![]() ![]() Further pursuit of active detection techniques was then abandoned because of the limit of infrared energy available from searchlight sources.Īlthough research continued at the SCL in the passive detection of infrared emitted from heated aircraft engines, Blair became convinced that practical detection systems would involve reflected radio signals. In August 1932, this equipment was used to track a blimp at a distance of over a mile. Initially, emphasis was placed on special devices with high-gain amplification for detecting reflected infrared from an illuminating searchlight. Carrying this forward, in 1931, Blair initiated Project 88, "Position Finding by Means of Light." Here "light" was used in the general sense of electromagnetic radiation, including infrared and very short-length ( microwave) radio waves. ![]() When the SCL was formed, this work was transferred to that Laboratory. While the number of personnel was inadequate for major work in these many and diverse areas, Blair, the Director, was personally knowledgeable in all of them.ĭuring the 1920s, the Army Ordnance Corps at Frankford Arsenal had made tests in detecting infrared emitted from airplane engines or reflected by their surfaces. The next year, this Laboratory was also made responsible for research in the detection of aircraft by acoustics and electromagnetic radiation. The SCL was responsible for the Army's ground radio and wire communication development and for improvement of the meteorological service. On June 30, 1930, the SCL had a personnel strength of 5 officers, 12 enlisted men, and 53 civilians. Wright, New York to Fort Monmouth as well. ![]() In 1930, the Signal Corps transferred the Subaqueous Sound Ranging Laboratory from Fort H. Upon arriving at their destination, the research facilities were combined with the Radio Laboratory already at Fort Monmouth to form what became known as the Signal Corps Laboratories. In the interest of “economy and efficiency,” the National Bureau of Standards moved the Signal Corps Electrical Laboratory, the Signal Corps Meteorological Laboratory, and the Signal Corps Laboratory at the Bureau of Standards to Fort Monmouth. Coupling capabilities in electronics and meteorology, in 1929 the Laboratory developed and launched the first radio-equipped weather balloon.īy 1929, decline in economic conditions forced the consolidation of the Signal Corps' widespread laboratories. Developments included a variety of radios for voice and Morse code communications. Although overshadowed by the Signal School and at a reduced scale due to budget restrictions, the Radio Laboratory remained an important activity at Fort Monmouth. In 1925, Fort Vail was renamed Fort Monmouth. The facility survived as an Army installation by the Signal Corps moving all of its schools to Camp Vail, with the consolidation named the Signal School. The Radio Laboratories at Camp Vail continued at a low level, centering on design and testing of radio sets, field telephone and telegraph equipment, and meteorology. Squier had earlier made a major contribution to communications by developing multiplexing, for which he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1919.Īfter the end of World War I, aviation communication was transferred to the Signal Corps Aircraft Radio Laboratory at Wilbur Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Experimentation was also being done on radio communications with aircraft, detection of aircraft using sound and electromagnetic waves, and meteorology. (Dr.) George Owen Squier, the Radio Laboratories centered on the standardization of vacuum tubes and the testing of equipment manufactured for the Army by commercial firms. The overall installation was upgraded and became Fort Vail. Later that year, the Army established the Signal Corps Radio Laboratories at Camp Vail, devoted to research in radio and electronics. This facility was named after Alfred Vail, an inventor associated with Samuel F. Army Signal Corps opened a training facility named Camp Vail in east-central New Jersey. Through the years, the SCL had a number of changes in name, but remained the operation providing research and development services for the Signal Corps.Īt the beginning of World War I in 1917, the U.S. ![]() Army Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Signal Corps Laboratories (SCL) was formed on June 30, 1930, as part of the U.S. ![]()
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