Abstract
In the mid and late
1920s, amateur radio operators were experimenting in great
numbers with crystal control of radio transmitters. At the
time, most amateurs used home built transmitters made from a
combination of purchased and home made parts. The use of
quartz crystals by amateurs predated the first U.S. commercial
broadcast station to use crystal control. Amateur radio
operators were the first sizable commercial market for
crystals. Many of the crystal companies of the 1920s and 1930s
were founded by amateur radio operators to supply other
amateurs.
Introduction
The earliest history
of the science of piezoelectrics, that period from 1880 to
about 1917, was the era of the pure science contributors such
as the Curie brothers, Voigt and Lippmann . The period from
about 1917 to about 1924 was the era of the applied scientists
like Langevin, Nicolson and Cady. The period from 1924 until
about 1934 proved to be the decade of the amateur radio
operator's contributions. During that 10 years, literally
thousands, possibly tens of thousands of amateur radio
operators experimented with making their own resonators and
applying resonators in practical, low cost transmitting
circuits. During this decade, amateur radio operators
comprised the majority of the market for resonators [33].
This is a brief overview of their impact on the modern crystal
industry.
Note: The terms
amateur radio operator, ham radio operator, amateur, and ham
are all used interchangeably.
Historical Time Line
1880
The piezoelectric
effect was discovered by brothers Pierre and Paul-Jacques
Curie at the Laboratory of Mineralogy at the Sorbonne. The
brothers were awarded the Plante' prize in 1895 for this
discovery [1].
1881
The Curie brothers
demonstrate the converse of the piezoelectric effect. This
converse of the piezoelectric effect was not foreseen by the
Curies, but rather was predicted by Lippmann [1].
1880 - 1915
Piezoelectricity
remains a specialized academic subject studied mostly in
Germany and France [2].
1917
Professor P. Langevin
working in France uses X-cut quartz plates to generate and
detect compression sound waves in water. This work was
directed towards detecting submarines. Along with the
simultaneous and independent work of Dr. A. M. Nicolson at
Bell Telephone Laboratories (who used Rochelle salts due to
their greater piezoelectric sensitivity), this became the
basis of SONAR [3], [6].
1918
The first crystal
(Rochelle salt) controlled oscillator is invented by A.M.
Nicolson. Even though the crystal was described as a
transducer used to modulate the oscillator with audio
frequency sound waves, there is reason to believe that the
normal resonant mechanical vibrations of the crystal
controlled the radio frequency of the circuit. Future
litigation pitting Nicolson against Cady was decided in
Nicholson’s favor, giving him the distinction of being the
inventor of the piezoelectric crystal controlled RF oscillator
[3].
1919
Dr. Cady uses a
quartz crystal to control the frequency of an oscillator [6].
1920
Dr. Cady submits a
patent application for the piezoelectric resonator describing
possible applications as a resonator, a filter and as a
coupler. Dr. Cady also includes a detailed description of the
operation of the resonator, not realizing that Nicolson
considered his oscillator to be controlled by the Rochelle
salt crystal [3].
1921
Dr. Cady publishes a
paper describing the first quartz crystal controlled RF
oscillator [4].
1923
August E. "Augie"
Miller quits the optical business in which he had developed
expertise in grinding lenses. He starts a new venture selling
quartz crystal blanks to amateur radio operators, becoming one
of the first in this new business. Amateur radio operators are
the only commercial market for piezoelectric resonators to
date [6].
1923
The Bell Telephone
Laboratory establishes a quartz crystal laboratory for
advanced research [6].
1924
The General Electric
Company establishes a quartz crystal laboratory for advanced
research [6].
1924
In a four page
article in the July 1924 issue of QST magazine [15],
H.S. Shaw introduces the amateur radio community at large to
quartz crystal control of radio transmitters. Included is a
schematic diagram for building a crystal controlled
transmitter.
1925
In the August 1925
issue of QST, the General Radio Company of Cambridge, Mass,
offers quartz crystals finished to a specified frequency for
$50.00 each. Unfinished and untested blanks are offered by A.
Espositer of New York City for $4.00 each [16].
1925
In the November 1925
issue of QST [9],
J.M. Clayton gives detailed instructions on cutting plates
from a raw quartz crystal, finishing the plates to wavelength,
and mounting the finished resonator.
1926
WEAF, New York
becomes the first commercial broadcast station to use crystal
control. The station was operated by the American Telephone
and Telegraph Company [5].
Within a few years other commercial broadcast stations follow
WEAF's lead [6].
1934
F.R. Lack, G.W.
Willard, and I.E. Fair announce their results in the Bell
System Technical Journal on a zero temperature coefficient cut
called the AT-cut.
1934
The November 1934
issue of QST announces that Bliley Electric Company of Erie,
PA, has made AT cut crystal resonators available to amateur
radio operators [17].
1936
Amateur radio crystal
control of transmitters is described as the rule rather than
the exception [8].
1939
The U.S. Military
decides to convert its radios to crystal control, starting the
incredible boom years for the U .S. crystal industry [6].
Crystal Controlled Transmitter
Development
Practical development
on economical crystal controlled transmitters was largely done
by amateur radio operators. There was work going on at labs
like the Radio Division of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory,
but it was more specialized.
Why crystal control
of transmitters in particular? And further, why were
transmitters first? The typical tank circuits in use by
amateurs before crystal control were quite simple. In general,
the antenna was part of the tank circuit. When the antenna
moved in the wind, the output frequency would change. This
made the transmitting station difficult to copy. Typical
transmitters were one tube oscillators with the antenna as
part of the tank circuit.
In addition, in a
simply constructed LC tank circuit, the frequency changes
significantly with temperature. The amateur radio bands were
starting to see more crowding in the 1920s, hence there was
significant benefit in staying on one frequency. Amateur radio
operators generally found the receivers of the day to be quite
serviceable and their desire was to improve their
transmitters. Crystal control offered the desired improvement.
The excitement for the new technique is captured in this quote
of the technical editor introducing the July 1924 article in
QST about Oscillating Crystals [15];"
Can you imagine a transmitter that never shifts its
wave[length] even a hundredth of a meter? Can you imagine
making a schedule for 96.38 meters and knowing that you will
be right on that wave[length] and knowing that the other man
will be tuned right to you? And can you imagine getting from
the receiving operator a report during the hours of operation
the beat note in the [ear]phones never changed even a
particle? These things are possible with the oscillating
crystal."
Amateur radio
operators in the teens, twenties and into the 1930s built most
of their equipment. They also built a number of the parts they
used. Amateur radio operators were motivated by a number of
factors, among which was the pride of working in the state of
the art where there was no commercial, non-ham business.
Amateurs also prided themselves in building for minimum cost.
Ready-built equipment was scarce, and if it could be obtained
it was well beyond the financial means of all but a few. This
desire to build for minimum cost is a major differentiator
between the amateur development and the R&D work done in
places like the U.S. Naval Research Labs. A practical side to
amateur practice of building their own parts was the lack of
radio stores in much of the U.S.
Finished quartz
crystal plates were also very expensive. In August of 1925 [16],
General Radio Company offered crystals for sale at the price
of $35 finished to an approximate frequency and $50 finished
to an exact frequency specified by the purchaser. This was
indeed a very large amount of money in 1925.
As a result, in the
mid-1920s many amateur radio operators cut and finished their
own quartz resonators using the instructions in QST magazine.
Articles with detailed instructions for cutting and finishing
crystal resonators appeared in the November 1925 issue [9],
May 1927 issue [10],
January 1928 issue [1],
April 1930 issue [12],
January 1935 issue [13],
and the February 1935 issue [14].
These earlier articles described how to cut a plate out of a
faceted crystal using carborundum powder on the back of a
hacksaw and how to finish it on a piece of plate glass with
carborundum powder. The later articles progressed to automated
methods using power driven saw blades and motor driven laps
with carriers for 8 blanks.
In the mid and
late-1920s most purchased crystal resonators did not come with
holders. Holders could be purchased for an additional cost or
could be made at home. Home cut resonators typically went into
home made holders. The amateur radio magazines catered to the
ham's desire to home build. No less than seven different plans
for building your own crystal holder appeared in the pages of
QST [7] magazine between 1924 and 1929. In the July 1926 issue of QST,
John M. Clayton wrote a detailed article on the subject titled
"Quartz Crystal Mountings" [18].
