It would be hard to imagine the modern world as it is now without the discovery and utilization of radio wave technology. It has not only defined but improved and changed the world in more ways than the first people who researched and discovered its existence could imagine.
Have you ever stopped to wonder how we got here, why anyone decided to look into radio waves, to begin with?
In the following post, we will present a small snapshot look at the history of radio frequency and the technology used to harness it.
The Beginnings
It was in the 1700s when the research was being done into magnetism and electricity. It was only until James Clerk Maxwell published his 1873 paper on Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. This was the first instance of anyone laying out a solid and mathematical report that electromagnetic waves existed.
A few years later, Heinrich Hertz, a physicist in Germany, proved his ideas through practical experimentation. The problem is, he never got a handle on the full potential of the discoveries he made. His interest was from an academic point of view. He even claimed his discovery was “of no use whatsoever.”
Edouard Branly’s Coherer
In 1890, Edouard Branly invented the first working radio signal receiver in the world in France. Although it was unreliable, its development is heralded as a major milestone in the evolution of radio frequency technology and paved the way for more advanced experimentation.
First Experiments with Radio Wave Transmission
Fast forward just a few years, and A young inventor called Guglielmo Marconi conducted the first experiments with the transmission of radio waves. Interestingly, he did it from his parent’s home’s attic in Italy.
First Radio Signal Transmission Across the Channel and Marconi’s new Partnership
Between the years of 1897 and 1899, Marconi’s moves to England has demonstrated successfully short and medium distance forms of wireless telegraphy using radio waves. In 1899, he transmitted radio signals successfully across the Channel.
In 1901, Charles Marconi then partnered with John Ambrose Fleming, one of Maxwell’s students and a former employee of the Edison Company. Together they designed and constructed the first long-distance radio transmitter and receiver in the world, based in Southwest England. Following weeks of trial and error, Fleming was finally successful in transmitting a signal to Marconi across the Atlantic Ocean in a Newfoundland receiving tower. This was the very first successful transmission of transoceanic radio waves.
The Invention of the Fleming Valve
In 1904, Fleming suffered frustration due to the unreliability of the performance of receivers and transmitters during their experiments. He perceived that the solution might be found in Edison’s design of the incandescent light bulb. He adapted the bulb design to create a two-electrode valve on the inside of a vacuum bulb. This device only passed a current in one direction. When used in conjunction with a galvanometer in a tuned electrical circuit, it was able to successfully detect high-frequency radio wave currents.
Further Developments – Lee de Forest’s Audion Triode
In 1906, Lee de Forest, an American inventor, developed what was called the Audion Triode. This consisted of a Fleming Valve and an electrode grid placed between the filament and plate to control the generated current.
Further developments were made in 1912 when the ability of the triode was not only able to receive the current but also amplify it. This leads to the development of AM (amplitude modulation) transmission, which in turn paved the way for the development of loudspeakers. This was the first time that people could listen to radio wave signals without the use of headphones.
The Golden Age of Radio
With the 1920s came what is referred to as the Golden Age of Radio. When commercial and civilian radio use began. Superhet or Superheterodyne radios became available to customers. Both Marconi’s own company and the newly formed BBS began broadcasting daily programs. Radio, therefore, became the main electronic medium for entertainment, sports, and news.
War Brings Developments in Radio Wave Technology
During World War II, there were major developments in radio waves technology. It was integral to the governmental and military operations during the war to have radio communication on all sides of the battles. Intercepti on and jamming led to encryption and electronic warfare development. During this period between 1939 and 1945, the first radio-controlled aircraft (unmanned) were invented.
Diodes and Triodes Phased Out, Transistors Become the Standard
Between 1960 and 1970, triodes were phased out, being used in the majority of consumer electronics and replaced with transistors instead.
Even now, in the modern world, we are living, radio is still going strong and a popular form of consumer media despite the developments with other technology.
