Alfred J. Gross (1918 – December, 2000) was a pioneer in mobile wireless communication. In his lifetime, he invented and patented many important communications devices, including the first walkie-talkie, CB Radio, the telephone pager and the cordless telephone. In spite of the successes of these inventions, his patents expired too early to make any amount of money from them. 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... December is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A walkie-talkie is a portable, bi-directional radio transceiver, first developed for military use. ... A pager is an electronic device used to contact people via a paging network. ... A portable phone or cordless phone is a wireless telephone which is associated with a fixed telephone landline (POTS) and can only be operated close to (typically less than 100 metres of) its base station, such as in and around the house. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or applicant for a limited amount of time (normally maximum 20 years from the filing date, depending on extension). ...

Biography

Gross was born in Toronto, Canada in 1918, but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. His lifelong enthusiasm for radio was sparked at age nine, when travelling on Lake Erie by a steamboat. While sneaking around the boat he ended up in the radio transmissions room. The ship's operator sat him on his lap and let him listen in on transmissions. Three years later, Gross turned the basement of his house into a radio station, built from scavenged junkyard parts. }|135px|City of Toronto, Ontario Official Flag]]|Coat Image=[[Image:{{{Coat Image}}}|135px|City of Toronto, Ontario Coat of Arms]]}} {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Diversity Our Strength {{Canadian City/Location Image is:{{{Location Image Type}}}|[[Image:{{{Location Image}}}|thumbnail|250px|City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Location. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... State nickname: The Buckeye State Other U.S. States Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Governor Bob Taft Official languages None Area 116,096 km² (34th)  - Land 106,154 km²  - Water 10,044 km² (8. ...

At sixteen he earned his amateur radio license, and he used his call sign (W8PAL) his whole life. Amateur radio, commonly called ham radio, is a hobby enjoyed by many people throughout the world (as of 2004 about 3 million worldwide, 60,000 in UK, 70,000 in Germany, 5,000 in Norway, 57,000 in Canada, and 700,000 in the USA). ... Call sign can refer to different types of call signs: Airline call sign Aviator call sign Cosmonaut call sign Radio and television call signs Tactical call sign, also known as a tactical designator See also: International Callsign Allocations, Maritime Mobile Service Identity This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid...

The walkie-talkie

His interest and knowledge in radio technology had grown considerably by the time he in 1936 entered the BSEE program at Cleveland's Case of Applied Sciences (now part of Case Western Reserve University (http://www.cwru.edu/)). He was determined to investigate the unexplored frequency region above 100 MHz, and between 1938 and 1941 he invented and patented a mobile, lightweight, two-way communications system; the "walkie-talkie". Radio frequency, or RF, refers to that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in which electromagnetic waves can be generated by alternating current fed to an antenna. ... A walkie-talkie is a portable, bi-directional radio transceiver, first developed for military use. ...

The Second world war

During the second world war, Gross was recruited to build a two-way air-to-ground communications system for use in military operations. He invented the "Joan" and "Eleanor" system in which "Joan" was the lightweight ground system (weighing no more than 3 1/2 pounds), whilst "Eleanor" was the more advanced and heavy system for use in airborne bomber planes. The system was highly successful and virtually impossible to detect behind enemy lines at the time. It was marked top secret by the U.S. Military until it was declassified and made public in 1976. Classified information is secret information to which access is restricted by law or corporate rules to a particular hierarchical class of people. ...

Citizens' Band (CB)

After the war the FCC allocated the first frequencies for personal radio services; the Citizens Radio Service Frequency Band (1946). Gross formed a company to produce two-way communications system to utilize these frequencies, and his company was the first to receive FCC approval in 1948. He sold more than 100 thousand units of his system, mostly to farmers and the U.S. Coast Guard. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute. ...

Telephone pager

Another breakthrough came in 1949 when he adapted his two-way radios for cordless remote telephonic signaling. He had effectively invented the first telephone pager system. His intention was for this system to be used by medical doctors, but was met with skepticism by doctors who were afraid the system would upset patients and interrupt them during golf.

Later years

In 1950 he tried in vain to interest telephone companies in mobile telephony. Bell Telephone was uninterested, and other companies were afraid of Bell's monopoly on transmission lines.

Gross continued to invent, and began working as a specialist in microwave and other communications systems for companies such as Sperry and General Electric. He continued working until his death at age 82. Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century. ... The General Electric Company, or GE, (NYSE: GE) is a multinational technology and services company. ...

External links

• Inventor of the Week (http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/gross.html) — Article on Al Gross from MIT website
• Al Gross - father of Walkie Talkiees (http://www.446user.co.uk/article_48.html) — Short article on Al Gross from a PMR446 website.
• Interview with Al Gross from 1999 (http://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/inst_art.jsp?isno=06043&arnumber=08951_pph&section=15)
• About.com article on walkie-talkie (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_walkie_talkie.htm)
• Article Al Gross Orbit in Associated Press (http://www.comsoc.org/socstr/org/operation/awards/assocpress.html)
• Al Gross recorded interviews and extensive biography (http://www.retrocom.com/Al%20Gross.htm)
• Al Gross Obituary — Audio interview (http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_010601_gross.html)