The first QST article
with a schematic for constructing a crystal controlled
transmitter was in the July 1924 issue [15].
In 1925, a total of four schematics for crystal controlled
transmitters were presented in QST magazine [7].
Nine more schematics were presented in 1926, as well as a
further nine in 1927. Clearly, a great deal of development on
the subject of crystal control was going on in the amateur
radio community.
Company Histories
Amateur radio
activities were the genesis of many crystal companies. From
the mid-1920s through the mid-1930s amateurs were the largest
commercial market for quartz resonators.
One of the most
fertile parts of the United States for quartz crystal and
oscillator work today is the area of south central
Pennsylvania, around the town of Carlisle. This concentration
is due to the work of three amateur radio operators who were
students at Dickinson College, their professor, and a plant
engineer with a seemingly unrelated hobby.
In 1930, Dickinson
College hired Dr. W.A. Parlin away from John Hopkins
University to head the Physics Department. Dr. Parlin
stimulated interest in starting an amateur radio station at
Dickinson and enlisted students Howard Bair, Charles Fagan,
and Edward Minnich. The first amateur radio station at
Dickinson College had the call sign of W3YC. The station was a
success. In their contact with other radio amateurs,
especially with the amateurs at Penn State, they learned of
the work going on with quartz crystal plates for frequency
control of transmitters. They desired to get a crystal for
their transmitter. The cost of finished crystals in 1930 was
still quite high, on the order of $5 to $9 dollars each. Their
financial means were modest. The situation resolved itself
when Edward Minnich’s father, C.O. Minnich, helped to buy a
crystal for the club station. After the experience of using
this crystal and probably also influenced by the articles in
QST magazine [7],
the students decided to make more crystals rather than buy
them [19].
Dr. Parlin taught the students how to orient the raw quartz.
Using the available literature and Dr. Parlin's help, the
students each produced their first crystal in 1931 or 1932 [20].
Mr. Grover Hunt was
employed as a plant engineer at Dickinson College. Mr. Hunt,
with the assistance of his brother-in-law, Mr. P. Reynold
Hoffman, designed and set up a muck saw to cut petrified wood
into a chess set. Hunt had collected this petrified (agatized)
wood on the way back from a vacation in California. Mr. Hunt
eventually lost interest in the chess set project, but, he saw
the commercial potential in selling quartz resonators. He had
the three physics students teach him how to cut resonators. He
then started cutting and selling quartz resonators
commercially. Soon, through his own studies, he surpassed the
knowledge of the three students. Charles Fagan advertised for
Grover Hunt in QST magazine [7],
probably in 1933 or 1934. Grover Hunt was the first to produce
and sell crystals in the Carisle area.
Grover Hunt and
Linwood Gagne, formerly the chief radio engineer for the
Goodyear Blimp Company of Akron, Ohio, formed Standard Piezo
in 1935. This was the first crystal company in the Carisle
area and the father of the crystal industry around Carisle.
The follow-on companies included Oak Frequency Control
(formerly McCoy Electronics), Piezo Crystal Company,
Reeves-Hoffman, P.R. Hoffman, and many others.
Another early company
is the Bliley Electric Company. The company’s history is
tightly coupled to F. Dawson Bliley’s love for amateur radio.
Mr. Bliley was first licensed as an amateur radio operator
with the station call sign 8AGR in September of 1920, at the
age of 14 [21].
While a student at the University of Pittsburgh, he purchased
a steel saw, which he used with a carborundum slurry to cut
quartz resonators for his own use and the use of his friends.
He evidently was quite successful and the word spread that he
was proficient at making resonators. He soon had many amateurs
asking him to produce crystals for them. This was a bright
spot in Mr. Bliley's life as he graduated from the University
of Pittsburgh in June 1929. A spot that was not so bright was
the stock market crash some four months later. Job prospects
for a newly graduated Electrical Engineer, even one as founded
in hands-on radio work as Bliley, were bleak. With financing
and guidance from his father, Bliley made a part of this radio
interests into his living, and in early 1930 founded the
Bliley Electric Company. This was a company founded by an
amateur radio operator to provide crystals to amateur radio
operators.
