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On November 6, 1935, engineer Edwin Howard Armstrong stood before the Institute of Radio Engineers with a modestly titled paper:
“A method of reducing radio disturbance through a frequency modulation system.”
Behind those words was a revolution.
Armstrong had invented FM radio, a way to send sound so clear it banished the crackle and hiss of AM. Music and voices emerged with a purity no one thought possible.
But triumph turned to struggle.
Having already given radio the regenerative circuit and superheterodyne receiver, Armstrong now faced the might of RCA and other giants who had billions sunk in AM and television.
He built his own FM network between 42 and 49 MHz—until 1945, when FCC regulators, after heavy industry lobbying, forced a move to 88–108 MHz, making existing equipment obsolete.
Stations were limited to low power. Lawsuits multiplied. Fortune and health drained away.
On January 31, 1954, at 63, Armstrong wrote a final letter to his wife, Marion, and leapt from the 13th floor of their New York home.
And yet every time an FM signal fills the air—every static-free song or voice—we hear him.
His invention outlived the corporate pressure and the silence of his final years.
Edwin Howard Armstrong gave us silence between the noise, and sound that endures.
Posted : 28/09/2025 4:10 pm
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Tragic story, and great history glance. The forced frequency change made me think of the tv bands mandatory change to digital and billions of televisions across the entirety of US and Canada instantly became obsolete.
Posted : 28/09/2025 5:25 pm
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@richpowers true but at least you could get a small digital to analog converter and keep your older CRT TV. It was also argued that only a small minority of people didn't pay for cable and had an antenna outside and this wouldn't affect most people.
But radio is different.
This bit of history shows how billionaire corporations get governments to act in their favor and make laws for their benefit.
Edwin Armstrong also invented the superheterodyne receiver which was the standard in radio circuitry until the DSP chip came along.
Posted : 28/09/2025 7:37 pm