Alfred J. Gross
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alfred J. Gross (February 22, 1918 – December 21, 2000) was a pioneer in mobile wireless communication. He invented and patented many important communications devices, including the first walkie-talkie, CB radio, the telephone pager and the cordless telephone. In spite of the successes of these inventions, his patents expired too early to make any amount of money from them.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Gross was born in Toronto, Ontario, in Canada in 1918, but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. His lifelong enthusiasm for radio was sparked at age nine, when travelling on Lake Erie by a steamboat. While sneaking around the boat he ended up in the radio transmissions room. The ship's operator sat him on his lap and let him listen in on transmissions. Three years later, Gross turned the basement of his house into a radio station, built from scavenged junkyard parts.
At sixteen he earned his amateur radio license, and he used his call sign (W8PAL) his whole life.
[edit] The walkie-talkie
His interest and knowledge in radio technology had grown considerably by the time he in 1936 entered the BSEE program at Cleveland's Case of Applied Sciences (now part of Case Western Reserve University). He was determined to investigate the unexplored frequency region above 100 MHz, and between 1938 and 1941 he invented and patented a mobile, lightweight, two-way communications system; the "walkie-talkie".
[edit] World War II
During the World War II, Gross had some limited involvement in building a two-way air-to-ground communications system for the OSS for use in military operations, known as the "Joan-Eleanor" system. It included a hand-held transceiver ("Joan") and a much larger aircraft-based transciever ("Eleanor"). Gross' actual contribution to the project is unclear (he was not an OSS member), but the main developers on the project were Dewitt R. Goddard and Lt. Cmdr. Stephen H. Simpson (Goddard's wife's name was Eleanor, and reportedly Joan was an acquaintance of Simpson). The system, developed beginning in late 1942, was highly successful and very difficult to detect behind enemy lines at the time. It was marked top secret by the U.S. Military until it was declassified and made public in 1976.
[edit] Citizens' Band (CB)
After the war the FCC allocated the first frequencies for personal radio services; the Citizens Radio Service Frequency Band (1946). Gross formed a company to produce two-way communications system to utilize these frequencies, and his company was the first to receive FCC approval in 1948. He sold more than 100 thousand units of his system, mostly to farmers and the U.S. Coast Guard.
[edit] Telephone pager
Another breakthrough came in 1949 when he adapted his two-way radios for cordless remote telephonic signaling. He had effectively invented the first telephone pager system. His intention was for this system to be used by medical doctors, but was met with skepticism by doctors who were afraid the system would upset patients and interrupt them during golf.
[edit] Later years
In 1950 he tried in vain to interest telephone companies in mobile telephony. Bell Telephone was uninterested, and other companies were afraid of Bell's monopoly on transmission lines.
Gross continued to invent, and began working as a specialist in microwave and other communications systems for companies such as Sperry and General Electric. He continued working until his death at age 82. He invented the pager in New York.
[edit] External links
- Inventor of the Week — Article on Al Gross from MI* Al Gross - father of Walkie Talkiees — Short article on Al Gross from a PMR446 website.
- Interview with Al Gross from 1999
- About.com article on walkie-talkie
- Article Al Gross Orbit in Associated Press
- Al Gross recorded interviews and extensive biography
- Al Gross Obituary — Audio interview