The business grew and
prospered serving the amateur community. Bliley Electric went
on to be very innovative in a number of areas. In 1935, while
working for Bliley, John Wolfskill was involved in work to
increase the maximum practical frequency quartz resonators
beyond the then current 9 or 10 MHz. In the course of this
work, Wolfskill discovered the overtone effect in quartz
resonators. He submitted a patent application, and after a
legal challenge by the Radio Corporation of America, Wolfskill
and Bliley's were awarded the patent for the overtone crystal.
This work on the overtone crystal meant that amateur radio
operators no longer had to use frequency doubler circuits to
achieve crystal control on the 20 meter short-wave band. John
Wolfskill also developed an 'etch to frequency' process that
proved to be much faster and more labor efficient way to
finish crystals. The 'etch to frequency' process also greatly
reduced the problem of decreased activity and pre-mature
frequency aging in crystals stores for many months. This
second benefit was to become very important to the U.S. during
WWII. The Bliley Electric Company still thrives today serving
the commercial and military markets some 66 years after it was
founded by an amateur radio operator to serve amateur radio
operators. Possibly the earliest person to produce quartz
resonators for amateur radio operators was August E. "Augie"
Miller. He started making crystals for the amateur radio
community in 1923 [6].
He went on to form Miller Laboratories in 1928.
In 1927, an amateur
radio operator named Herbert Blasier started making crystal
resonators in a garage in southern California for his fellow
amateurs. Herbert Blasier had been an amateur radio operator
since 1913. He used his radio skills as a commercial shipboard
radioman and served in WWI with the U. S. Signal Corps in
France. Herbert Blasier held call sign W6DCE. His son, John W.
Blasier just retired as CEO in April 1996 after 40 years of
service to the company that the senior Blasier founded, called
Monitor Products Company. Inc. [29].
In 1927, Professor
Gerald Fox of the University of lowa gave a talk to a group of
amateur radio operators on the subject of "The Piezoelectric
Properties of Quartz" [6].
In attendance were a number of amateur radio operators who
were evidently quite inspired by this presentation and went on
to form crystal companies of their own. These included Herbert
Hollister of Merriam, Kansas who advertised heavily in QST
Magazine [7]
and served the amateur radio community until the end of WWII.
Another attendee was Bill Petersen, who founded the Petersen
Radio Company, which still is in business today. Another
attendee with a familiar name is E. M. Shideler. His amateur
radio call sign was WOIFI. E.M. Shideler founded the
Scientific Radio Products Company and made crystals for over
40 years before he retired. Quartz is in the Shideler family
as E.M.'s son is Edward Shideler, president and CEO of
Colorado Crystal Corp.
In 1931, another
amateur radio operator named Theodore S. Valpey started making
"precision ground quartz crystals and holders for amateur and
experimental use" to support local hams. This enterprise lives
on today as the Valpey-Fisher Corporation, a subsidiary of
MATAC Corporation [30].
Leon Faber of
Sandwich, Illinois had been an amateur radio operator since
1913. In 1932, he started making quartz crystal resonators for
his fellow amateurs. When the demand for resonator skyrocketed
during WWII, he formed a company with James Knights, a local
battery dealer, that went on to be one of the world's largest.
The company was known as CTS - Knights and is now called CTS
[6].
I am confident that many more stories of amateur involvement
in today's crystal companies exist and are not captured
here.
The
Early Crystal Market
Hams were the
commercial market until mid-1926 when WEAF went crystal
controlled. Hams continued to be the bulk of the commercial
market until the mid-and late-1930s. The United States
military did not adopt crystal control for their radios until
1939 [6], [32].
The production of crystals in the U.S. in 1939 was estimated
to be 100,000 units [6].
The production of crystal resonators in the U.K. in 1938 was
estimated to be 10,000 units [4].
These numbers compare to the 30 million units made in the U.S.
from 1941 to 1945. [34].
