I thought Armstrong would invent some kind of a filter to remove static from our AM radio. I didn’t think he’d start a revolution—start up a whole damn new industry to compete with RCA. – David Sarnoff
Edwin Howard Armstrong has been called “the most prolific and influential inventor in radio history.” He took the concept of regeneration, first used by Lee DeForest, and solved the known problems with “super-regeneration.” When the U.S entered World War I, Armstrong became a Captain in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, helping develop radio communications for the Allied war effort. During this period, Armstrong worked on superheterodyne radio receiver circuits, which are still in use today. He was also the prime inventor of wideband Frequency Modulation (FM) systems, including FM (88 – 108 MHz) broadcasting. Like with the inventor of television Philo T. Farnsworth, Armstrong would have to contend with “General Sarnoff.”
Unlike the modern Research and Development laboratories in large corporations, in the early part of the 20th century there were many individual inventors like Marconi, Edison, Lee DeForest, etc. Like many creative engineers, Armstrong would need significant financial backing to see his designs being used commercially. And in the 1920’s, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was the major company developing radio (and later television) systems. In 1922, Armstrong sold his super-regeneration patent to RCA for $200,000 plus 60,000 shares of stock. Armstrong also developed a simpler, less costly superheterodyne design with RCA Engineers, which was introduced in 1924 radio sets. This technology was considered so valuable that RCA would not license the superheterodyne to other companies until 1930.
In early 1928 Armstrong began slowly researching wideband FM, discovering significant advantages over narrowband FM. He was granted five U.S. patents on wideband FM on December 26, 1933. In June 1936, Armstrong gave a formal presentation of his new system at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) headquarters in Washington, D.C. He played a jazz record using an AM radio, then switched to FM transmission. Several engineers said that Dr. Armstrong’s invention was one of the most important radio development since the early earphone crystal sets used before tube radio receivers.
Based on his agreements, Armstrong had to give RCA the right of first refusal to his designs. Since RCA had significant investments in AM transmitters and receivers, Sarnoff hope there would be a simple circuit to add to the AM receiver. For over a year starting in May 1937, Armstrong conducted field tests of FM from the Empire State Building in New York City. The tests showed FM worked up to 80 miles, but RCA was too focused on television to develop FM.
In 1940, RCA offered Armstrong a $1,000,000 royalty-free license to use his FM patents. Armstrong felt this was unfair to the other licensed companies, which had to pay 2% royalties. RCA countered by conducting its own FM research and encouraged other companies to stop paying royalties to Armstrong. In 1948 Armstrong filed suit against RCA and NBC for patent infringement and for “impairing the value” of his invention, requesting treble damages, although his primary patents expired in late 1950.
On the morning of February 1, 1954, Armstrong’s body was discovered outside River House in Manhattan. He had removed the window air conditioner from his 13th floor apartment and jumped to his death. David Sarnoff disclaimed any responsibility, saying that “I did not kill Armstrong.” After his death, a friend of Armstrong estimated that 90 percent of his time was spent on litigation against RCA. The days of the lone brilliant inventor seem to be over.
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