The Philip B. Petersen Collection Broadcast February 27, 1991

     It is used almost everywhere to interconnect electronic equipment.  It's attached to utility poles in cities and towns all over America.  It's used in your telephone systems, in all radio and television stations, in police, taxi and cellular radiotelephones.  It's used in airline and military aviation systems and the list goes on and on.  It's called coaxial cable.  Yes, it's the coaxial cable that brings cable television into your home.
     It was invented by a prolific inventor, Lloyd Espenschied, and his associate, Herman Affel, at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1929.  The coaxial cable opened a wide spectrum of frequencies for the long distance telephone service.
     Lloyd Espenschied's interest in radio started in 1905 in the attic of his grandfather's home in Brooklyn, New York.  There he built and operated one of the first amateur radio stations in America.  Having gained experience at home, he obtained summer jobs as a wireless operator on ships sailing out of New York.  Between jobs, he earned a degree in applied electricity from Pratt Institute.
     Espenschied started working for AT&T in 1910 and was motivated to apply radio techniques to the telephone service.  In 1915, he pioneered in the early developments when the human voice was transmitted across the ocean for the very first time using an experimental vacuum tube transmitter at the Naval Radio Station in Arlington, Virginia.  He later participated in the first ship-to-shore radiotelephone service.
     During his 44-year career with the Bell System, he was one of their more prolific inventors, having been credited with more than 100 patents.  Many patents related to the radio and telephone systems, but one was a spin-off that became the first radio altimeter for the airlines.
     The coaxial cable made it possible to carry thousands of simultaneous phone calls on long distance circuits, and is widely used in all kinds of radio and electronic equipment.
     Lloyd Espenschied wrote many technical papers and was United States representative at many international conferences.  He received many honors, among them the Institute of Radio Engineers Medal of Honor and the first technical award for Pioneering in Television.  He was a leader in telephone, radio and scientific organizations and was chosen as one of radio's 100 men of science.
     Lloyd said, "You may have heard the story that everything has been discovered - that young men today haven't much chance to be original.  It isn't so.  New discoveries will be made.  For instance, a worker in pure science will find something interesting, curiosity will urge him on, and before long the world may see a new physical phenomenon."

February 27, 1991

** Broadcasts recordings preserved and presented here by Mr. Robert Buss and Mr. Bernie Ricciardi, Phil's friends and fellow Marconi Chapter 138 QCWA members **

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