page_title: Charles Herrold
section_title: Radio development pre-WWI
hierarchical_section_title: Charles Herrold / Radio development pre-WWI
caption_attribution_description: English: Newspaper article, "Musical Concert by Wireless Telephone", from page 19 of the July 23, 1912 San Diego Union
context_page_description: Charles David "Doc" Herrold was an American inventor and pioneer radio broadcaster, who began experimenting with audio radio transmissions in 1909. Beginning in 1912 he apparently became the first person to make entertainment broadcasts on a regular schedule, from his station in San Jose, California.
context_section_description: On January 1, 1909, Herrold opened the Herrold College of Wireless and Engineering, located in the Garden City Bank Building at 50 West San Fernando Street in San Jose, where a huge "umbrella-style" antenna was constructed atop the building. The college's primary purpose was to train radio operators, for handling communications aboard ship or staffing shore stations. Although he would never get a degree, Herrold became known as "Doc" as a sign of his student's respect. Ray Newby, just 16 years old, acted as his primary assistant. At the time Herrold began his work, there was no regulation of radio stations in the United States, and the station was identified by self-assigned call letters, including FN and SJN. Later the Radio Act of 1912 mandated the licensing of stations, and Herrold was issued a license for an Experimental station in late 1915, with the call sign 6XF.
  Herrold's primary radiotelephone effort was toward developing a commercial system suitable for point-to-point service. Working with Ray Newby, he initially used high-frequency spark transmitters. In a June 23, 1910 notarized letter that was published in a catalog produced by the Electro Importing Company of New York, Herrold reported that, using one of that company's spark coils, he had successfully broadcast "wireless phone concerts to local amateur wireless men". However, the limitations of the high-frequency spark soon became apparent, and he switched to developing refined versions of the Poulsen arc, which was more stable and had better audio fidelity.
  In early 1912, Herrold was hired as chief engineer of the National Wireless Telephone and Telegraph Company in San Francisco. With hopes that they could develop a highly profitable point-to-point "arc fone" radiotelephone, he produced a system with good quality audio—colloquially described as "shaving the whiskers off the wireless telephone"—although relatively low powered. A number of successful tests for the U.S. Navy were reported, however, a conflict soon arose between Herrold and the company, and in late 1913 he both resigned and sued NWT&T on the grounds that he had not been fully compensated for his time and effort. NWT&T counter-claimed that it had met the terms of its contract and moreover "most of the improvements made by Herrold were ultimately abandoned by the company". The judge sided with NWT&T and denied Herrold's claim. In addition, despite his attempts to create a transmission system that didn't infringe on the Poulsen arc patents, there were doubts that he had actually achieved this goal.
  Concurrent with his work for NWT&T, in July 1912 Herrold began making regular radio broadcasts on a weekly basis from his San Jose school, with an initial broadcast featuring phonograph records supplied by the Wiley B. Allen company. Herrold's wife at the time, Sybil, later recounted that she participated in the Wednesday night programs, where she broadcast recordings from the Sherman, Clay record store that had been requested by "the little hams" (amateur radio enthusiasts) who comprised her audience. Herrold's ultimate transmitter design employed a water-cooled microphone connected to six small arcs burning in liquid alcohol. A review of a Christmas 1916 concert complimented the good audio quality of the "Herrold-Portal aerial system of telephony", reporting that "It was as sweet and beautiful as if it had been played and sung in the next room".
  Despite the popularity of the broadcasts, they drew only local attention, and were largely unknown outside of the immediate San Jose area. Moreover, the broadcasts came to an end on April 6, 1917, when all civilian station operations were suspended as a result of the entry by the United States into World War I. After dismantling the station, which included removing the antenna system from atop the bank building, Herrold relocated his school to 467 South First Street, a site which also included retail space.
caption: Contemporary review of a July 22, 1912 broadcast.
exif: {}