Before the military took an active interest, crystals were
produced for amateur radio operators, commercial broadcast
stations, a few fixed stations (like maritime ship to shore
stations), and other uses. The amateurs greatly outnumbered
these other uses. The number of amateur radio operators per
year were:
1924 |
approx. |
15,900 |
[22] |
1926 |
approx. |
15,500 |
[23] |
1928 |
approx. |
18,100 |
[24] |
1929 |
|
16,829 |
[31] |
1930 |
|
18.994 |
[31] |
1931 |
|
22,739 |
[31] |
1932 |
|
30,374 |
[31] |
1933 |
|
41,555 |
[31] |
1934 |
|
46,390 |
[31] |
1935 |
|
45,561 |
[31] |
1936 |
|
46,850 |
[31] |
In contrast the
number of commercial broadcast stations were:
1926 |
approx. |
620 |
[25] |
1928 |
approx. |
905 |
[26] |
1930 |
approx. |
840 |
[27] |
There were other
markets for crystals but these two were the largest. Broadcast
stations were assigned one frequency and were expected to stay
there. Consequently, a crystal company could sell only one
main crystal and perhaps a spare to each broadcast station. In
contrast, amateurs are not assigned fixed frequencies and
desired to have more than one crystal. An interesting market
study done by the Bliley Electric Company in 1936, showed that
of the 298 amateur radio operators surveyed, on average, each
ham owned five crystals each and planned to buy one more per
year.
The number of
advertisements to amateurs in QST [7]
magazine testifies to the volume of business to the amateur
community. By month and year the number of advertisements of
crystals for sale in QST are as follows:
Aug |
1925 |
1 Ads |
Dec |
1925 |
1 Ads |
Dec |
1926 |
2 Ads |
Dec |
1927 |
3 Ads |
Dec |
1928 |
4 Ads |
Dec |
1929 |
10 Ads |
Nov |
1930 |
11 Ads |
Nov |
1931 |
23 Ads |
Sep |
1932 |
14 Ads |
Sep |
1933 |
12 Ads |
Nov |
1934 |
12
Ads |
The data speaks for itself. This
had become an industry.
Summary
Amateur radio
operators helped advance the state of the art of crystal
control of radio transmitters. They provided the first
commercial market that launched the crystal industry in
the
1920s and into the
1930s. Even though the build up during WWII was almost
unimaginable, there was an industry to build from. This
industry originally formed to serve amateur radio operators.
Many of those in the industry were amateur radio operators.
Amateur radio helped to pave the way to make crystal control
of radio transmitters a common and well tested
practice.
REFERENCES
[1] W.G. Cady;
Piezoelectricity; McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc., New York,
New York, 1946, pp. 2 - 8
[2] H. Jaffe
"Professor Cady's Work in Crystal Physics"; Proceedings of the
18th Frequency Control Symposium, Ft. Monmouth NJ,
1964.
[3] J.P. Buchanan;
Handbook of Piezoelectric Crystals for Radio Equipment
Designers; Wright Air Development Center, National
Technical Information Services Springfield Virginia 1956,
Pages 2 - 5
[4] D. Salt;
Handbook of Quartz Crystal Devices; Van Nostrand
Reinhold (UK) C. Ltd., Berkshire, England. 1987. Pages xiii -
xv
[5] R.A. Heising
(Ed); Quartz Crystals for Electrical Circuits; D. Van
Nostrand Company Inc, New York, New York 1946, Reprinted by
the Electronic Industries Association Washington D.C. 1982.
Pages 1 - 6
[6] V.E. Bottom; "A
History of the Quartz Crystal Industry in the USA";
Proceedings of the 35th Frequency Control Symposium.
USAERADCOM, Ft. Monmouth NJ, 1981.
[7] QST Magazine;
The monthly publication of the American Radio Relay League and
the International Amateur Radio Union. Hartford, Conn.
U.S.A.
[8] C.B. DeSoto;
200 Meters and Down. The Story of Amateur Radio;
The American Radio Relay League, Inc., West Hartford,
Connecticut 1936, Reprinted by The American Radio Relay
League, Inc., West Hartford, Connecticut 1981, Page
113
[9] J.M. Clayton; "Crystal Control for Amateur
Transmitters"; QST Magazine, Volume XII, Number II; November,
1925; The monthly publication of the American Radio Relay
League and the International Amateur Radio Union, Hartford,
Conn. U.S.A.
