2008 Issue

UTAH ENGINEERS COUNCIL JOURNAL 37 Patents seldom attract media attention. They are read by those with direct interest, in this case RCA. Farnsworth received 32 electron multiplier Patents. Technical prog- ress relies on articles in reviewed technical journals. But lone inventors have neither the time to gain access to the journals (not easily acquired) or to write the articles. RCA people did. They put the multiplier to work in their cameras. Soon their papers on improv- ing the multiplier appeared in the technical literature. One received a prize and much media attention. Zworykin was cited for his contributions. Not even I realized that the electron multiplier had not been invented at RCA until many years later. Such is the power of publicity which Sarnoff used so effectively. By 1931, Farnsworth was in Philadelphia under a licensing and development agree- ment with Philco. Things did not go well from the start. Anton A. (“Benny” - after the boxing champion) Leonard had developed the automobile radio which Philco was manu- facturing. Benny was short and stocky like the fighter whereas Farnsworth was lean and lanky, but they were kindred spirits. Philo had someone to talk shop with. Benny was, at least, a father of auto radio. But he regarded being a friend to Philo as his claim to fame. “When things got too bad, we would go out on a bender!” It was in this case not a good idea. Philo already had too many problems to be dealt with. Here again publicity reigns. Zworykin was cited for his ideas on electronics for weather prediction. Benny flew with his equipment through the eye of hurricanes to learn their behavior. It did not get better at Philco, it got worse. The agreement was cancelled. There is question of the heavy hand of Sarnoff. We will see an example of how that can work. Farnsworth managed to set up his own company but still much beholden to financiers. Baird Ltd., now using Farnsworth’s TV, went in competition with EMI to deter- mine whose system would become the British broadcast standard. England had previously been broadcasting Baird’s scanning disc TV. Strangely, EMI had invented a camera very similar to RCA’s. Not strangely, Sarnoff had acquired both stock in EMI and a development arrangement. Philo was not aware that he left nothing to chance. Baird Inc. was not doing so well with its version of the Dissector. Philo had to be called in at the last moment. It was too late. However, a fire at the Crystal Palace, which destroyed Baird’s equipment, provided the final answer. EMI won the contest. But good news did arrive in 1935. RCAwas forced to the table. Farnsworth was declared the inventor of TV. Stalling tactics were next employed. RCA’s liberal use of Farnsworth patents, especially leading to the Image Orthicon which would become the standby camera for many years to come, meant there would have to be a licensing agreement. It finally came in 1939. The mogul had been chopped off at the knees, but he did not even dignify the occasion with his presence. The war was now imminent. It would put TV on hold for the duration. Lots of Philo’s patents by then would become public property. He had won the battles. But now he knew he was not just losing his unasked-for war; but his life’s work. He had been under intense strain and had become emaciated. He suffered a nervous breakdown. Recovery was slow and he turned to other distracting endeavors. It is a tragic story because it was so unnec- essary. Sarnoff had gathered enough power. Farnsworth was not a threat; he did not seek power. It would have been much cheaper to have paid him his rightful royalties. Both Farnsworth and the RCA Lab would have gone on inventing, to TV’s and the country’s benefit. The freedom to be lone inventors typifies what has made the USA so superior to Russia, as the Cold War has proved. But pertinent events not in the TV books were in play before, during, and after the War. Their telling helps non-technical people to understand and balance perceptions. Similar to Zworykin, Dr. Constantine S. Szegho, a Hungarian, became a convert to TV via the CRT. He studied under Profes- sor Rogowski. He then (in part thanks to Hitler’s Germany) went to Scotland. He sent Szegho to the Salt Palace in 1935 where he became the expert on CRT design and production in volume at a time when Sarnoff had blocked US production. Thousands of sets were produced in England. That was the major exposure of TV to public view. Yet RCA promotion has made their showing at the 1939 Worlds Fair into TV’s first defining event. As the war came to England, TV was halted. Szegho could not be drafted. He and his work were shipped to New York, but fortunately not into limbo. E. N. Rauland, of WENR radio station in Chicago also could see TV’s future. He hired Szegho and set up to manufacture CRT’s. On our entrance into war, civilian production was halted. But CRT’s would be needed in quantity for ra- dar. War secrets could not be divulged to Szegho, a Hungar- ian. The bare tube specs could and he turned out better tubes for Radar than other US manu- facturers who were supplied the secrets. Farnsworth had left TV, but his ideas had established a new industry, photo-optics. There has been much public- ity as to the TV development which RCA converted to war continued on page 41 Farnsworth was not a threat; he did not seek power. It would have been much cheaper to have paid him his rightful royalties.