Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Industrial Age

High-frequency radio alternator — Ernst Alexanderson

1904 AD · Transmission: Global
TechnologyInventionNorth American

In 1904, Reginald Fessenden contracts General Electric for an alternator capable of generating 100,000 Hz for continuous-wave radio. Swedish-American engineer Ernst Alexanderson designs a series of high-frequency alternators (2 kW to 200 kW) that become the most reliable high-power radio-frequency source for transoceanic radiotelegraphy during and after World War I. The first 1 kW, 50 kHz prototype, delivered in 1906, is what Fessenden uses for his famous Christmas Eve 1906 voice and music broadcast from Brant Rock.

InstitutionGeneral Electric, Schenectady, NY
Historical regionUnited States
Primary sourceAlexanderson, E.F.W. — US Patent No. 1,008,577, "High frequency alternator", filed April 1909
Secondary sourceIEEE Engineering and Technology History Wiki — "Milestones: Alexanderson Radio Alternator, 1904"; Invention & Technology Magazine
Original languageEnglish
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