[10] P. Mueller; "A Method of Grinding Quartz Plates",
QST Magazine, Volume XIV. Number 5; May 1927. The monthly
publication of the American Radio Relay League and the
International Amateur Radio Union, Hartford, Conn.
U.S.A.
[11] E.G. Watts,
(Jr); " The Grinding of Quartz Plates"; QST Magazine, Volume
XV. Number 1; January, 1928; The monthly publication of the
American Radio Relay League and the International Amateur
Radio Union, Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.
[12] J.J. Lamb;
"Crystallizing Crystal Grinding"; QST Magazine; Volume XVII,
Number 5; April 1930; The monthly publication of the American
Radio Relay League and the International Amateur Radio Union,
Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.
[13] I.H. Louchs;
"Cutting Quartz Crystal Plates, The Practical Method and
Equipment for X and Y Cuts"; QST Magazine, Volume XXII, Number
1; January, 1935; The monthly publication of the American
Radio Relay League and the International Amateur Radio Union,
Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.
[14] I.H. Louchs;
"Grinding and Finishing Quartz Crystal Plates’; QST Magazine,
Volume XXII, Number 2; February, 1935; The monthly publication
of the American Radio Relay League and the International
Amateur Radio Union, Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.
[15] H.S. Shaw;
"Oscillating Crystals"; QST Magazine, Volume XI, Number 7,
July, 1924; The monthly publication of the American Radio
Relay League and the International Amateur Radio Union,
Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.
[16] Ed;
"Experimenters' Section Report"; QST Magazine, Volume XII,
Number 8, August, 1925; The monthly publication of the
American Radio Relay League and the International Amateur
Radio Union, Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.
[17] Ed; "AT-Cut
Crystals Available"; QST Magazine, Volume XXI, Number 11;
November, 1934; The monthly publication of the American Radio
Relay League and the International Amateur Radio Union,
Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.
[18] J.M. Clayton;
"Quartz Crystal Mountings"; QST Magazine, Volume XIII, Number
7, July, 1926; The monthly publication of the American Radio
Relay League and the International Amateur Radio Union,
Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.
[19] P. McCommon; "A
History of the Crystal Industry in the Carisle [PA] Area";
History Independent Study Paper presented to Professor Warren
Gates, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA January 21,
1974
[20] H. Fanus;
"Quartz Crystal Industry in Carlisle, Pennsylvania" March 24,
1983 [Note: Harriet Fanus is the Daughter of Grover
Hunt]
[21] C.A. Bliley;
The Bliley Electric Company, The Early Years;
1930-1955; Published by the Bliley Electric Company in
association with The Antique Wireless Association Inc.
Holcomb, New York, 1982. Pages 1-6
[22] ______;
Amateur Radio Stations of the United States; United
States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation, Edition
of June 30, 1924
[23] ______;
Amateur Radio Stations of the United States;
United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation,
Edition of June 30, 1926
[24] ______;
Amateur Radio Stations of the United States;
United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation,
Edition of June 30, 1928
[25] ______;
Commercial and Government Radio Stations of the
United States; United States Department of Commerce,
Bureau of Navigation, Edition of June 30, 1926
[26] ______;
Commercial and Government Radio Stations of the
United States; United States Department of Commerce,
Bureau of Navigation, Edition of June 30, 1928
[27] ______;
Commercial and Government Radio Stations of the
United States; United States Department of Commerce,
Bureau of Navigation, Edition of June 30, 1930
[28] Personal
conversation with Edward Shideler president and CEO of
Colorado Crystal Corp., son of E.M. Shideler of Scientific
Radio Products
[29] Personal
conversation with John W. Blasier of Monitor Products Co.
Inc.
[30] Personal
conversation with Jack Ross of Valpey-Fisher
Corporation
[31] ARRL (Ed);
Fifty Years of A.R.R.L.; The Amateur Radio Relay
League, Inc., Newington, Connecticut, 1965, page 68
[32] W.L. Doxey;
"Quartz Crystals Paved the Way", Proceedings of the 40th
Annual IEEE Frequency Control Symposium; The Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. New York, New York;
1986 Page 9
[33] Personal
conversation with Dr. Virgil E. Bottom
[34] V.E. Bottom;
Introduction to Quartz Crystal Unit Design; Van
Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, New York, 1982 Page
6 |