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Sci.Electronics.Basics -> Si-diodes in Second World War radar & Communication equipment

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Author: ronwer
Date: 11:51 12-04-08

Hi!

I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar and
communication equipment during the Second World War.

What I would be interested in is as follows:

-type numbers of the diodes
-name/type number of radar/communication equipment
-technical infor on those systems
-info on producers
-pictures of actual diodes, also "in" the circuits
-anecdotal stories about the actual use
-anything else!

The information will be used for an on-going study project related to
practical application of minerals (i.e. quartz) in industry and technology.

So, since this is an aspect of a broader study, other quartz-related info
would
be most appreciated, especially about early use of piezoelectric
quartz crystals in electronic equipment.

If you'd prefer, answering off-list is possible:

neo.dymium@yahoo.com

Thanks for ANY help!

Ronald
Norway

Author: Joerg
Date: 12:16 12-04-08

ronwer wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar and
> communication equipment during the Second World War.
>
> What I would be interested in is as follows:
>
> -type numbers of the diodes
> -name/type number of radar/communication equipment
> -technical infor on those systems
> -info on producers
> -pictures of actual diodes, also "in" the circuits
> -anecdotal stories about the actual use
> -anything else!
>
> The information will be used for an on-going study project related to
> practical application of minerals (i.e. quartz) in industry and technology.
>
> So, since this is an aspect of a broader study, other quartz-related info
> would
> be most appreciated, especially about early use of piezoelectric
> quartz crystals in electronic equipment.
>
> If you'd prefer, answering off-list is possible:
>
> neo.dymium@yahoo.com
>
>
> Thanks for ANY help!
>

Probably you could start by finding information about this gear but
there would have to be someone on the team who can understand German:
http://www.100-jahre-radar.de/index.html?/gdr_5_deutschefunkmesstechnikim2wk.html

Many such sites have links to British and American gear but often also
in German. Another option are senior centers. A few of the EEs from
those days are still alive but there won't be much time left.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Author: John Fields
Date: 12:24 12-04-08

Author: John Fields
Date: 12:29 12-04-08

On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 11:24:19 -0500, John Fields
<jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

>On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:51:10 +0200, "ronwer"
><neo.dymium.removethisfirst@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Hi!
>>
>>I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar and
>>communication equipment during the Second World War.
>>
>>What I would be interested in is as follows:
>>
>>-type numbers of the diodes
>
>---
>1N23 is a good place to start.

---
Oops... brain fart.

The 1N23 didn't appear until the '50's, I believe.

JF

Author: Michael A. Terrell
Date: 12:31 12-04-08

John Fields wrote:
>
> On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:51:10 +0200, "ronwer"
> <neo.dymium.removethisfirst@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >Hi!
> >
> >I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar and
> >communication equipment during the Second World War.
> >
> >What I would be interested in is as follows:
> >
> >-type numbers of the diodes
>
> ---
> 1N23 is a good place to start.

I still have one, wrapped in the lead foil that was surplused from
some earlier WE microwave relay equipment. From the looks of it, it was
probably made for 'White Alice'.

--
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Date: 12:44 12-04-08

On Sat, 12 Apr 2008, ronwer wrote:

> Hi!
>
> I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar and
> communication equipment during the Second World War.
>
Then you want to find a copy of "The Invention That Changed the World" by
Robert Buderi), which is about radar development during WWII, but also
about how that need for radar pushed electronics further (and how
that push helped electronics to move along after the war).

You have it wrong, silicon diodes weren't used in radar, radar caused
development of semiconductor diodes so they could be used in radar.

They had to use increasingly higher frequencies to get the fine
detail they needed/wanted, and that stretched the limit of vacuum
tubes at the time. Hence they flashed back to the early days of
radio, looked at "cat's whisker" detectors, and compacted that
into more reliable and small devices. Gone were the finicky adjustment
for the hot spot, they got it right once and then sealed it all up.

But, those early diodes were point contact like the cat's whisker
detectors, and as far as I know, they were germanium.

