RCA went after Armstrong. They knew that by convincing the FCC to change the fre... | Hacker News

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ef47d35620c1 on Jan 17, 2014 | parent | context | favorite | on: Why Do FM Frequencies End in an Odd Decimal?

RCA went after Armstrong. They knew that by convincing the FCC to change the frequencies they could seriously disrupt FM and make existing equipment useless. Armstrong later committed suicide. His wife won all of the on-going lawsuits. Basically, RCA broke him financially and mentally with multiple lawsuits and years of "discovery". Armstrong is the father of frequency modulation (FM) and some argue the father of modern radio.

twoodfin on Jan 17, 2014 | [–]

Ken Burns did a terrific documentary on the RCA/Armstrong fight and the birth of radio generally, Empire of the Air.

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/empire/

jejones3141 on Jan 17, 2014 | [–]

I'd be among them, since he also came up with the regenerative, superregenerative, and superheterodyne radios.

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