Wireless Communication Essay

1152 Words3 Pages

The Development of Wireless Communication Leading to the Alexanderson Alternator

Not much has changed in human nature in the past couple centuries. When we want something, we desire exactly what we want without deviation and we wish to have it quickly. This is as evident in modern times as it was in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
It is difficult to imagine for the modern man, but there was once a time when messages and information had to be delivered by hand, horseback or by vehicle. This was a very big problem in a world that was expanding and evolving rapidly and was full of growing local and international turmoil. The more the world began to expand, the harder it became to relay messages and information, and the more innovative, and volatile society became, the larger the need for the relaying of information became.
The first big innovation in long distance information transfer came through the use of the Telegraph. The Telegraph was a device that transmitted electrical pulses along a wire. This allowed a person at one end of the wire to transfer an electrical signal from one location to another. By varying the pulse of the electrical signal, the first rudimentary messages were sent by Samuel Soemmering in 1809. “He used 35 wires with gold electrodes in water and at the receiving end 2000 feet the message was read by the amount of gas caused by electrolysis.” [4] Basically, Soemmering created pulses of electricity at one end of his wires and 2000 feet away at the end of the wire, different concentrations of gas were emitted depending on the strength/duration of the pulse he sent, a relay of information over 2000 feet through the use of electricity.
A huge revolution in the field of electronic communication ...

... middle of paper ...

...as one of the first devices to produce continuous waves. To carry a human voice, Fessenden needed a pure sine wave on a single frequency. The spark-gap technology was too noisy to allow for this, but Alexanderson’s Alternator made this task possible by generating a pure continuous wave. On Christmas Eve 1906, Fessenden fulfilled his dream and broadcasted the first human voice along with the music of a violin to naval fleets across the Atlantic and to other receivers tuned to hear it.
This innovation was groundbreaking in the field of AM radio broadcasting. It also allowed for long distance wireless communication throughout the World Wars of the early 20’th century. It is safe to say that radio and the entire field of wireless communication would not be where it is today without the work of Fessenden and Alexanderson and the invention of the Alexanderson Alternator.

Open Document