But they were seeing use not as detectors like in "crystal radios"
but as mixers to get the microwave frequencies down to where tubes
could amplify the signals.

It sure seems like you are looking in the wrong direction, expecting
semiconductor diodes to exist before the war, when really the war
caused them to be developed.

Scratch any piece of equipment that did use semiconductor diodes
in WWII, and you are most likely to find that the development of
the equipment involved development of semiconductor diodes.

After the war you see trends moving away from that scenario, where
general diodes were developed independent of specific use, which in
turn caused electronics to move forward which also in turn caused
the need for semiconductors to develop.

The case has been made that the development of the transistor was
based on that work on semiconductor diodes during the war.

> What I would be interested in is as follows:
>
> -type numbers of the diodes
> -name/type number of radar/communication equipment
> -technical infor on those systems
> -info on producers
> -pictures of actual diodes, also "in" the circuits
> -anecdotal stories about the actual use
> -anything else!
>
> The information will be used for an on-going study project related to
> practical application of minerals (i.e. quartz) in industry and technology.
>
> So, since this is an aspect of a broader study, other quartz-related info
> would
> be most appreciated, especially about early use of piezoelectric
> quartz crystals in electronic equipment.
>
Then you've completely missed the one thing that people will think of
when they think "quartz".

Quartz is used in crystals, ie frequency determining elements. Going
back to at least the 1920s. Blanks of quartz sliced thin and then
ground to resonate at a certain frequency. INitially not that much
more than a novelty, then it saw a lot of use, and it continues today,
even though nowadays it's levelled off as frequency synthesis allows
a single crystal to generate multiple frequencies, unlike WWII or even
into the early seventies where you needed a single crystal for every
frequency you wanted to generate (some of that WWII equipment was
loaded with crystals).

Indeed, you don't hear much about quartz used to make semiconductor
devices, so I'm not even sure if your premise on that account is
correct.

Michael

> If you'd prefer, answering off-list is possible:
>
> neo.dymium@yahoo.com
>
>
> Thanks for ANY help!
>
>
> Ronald
> Norway
>
>
>
>

Author: Michael A. Terrell
Date: 12:51 12-04-08

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:
>
> John Fields wrote:
> >
> > On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:51:10 +0200, "ronwer"
> > <neo.dymium.removethisfirst@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > >Hi!
> > >
> > >I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar and
> > >communication equipment during the Second World War.
> > >
> > >What I would be interested in is as follows:
> > >
> > >-type numbers of the diodes
> >
> > ---
> > 1N23 is a good place to start.
>
> I still have one, wrapped in the lead foil that was surplused from
> some earlier WE microwave relay equipment. From the looks of it, it was
> probably made for 'White Alice'.

Actually, I think it is a 1N21.

Here is a web page selling some of the early microwave diodes:
http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/rf-diodes.html

--
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Add this line to your news proxy nfilter.dat file
* drop Path:*aioe.org!not-for-mail to drop all aioe.org traffic.

http://improve-usenet.org/index.html

Use any search engine other than Google till they stop polluting USENET
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Author: ronwer
Date: 13:23 12-04-08

> Probably you could start by finding information about this gear but there
> would have to be someone on the team who can understand German:
> http://www.100-jahre-radar.de/index.html?/gdr_5_deutschefunkmesstechnikim2wk.html
>
> Many such sites have links to British and American gear but often also in
> German. Another option are senior centers. A few of the EEs from those
> days are still alive but there won't be much time left.
>
> --
> Regards, Joerg

Thanks! I will check this out. German is no problem whatsoever!

Best regards,

Ronald
Norway

Author: ronwer
Date: 13:53 12-04-08

> Then you want to find a copy of "The Invention That Changed the World" by
> Robert Buderi), which is about radar development during WWII, but also
> about how that need for radar pushed electronics further (and how
> that push helped electronics to move along after the war).

Thanks, I will try Amazon!

> You have it wrong, silicon diodes weren't used in radar, radar caused
> development of semiconductor diodes so they could be used in radar.
>
> They had to use increasingly higher frequencies to get the fine
> detail they needed/wanted, and that stretched the limit of vacuum
> tubes at the time. Hence they flashed back to the early days of
> radio, looked at "cat's whisker" detectors, and compacted that
> into more reliable and small devices. Gone were the finicky adjustment
> for the hot spot, they got it right once and then sealed it all up.
>
> But, those early diodes were point contact like the cat's whisker
> detectors, and as far as I know, they were germanium.

I read the book "The entangled history of silicon" where they mention the
use of silison in diodes for use in radar. The silicon was imported from the
USA (was it from Bell Laboratories? Don't remember right now and I don't
have the book here).

Indeed, those were point contact diodes.

> But they were seeing use not as detectors like in "crystal radios"
> but as mixers to get the microwave frequencies down to where tubes
> could amplify the signals.
>
> It sure seems like you are looking in the wrong direction, expecting
> semiconductor diodes to exist before the war, when really the war
> caused them to be developed.

No, they existed before the war too, but it was the demand for better radar
(i.e. higher frequencies) that speeded up the development.

See for instance: http://www.avtechpulse.com/faq.html/IX/

> Scratch any piece of equipment that did use semiconductor diodes
> in WWII, and you are most likely to find that the development of
> the equipment involved development of semiconductor diodes.
>
> After the war you see trends moving away from that scenario, where
> general diodes were developed independent of specific use, which in
> turn caused electronics to move forward which also in turn caused
> the need for semiconductors to develop.
>
> The case has been made that the development of the transistor was
> based on that work on semiconductor diodes during the war.
>
>> What I would be interested in is as follows:
>>
>> -type numbers of the diodes
>> -name/type number of radar/communication equipment
>> -technical infor on those systems
>> -info on producers
>> -pictures of actual diodes, also "in" the circuits
>> -anecdotal stories about the actual use
>> -anything else!
>>
>> The information will be used for an on-going study project related to
>> practical application of minerals (i.e. quartz) in industry and
>> technology.
>>
>> So, since this is an aspect of a broader study, other quartz-related info
>> would
>> be most appreciated, especially about early use of piezoelectric
>> quartz crystals in electronic equipment.
>>
> Then you've completely missed the one thing that people will think of
> when they think "quartz".
>
> Quartz is used in crystals, ie frequency determining elements. Going
> back to at least the 1920s. Blanks of quartz sliced thin and then
> ground to resonate at a certain frequency. INitially not that much
> more than a novelty, then it saw a lot of use, and it continues today,
> even though nowadays it's levelled off as frequency synthesis allows
> a single crystal to generate multiple frequencies, unlike WWII or even
> into the early seventies where you needed a single crystal for every
> frequency you wanted to generate (some of that WWII equipment was
> loaded with crystals).
>
> Indeed, you don't hear much about quartz used to make semiconductor
> devices, so I'm not even sure if your premise on that account is
> correct.

Quartz is extensively used in semiconductor devices as isolator between the
individual components.

But I am basically interested in anything related to the use of quartz in
technology, and therefor also in silicon. They belong together.

Thanks for your reply!

Best regards,

Ronald
Norway

Author: Don Bowey
Date: 14:42 12-04-08

On 4/12/08 9:31 AM, in article
KqmdnRpvIuJgfp3VnZ2dnUVZ_hGdnZ2d@earthlink.com, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

>
> John Fields wrote:
>>
>> On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:51:10 +0200, "ronwer"
>> <neo.dymium.removethisfirst@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi!
>>>
>>> I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar and
>>> communication equipment during the Second World War.
>>>
>>> What I would be interested in is as follows:
>>>
>>> -type numbers of the diodes
>>
>> ---
>> 1N23 is a good place to start.
>
>
> I still have one, wrapped in the lead foil that was surplused from
> some earlier WE microwave relay equipment. From the looks of it, it was
> probably made for 'White Alice'.
>

In which case it was likely used in the FPS19 radar or/and the Tropo systems
if my memory isn't fractured. But the early Projects were begun in the 50s.

John's post reprogrammed my erroneous thought that the 1N23 is germanium.
It is the 1N21 that is germanium, and likely existed in the 40s.

Author: Richard Henry
Date: 14:45 12-04-08

On Apr 12, 9:51=A0am, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terr...@earthlink.net>
wrote:
> "Michael A. Terrell" wrote:
>
> > John Fields wrote:
>
> > > On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:51:10 +0200, "ronwer"
> > > <neo.dymium.removethisfi...@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > >Hi!
>
> > > >I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar and
> > > >communication equipment during the Second World War.
>
> > > >What I would be interested in is as follows:
>
> > > >-type numbers of the diodes
>
> > > ---
> > > 1N23 is a good place to start.
>
> > =A0 =A0I still have one, wrapped in the lead foil that was surplused fro=
m
> > some earlier WE microwave relay equipment. From the looks of it, it was
> > probably made for 'White Alice'.
>
> =A0 =A0Actually, I think it is a 1N21.
>
> =A0 =A0Here is a web page selling some of the early microwave diodes:http:=
//www.sphere.bc.ca/test/rf-diodes.html
>
> --
> aioe.org is home to cowards and terrorists
>
> Add this line to your news proxy nfilter.dat file
> * drop Path:*aioe.org!not-for-mail to drop all aioe.org traffic.
>
> http://improve-usenet.org/index.html
>
> Use any search engine other than Google till they stop polluting USENET
> with porn and junk commercial SPAM- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I don't have all the volumes of the Radiation Lab series. Is this
covered in there anywhere?

Author: John Larkin
Date: 15:32 12-04-08

On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:51:10 +0200, "ronwer"
<neo.dymium.removethisfirst@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:

>Hi!
>
>I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar and
>communication equipment during the Second World War.
>
>What I would be interested in is as follows:
>
>-type numbers of the diodes
>-name/type number of radar/communication equipment
>-technical infor on those systems
>-info on producers
>-pictures of actual diodes, also "in" the circuits
>-anecdotal stories about the actual use
>-anything else!
>
>The information will be used for an on-going study project related to
>practical application of minerals (i.e. quartz) in industry and technology.
>
>So, since this is an aspect of a broader study, other quartz-related info
>would
>be most appreciated, especially about early use of piezoelectric
>quartz crystals in electronic equipment.
>
>If you'd prefer, answering off-list is possible:
>
>neo.dymium@yahoo.com
>
>
>Thanks for ANY help!
>
>
>Ronald
>Norway
>
>

Volume 15 of the MIT RadLab books, "Crystal Rectifiers" 440 pages, is
all about that. History, theory, parts, applications. Appendix D lists
the common mixer types. The history part mentions early mineral-based
rectifiers.

Some interesting sections are one which notes that some diodes have
power gain when used as mixers, and a suggestion that semiconductor
triodes should be possible, and some interesting 100-volt
welded-junction "power" diodes.

Volume 16, "Microwave Mixers" has some more stuff.

These books show up on ebay, or a used-book thing like Alibris.

I think Bliley Corp may have some papers on the history of quartz
crystals. They, along with the point-contact diode, helped to win the
war.

John

Author: Joerg
Date: 15:38 12-04-08

ronwer wrote:
>> Probably you could start by finding information about this gear but there
>> would have to be someone on the team who can understand German:
>>
http://www.100-jahre-radar.de/index.html?/gdr_5_deutschefunkmesstechnikim2wk.html
>>
>> Many such sites have links to British and American gear but often also in
>> German. Another option are senior centers. A few of the EEs from those
>> days are still alive but there won't be much time left.
>>
>> --
>> Regards, Joerg
>
>
> Thanks! I will check this out. German is no problem whatsoever!
>
> Best regards,
>
> Ronald
> Norway
>

Ah, Norway. Then you might even find some WW-II veterans from the German
side. I've met a few when I was younger. Some had been stationed there
and liked it so much that they later moved to Scandinavia or bought a
summer house there. One friend of mine would have known a lot about
these Radars but unfortunately he passed away. He went on vacation to
Norway pretty much every year.

In contrast to today the guys at the sites were intimately familiar with
the circuitry because they had to repair this stuff on the component level.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Author: Don Bowey
Date: 15:40 12-04-08

On 4/12/08 10:53 AM, in article EcidnT5o-K1rap3V4p2dnAA@telenor.com,
"ronwer" <neo.dymium.removethisfirst@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:

>> Then you want to find a copy of "The Invention That Changed the
World" by
>> Robert Buderi), which is about radar development during WWII, but also
>> about how that need for radar pushed electronics further (and how
>> that push helped electronics to move along after the war).
>
> Thanks, I will try Amazon!
>
>> You have it wrong, silicon diodes weren't used in radar, radar caused
>> development of semiconductor diodes so they could be used in radar.
>>
>> They had to use increasingly higher frequencies to get the fine
>> detail they needed/wanted, and that stretched the limit of vacuum
>> tubes at the time. Hence they flashed back to the early days of
>> radio, looked at "cat's whisker" detectors, and compacted that
>> into more reliable and small devices. Gone were the finicky adjustment
>> for the hot spot, they got it right once and then sealed it all up.
>>
>> But, those early diodes were point contact like the cat's whisker
>> detectors, and as far as I know, they were germanium.
>
> I read the book "The entangled history of silicon" where they mention the
> use of silison in diodes for use in radar. The silicon was imported from the
> USA (was it from Bell Laboratories? Don't remember right now and I don't
> have the book here).
>
> Indeed, those were point contact diodes.
>
>> But they were seeing use not as detectors like in "crystal radios"
>> but as mixers to get the microwave frequencies down to where tubes
>> could amplify the signals.
>>
>> It sure seems like you are looking in the wrong direction, expecting
>> semiconductor diodes to exist before the war, when really the war
>> caused them to be developed.
>
> No, they existed before the war too, but it was the demand for better radar
> (i.e. higher frequencies) that speeded up the development.
>
> See for instance: http://www.avtechpulse.com/faq.html/IX/
>
>
>> Scratch any piece of equipment that did use semiconductor diodes
>> in WWII, and you are most likely to find that the development of
>> the equipment involved development of semiconductor diodes.
>>
>> After the war you see trends moving away from that scenario, where
>> general diodes were developed independent of specific use, which in
>> turn caused electronics to move forward which also in turn caused
>> the need for semiconductors to develop.
>>
>> The case has been made that the development of the transistor was
>> based on that work on semiconductor diodes during the war.
>>
>>> What I would be interested in is as follows:
>>>
>>> -type numbers of the diodes
>>> -name/type number of radar/communication equipment
>>> -technical infor on those systems
>>> -info on producers
>>> -pictures of actual diodes, also "in" the circuits
>>> -anecdotal stories about the actual use
>>> -anything else!
>>>
>>> The information will be used for an on-going study project related to
>>> practical application of minerals (i.e. quartz) in industry and
>>> technology.
>>>
>>> So, since this is an aspect of a broader study, other quartz-related info
>>> would
>>> be most appreciated, especially about early use of piezoelectric
>>> quartz crystals in electronic equipment.
>>>
>> Then you've completely missed the one thing that people will think of
>> when they think "quartz".
>>
>> Quartz is used in crystals, ie frequency determining elements. Going
>> back to at least the 1920s. Blanks of quartz sliced thin and then
>> ground to resonate at a certain frequency. INitially not that much
>> more than a novelty, then it saw a lot of use, and it continues today,
>> even though nowadays it's levelled off as frequency synthesis allows
>> a single crystal to generate multiple frequencies, unlike WWII or even
>> into the early seventies where you needed a single crystal for every
>> frequency you wanted to generate (some of that WWII equipment was
>> loaded with crystals).

The WECo L4 SSB Carrier System was an exception to that. It was designed
pre-war, and the "long haul" system was in service in many areas of the US
prior to 1950. I didn't get my hands into one until 1955.

It used a synchronized (motor driven capacitor) 4kHz oscillator driving a
harmonic generator from which crystal filters picked off the desired
harmonic for the chores of channel generation, and the frequency stacking of
channel groups into the modules of Groups and Supergroups creating systems
of 420, 600, or 720 channels extending from 64kHz to 3.096 Mhz, depending on
vintage and service needs.

The west coast was synchronized from Sacramento using a 64kHz pilot "tone."

The quartz filters were awesome.

>>
>> Indeed, you don't hear much about quartz used to make semiconductor
>> devices, so I'm not even sure if your premise on that account is
>> correct.
>
> Quartz is extensively used in semiconductor devices as isolator between the
> individual components.
>
> But I am basically interested in anything related to the use of quartz in
> technology, and therefor also in silicon. They belong together.
>
> Thanks for your reply!
>
> Best regards,
>
> Ronald
> Norway
>
>
>
>
>

Author: Michael A. Terrell
Date: 15:43 12-04-08

Richard Henry wrote:
>
> On Apr 12, 9:51 am, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terr...@earthlink.net>
> wrote:
> > "Michael A. Terrell" wrote:
> >
> > > John Fields wrote:
> >
> > > > On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:51:10 +0200, "ronwer"
> > > > <neo.dymium.removethisfi...@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > > > >Hi!
> >
> > > > >I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar
and
> > > > >communication equipment during the Second World War.
> >
> > > > >What I would be interested in is as follows:
> >
> > > > >-type numbers of the diodes
> >
> > > > ---
> > > > 1N23 is a good place to start.
> >
> > > I still have one, wrapped in the lead foil that was surplused from
> > > some earlier WE microwave relay equipment. From the looks of it, it was
> > > probably made for 'White Alice'.
> >
> > Actually, I think it is a 1N21.
> >
> > Here is a web page selling some of the early microwave
diodes:http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/rf-diodes.html
>
> I don't have all the volumes of the Radiation Lab series. Is this
> covered in there anywhere?

I don't have any of the Rad Lab MIT books, but I do have Skolink's
RADAR book, somewhere. It isn't on the shelves in my library, so it must
be in one of the stacks of boxes of books, waiting on more shelves to be
built.

--
aioe.org is home to cowards and terrorists

Add this line to your news proxy nfilter.dat file
* drop Path:*aioe.org!not-for-mail to drop all aioe.org traffic.

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Use any search engine other than Google till they stop polluting USENET
with porn and junk commercial SPAM

Author: John Fields
Date: 16:03 12-04-08

On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:53:39 +0200, "ronwer"
<neo.dymium.removethisfirst@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:

>Quartz is extensively used in semiconductor devices as isolator between the
>individual components.

---
Not exactly. What you're talking about there is amorphous silicon
dioxide, which is silicon dioxide, just like quartz, but it has no
crystal structure and it isn't piezoelectric.
---

>But I am basically interested in anything related to the use of quartz in
>technology, and therefor also in silicon. They belong together.

---
Then you should be equally interested in oxygen, since it's the other
constituent of quartz.

JF

Author: John Fields
Date: 16:06 12-04-08

On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:03:30 -0500, John Fields
<jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

>On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:53:39 +0200, "ronwer"
><neo.dymium.removethisfirst@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Quartz is extensively used in semiconductor devices as isolator between the
>>individual components.
>
>---
>Not exactly. What you're talking about there is amorphous silicon
>dioxide, which is silicon dioxide, just like quartz, but it has no
>crystal structure and it isn't piezoelectric.
>---

---
Ergo, it ain't quartz... ;)
---

>>But I am basically interested in anything related to the use of quartz in
>>technology, and therefor also in silicon. They belong together.
>
>---
>Then you should be equally interested in oxygen, since it's the other
>constituent of quartz.
>
>JF
JF

Author: Tom Bruhns
Date: 01:11 13-04-08

On Apr 12, 8:51 am, "ronwer"
<neo.dymium.removethisfi...@dontwantspam.yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I am doing a study into the early use of silicon diodes in radar and
> communication equipment during the Second World War.
>
> What I would be interested in is as follows:
>
> -type numbers of the diodes
> -name/type number of radar/communication equipment
> -technical infor on those systems
> -info on producers
> -pictures of actual diodes, also "in" the circuits
> -anecdotal stories about the actual use
> -anything else!
>
> The information will be used for an on-going study project related to
> practical application of minerals (i.e. quartz) in industry and technology.
>
> So, since this is an aspect of a broader study, other quartz-related info
> would
> be most appreciated, especially about early use of piezoelectric
> quartz crystals in electronic equipment.
>
> If you'd prefer, answering off-list is possible:
>
> neo.dym...@yahoo.com
>
> Thanks for ANY help!
>
> Ronald
> Norway

I thought at that point in time, practical diodes were all germanium
point contact types, at least the ones used for RF detection. But I
see from some web searching that I was wrong about that. The series
of articles at this site may be interesting:
http://www.computerhistory.org/semiconductor/timeline/1940-Discovery.html.
That page mentions that the P-N junction was discovered by a
researcher using purified silicon in 1940. Robert Buderi's book, "The
Invention that Changed the World: How a small group of radar pioneers
won the Second World War and launched a technological revolution,"
might be a good place to do some research too. I'd have a look in it
to see what he says about silicon diodes, but my copy is at my office
at the moment.

Quartz crystals for frequency control were used somewhat before that.
This paper: http://www.ieee-uffc.org/fc_history/bottom.html says that
a piece of quartz was used to control the frequency of an oscillator
in 1919. Perhaps that is the first. I know there was a lot of
interest in quartz crystals among amateur radio operators/builders in
the 1930's. If you can find copies of QST or other ham magazines from
that era, I'll bet you can find articles about quartz crystals.

Cheers,
Tom

Author: Neodymium
Date: 14:54 13-04-08

"Joerg" <notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> skrev i melding
news:Ac8Mj.8403$2g1.7646@nlpi068.nbdc.sbc.com...
> ronwer wrote:
>>> Probably you could start by finding information about this gear but
>>> there would have to be someone on the team who can understand German:
>>>
http://www.100-jahre-radar.de/index.html?/gdr_5_deutschefunkmesstechnikim2wk.html
>>>
>>> Many such sites have links to British and American gear but often also
>>> in German. Another option are senior centers. A few of the EEs from
>>> those days are still alive but there won't be much time left.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Regards, Joerg
>>
>>
>> Thanks! I will check this out. German is no problem whatsoever!
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Ronald
>> Norway
>
> Ah, Norway. Then you might even find some WW-II veterans from the German
> side. I've met a few when I was younger. Some had been stationed there and
> liked it so much that they later moved to Scandinavia or bought a summer
> house there. One friend of mine would have known a lot about these Radars
> but unfortunately he passed away. He went on vacation to Norway pretty
> much every year.
>
> In contrast to today the guys at the sites were intimately familiar with
> the circuitry because they had to repair this stuff on the component
> level.
>
> --
> Regards, Joerg

Hi Joerg,

Not a bad idea at all! I should try to locate one of those organisations for
WW-II veterans, you never know!

Thanks!

Ronald
Norway

Author: Neodymium
Date: 15:27 13-04-08

> Volume 15 of the MIT RadLab books, "Crystal Rectifiers" 440 pages, is
> all about that. History, theory, parts, applications. Appendix D lists
> the common mixer types. The history part mentions early mineral-based
> rectifiers.
>
> Some interesting sections are one which notes that some diodes have
> power gain when used as mixers, and a suggestion that semiconductor
> triodes should be possible, and some interesting 100-volt
> welded-junction "power" diodes.
>
> Volume 16, "Microwave Mixers" has some more stuff.
>
> These books show up on ebay, or a used-book thing like Alibris.

OK, thanks for the titles, will definitely look for them on eBay or Amazone.
Alibris is new to me, but I'll check.

> I think Bliley Corp may have some papers on the history of quartz
> crystals. They, along with the point-contact diode, helped to win the
> war.

I will definitely try Bliley!

But otherwise, yes, that is one of the important issues I want to document:
to what extent where these components decisive for the outcome of the war.
Interesting stuff, good for the museum expositions I am working on!

Ronald
Norway

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