At the time, the high-pressure synthesis of ammonia had become ubiquitous.
In 1930, the giant BASF plant at Leuna alone saw the production of 250,000
tons of benzine
4 from the local brown coal. Along with these awards therefore, came a recognition that Germany, should she choose to do so, could
once again become independently capable not only of feeding and arming
herself, but also of providing all the fuel she needed—for whatever purpose.
1933 saw the election of Adolf Hitler as German Chancellor, an individual
embittered by Germany’s humiliation after the war and who saw the Jews as
responsible for the failures in his life. Hitler offered the German people a
different path to the one they had followed under the Weimar Republic, and
with the high-pressure chemical industry as a foundation he began to re-build
German self-esteem. But for Robert Le Rossignol, now forgotten to all but a
few, the 1930s saw his attention drawn to another valve, an entirely different
‘Rossignol-ventil’, the ‘CAT’ valve.
16.2 The Development of High-Power Radio
Transmitting Valves
Chapter 15 showed that to achieve an increase in power to possibly many
hundreds of kilowatts, a radical re-design of the glass transmitting valve was
necessary. During the 1920s, the work of the valve group at the GEC
overcame the many technical deficiencies of the old valve to create a new
generation that were to become world leaders for a decade and more. Much of
what follows here is taken from Robert’s own description of the problems the
group met, and the solutions they provided, which appeared in his paper for
the GEC Journal in 1936, viz., The Development of Large Radio Transmitting
Valves, GEC Journal, 7, pp. 176–190, (1936). The technical detail of these
developments is largely omitted, but what readers should be aware of here is
the broad range of scientific, engineering and practical skills needed to construct what were at the time, ‘state of the art’ electronic devices. The team was
gradually expanded over the years and eventually surmounted the many
problems of CAT valve construction until their techniques could be passed
on to the workshop craftsmen. These high-power transmitter valves were
most prominent in the 1930s and eventually ranged in size from a cricket ball
to a beer barrel, and they could weigh over half a hundredweight (25 kilos).
16 The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939
367
In 1930, the giant BASF plant at Leuna alone saw the production of 250,000
tons of benzine
4 from the local brown coal. Along with these awards therefore, came a recognition that Germany, should she choose to do so, could
once again become independently capable not only of feeding and arming
herself, but also of providing all the fuel she needed—for whatever purpose.
1933 saw the election of Adolf Hitler as German Chancellor, an individual
embittered by Germany’s humiliation after the war and who saw the Jews as
responsible for the failures in his life. Hitler offered the German people a
different path to the one they had followed under the Weimar Republic, and
with the high-pressure chemical industry as a foundation he began to re-build
German self-esteem. But for Robert Le Rossignol, now forgotten to all but a
few, the 1930s saw his attention drawn to another valve, an entirely different
‘Rossignol-ventil’, the ‘CAT’ valve.
16.2 The Development of High-Power Radio
Transmitting Valves
Chapter 15 showed that to achieve an increase in power to possibly many
hundreds of kilowatts, a radical re-design of the glass transmitting valve was
necessary. During the 1920s, the work of the valve group at the GEC
overcame the many technical deficiencies of the old valve to create a new
generation that were to become world leaders for a decade and more. Much of
what follows here is taken from Robert’s own description of the problems the
group met, and the solutions they provided, which appeared in his paper for
the GEC Journal in 1936, viz., The Development of Large Radio Transmitting
Valves, GEC Journal, 7, pp. 176–190, (1936). The technical detail of these
developments is largely omitted, but what readers should be aware of here is
the broad range of scientific, engineering and practical skills needed to construct what were at the time, ‘state of the art’ electronic devices. The team was
gradually expanded over the years and eventually surmounted the many
problems of CAT valve construction until their techniques could be passed
on to the workshop craftsmen. These high-power transmitter valves were
most prominent in the 1930s and eventually ranged in size from a cricket ball
to a beer barrel, and they could weigh over half a hundredweight (25 kilos).
16 The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939
367