanks for the comment. I agree -- Chip's comments here would be cool!

 

It wasn't just Motorola. Sarnoff was an S.O.B. from the very beginning.

 

That was indeed his reputation.

 

nicely researched, well told, thanks!

reading the names of the patent stealing companies... many are now owned by far east manufacturers: Packard Bell, Emerson, Motorola, Philco maybe too? I remember my grandfather going apoplectic when the Fisher name was sold.

 

Thanks Cliff. I felt the same way when Fisher went sideways . . . while it wasn't top-of-the-line from Birmingham NY (MacIntosh), it was still a good brand, highly respected. They produced some good quality radios and stereo equipment, and had the #1 spot in the market for combined units with turntable, radio etc. in one unit. Then, they were sold and quality disappeared. Geez . . . some of those brand names like Packard Bell and Emerson and so on can now be found on the weirdest stuff, like nose hair trimmers and so on, all junk from China Dave

 

I lived in NJ and recall the strange T shaped tower Armstrong built in Alpine NJ. It was there for years as part of his testing FM.

73 charlie k2cmc

Thanks for writing on neat topics. I follow your column as its worth the read

 

The patent fights do not surprise me. Alot of that IP theft goes on today, and it highlights what is often said, 'Inventors are not businessmen'.

Fortunately, his XYL was and was able to pick up the pieces afterwards and place the laurels where they belonged.

 

Thanks Charlie! Glad to have you as a reader. Yes, I've seen the photos of that tower. Even stranger are the photos of the large Marconi stations and their strange antennas. I think that radio has come a LONG LONG way in antenna design, thanks primarily to amateur operators! Dave

 

Hey Ron . . . agree with you on his wife. Can you even imagine the cool stuff that Howard Armstrong could have come up with back then if only he didn't have to spend "more than 90%" of his time with legal stuff and lawyers? We lost the brain power of a brilliant man to a bunch of lawyers. Not every XYL would want to have such an involvement in the technical aspects of their late husband's affairs . . . She was truly very special. Dave

 

I am going to be writing a future article on how some of these companies tried to skirt the Armstrong patents, and the lengths they went to accomplish that . . . Unbelievable. One company encased the entire guts of the circuitry in hard wax, so that no one could detect what circuits they were using. Companies will go to incredible lengths to avoid payment to inventors for their work. Dave, W7DGJ

 

Read (or watch) 'Empire of the Air'. There was an audio dramatization as well, some years ago.

 

The book is good -- enjoyed more than the show on TV. The book describes a bit of Marion's struggles with the patents, but only a paragraph or two unfortunately. It is mostly about Lee de Forest vs. Armstrong and Sarnoff vs. Armstrong with some Marconi thrown in as well. Dave

 

Hell hath no fury...