Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
In 2009, 87 year old Swiss scientist Max Bodmer visited the Antique Wireless Museum in Bloomfield New York for the dedication of the Max Bodmer Library, and he told this story of how his team at Bell Labs improved a vacuum tube, and revolutionized global communications in the process.
Max and his team of engineers and technicians at Bell Labs developed the travelling wave tube that was used the first successful communication satellite, Telstar 1, which was launched in 1962. Up until then TWTs, which were used as amplifiers at microwave frequencies, were large, inefficient and unreliable, but in a 2 year effort, often working from 7AM until midnight, Max and his team doubled the TWT's efficiency, cut it's weight and size, and improved the tubes reliability to a point that there were zero tube failures during life testing.
If you enjoyed this video, consider becoming a member of the Antique Wireless Association at: antiquewireless.org/homepage/membership
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In 2009, 87 year old Swiss scientist Max Bodmer visited the Antique Wireless Museum in Bloomfield New York for the dedication of the Max Bodmer Library, and he told this story of how his team at Bell Labs improved a vacuum tube, and revolutionized global communications in the process.
Max and his team of engineers and technicians at Bell Labs developed the travelling wave tube that was used the first successful communication satellite, Telstar 1, which was launched in 1962. Up until then TWTs, which were used as amplifiers at microwave frequencies, were large, inefficient and unreliable, but in a 2 year effort, often working from 7AM until midnight, Max and his team doubled the TWT's efficiency, cut it's weight and size, and improved the tubes reliability to a point that there were zero tube failures during life testing.
If you enjoyed this video, consider becoming a member of the Antique Wireless Association at: antiquewireless.org/homepage/membership
Subscribe to the Antique Wireless Museum channel and you'll receive news of our latest video uploads.
