Book Report: Wes Schum: Amateur Radio's Unsung Hero
This is a very interesting biography of Wes Schum, the driving force behind Central Electronics. Central Electronics was a Chicago based firm started by Wes to sell a modified version of the GE Phasing SSB rig developed by Donald Norgaard.
An amusing anecdote tweaking Art Collins: Art wanted a 10a exciter but Wes didn't have any wired 10a transmitters in stock so he asked Art if there was anyone there (at Collins Radio) who could assemble a 10a kit.
also: the Collins people didn't read the fine manual, after wiring the 10a to the schematic they tried a 14.250 MHz crystal and the transmitter wouldn't work. Wes had to tell them that the 10a used crystals in the 5 MHz range for 20 (mixed with the 9 MHz IF).
The 100V transmitter was no-tune, a first for ham gear. The no-tune circuit was developed by an engineer named Joe Batchelor from Georgia who eventually became an employee of Central Electronics. Unfortunately Central Electronics was in dire financial straits - Wes and Joe demo'd the 100V prototype to one of the founders of Zenith, Karl Hassel, who was so impressed that he bought Central Electronics. This allowed the 100V to hit the market.
The 600L linear amplifier was also no-tune, another first for ham gear. No big deal these days but WOW in the 1950s.
There was to be a 100R receiver to go with the 100V transmitter but it fell victim to the less nimble corporate structure of the parent company, Zenith.
Not too long ago I got an inquiry from a customer. He had developed a new keying mode and asked me for advice. I told him the truth, that nobody every beat a path to the door of the better mousetrap maker, that you had to have the zeal of an evangelist to explain, demonstrate and promote your new vision.
Well, that may be the most interesting part of the book, the technical story is fascinating but the effort that Wes Schum put in to promote SSB in the early days was amazing. He traveled to club meetings, hamfests, store-sponsored presentations around the US. SSB was a success and became a standard due at least in part to the efforts of Wes Schum. One can only wonder what might have happened if say Narrow Band Voice Modulation (NBFM) had such a champion. Sometimes someone has to be a hero for new stuff to be accepted.
BTW, in place of the usual "term paper" style non-fiction books where the last 1/4 of the book is footnotes and sources, author Tusa has included some interesting technical and historical appendices.
There is a website:
http://ce-multiphase.com/
with a lot of supplemental information on Central Electronics and Wes Schum as well as some interviews with Wes.
Zenith told Wes at the end of November 1961 that Central Electronics would cease involvement with amateur radio at the end of the year. Also, Wes was not able to purchase the amateur business back from Zenith or the patents relating to those ham products. Zenith wanted to concentrate on color television which had 100 times the sales of Central Electronics.
A sad ending but an undeniable success story.
Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm