page_title: Alfred H. Grebe
hierarchical_section_title: Alfred H. Grebe
caption_attribution_description: English: An amateur radio set installed in a car by A. H. Grebe, a radio manufacturer of New York in 1919, who is shown speaking into the microphone. The bulky vacuum tube set is visible in the back seat. It used medium wave frequencies around 2 MHz, requiring the cumbersome "inverted L" wire antenna mounted on the bumpers, which could be quickly put up and taken down and stowed under the car's chassis. The car's body was used as a counterpoise. The radio set was powered by a separate storage battery, with a small dynamotor to generate high voltage for the tubes anode supply. Grebe noted that he could hear other cars approaching on the road, as the receiver would pick up the radio noise from their unshielded spark plugs. Broadcasting began in 1920, about the time vacuum tube radio receivers became available, sparking a "radio craze" during the early Roaring 20s. Many car owners installed home radio sets in their cars.as a novelty. Car radios weren't manufactured until 1930, and did not come standard in vehicles until a number of years later. Caption:"CUMBERSOME - BUT ESSENTIALLY PRACTICAL. Here is a real antenna, easily dismantled, that A. H. Grebe, of New York, uses for transmitting and receiving." Français&#160;: Un radioamateur parlant dans le microphone dans une voiture a New York en 1919. Le volumineux émetteur-récepteur radioélectrique est visible sur le siège arrière. Utilisant les ondes moyennes de 2 MHz, nécessitant la lourde «&#160;L inversé antenne "de fil montés sur les pare-chocs, ce qui pourrait être rapidement mis en place et pris vers le bas. La radiodiffusion a commencé en 1920, au temps de tubes sous vide récepteurs radio sont devenus disponibles, provoquant un "engouement radio" au début des années 20. Beaucoup de propriétaires de voitures installés des postes de radio à la maison dans leurs voitures (une nouveauté). Les autoradios n'ont pas été fabriqués jusqu'en 1930, et ne sont livrés en standard dans les véhicules jusqu'à un certain nombre d'années plus tard. Légende: " . Lourdeur - mais essentiellement pratique Voici une antenne réelle pour transmettre et recevoir, facilement démontables par les utilisateurs. "
context_page_description: Alfred H. Grebe pronounced Gree-bee was a pioneer in the radio broadcasting field.
  He was born in Richmond Hill in the borough of Queens, in New York City. At the age of 9 he was given a radio set by his father, and soon came to be such an expert that his science teacher at Public School 88 in Jamaica said Alfred knew more than he did. From public school, he went to a training school in Jamaica, and a commercial radio school in Manhattan, New York City, where he conducted his own experiments. By age 15, he became a licensed commercial operator, and went to work as a ship's radio operator. After three years onboard he returned to Long Island, where the first commercial station on the island was being built at Sayville. He got a job as an operator there. Later, because there was currently a radio craze, some friends had him make receivers for them. After making a few sets, he decided to go into commercial production.
  In 1914 he issued his first catalog, and set up a factory in Richmond Hill on the same property where his home was located, which soon became able to produce all the components needed to assemble a radio, and which contained research laboratories as well.
context_section_description: Alfred H. Grebe pronounced Gree-bee (1895-October 24, 1935) was a pioneer in the radio broadcasting field.
  He was born in Richmond Hill in the borough of Queens, in New York City. At the age of 9 he was given a radio set by his father, and soon came to be such an expert that his science teacher at Public School 88 in Jamaica said Alfred knew more than he did. From public school, he went to a training school in Jamaica, and a commercial radio school in Manhattan, New York City, where he conducted his own experiments. By age 15, he became a licensed commercial operator, and went to work as a ship's radio operator. After three years onboard (during which time he traveled as far as India) he returned to Long Island, where the first commercial station on the island was being built at Sayville. He got a job as an operator there. Later, because there was currently a radio craze, some friends had him make receivers for them. After making a few sets, he decided to go into commercial production.
  In 1914 he issued his first catalog, and set up a factory in Richmond Hill on the same property where his home was located, which soon became able to produce all the components needed to assemble a radio, and which contained research laboratories as well. By 1922 he tore down his home to build a larger factory on the site.
  To stimulate public interest, he set up several radio stations: one (WAHG) was identified with his own initials; another (WBOQ) had call letters standing for Borough of Queens. (His WAHG is, through several call letter changes, now WCBS, still a major radio station in New York City.) He set up a broadcasting company called the "Atlantic Broadcasting Corporation" (changing WAHG to WABC on November 1,  1926) which operated his stations until he sold them to CBS in January 1929.
  Grebe's publicity manager, Bill Schudt, Jr., stayed with CBS after the sale of WABC. When television station W2XAB began experiments in 1931, Schudt became CBS' first television director. He retired from the network in 1966 as director of affiliate relations.
  Alfred Grebe's manufacturing company, A. H. Grebe and Co. Inc., was renamed Grebe Radio and Television Corporation and moved from Richmond Hill to Manhattan in 1933.
  In 1935 Grebe underwent a stomach operation at Post-Graduate Hospital in Manhattan. He became ill after the operation and died after 10 days.
  In 2017, Grebe was honored as "The Father of NewsRadio880" during a series commemorating the 50th anniversary of WCBS going all news.
caption: With self-built car radio, 1919
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