Philip Whitney began his career at AM station WINC in Winchester Virginia in 1941 serving as an engineer, broadcaster and manager. He became general manager in 1941. In 1959 he designed a CONELRAD alarm device for FM stations to warn listeners in the event of an enemy attack. He is also credited with creating the microwave remote control systems used by radio stations as well as one of the first automated systems which permitted station WRFL (FM) in Winchester to operate automatically by remote control.
Benjamin Wolfe joined the engineering department of WCBM-AM in Baltimore in 1936, supervised a radar group for the War Department during World War II, worked for the FCC as a radio engineer after the war, served as director of engineering and SWID-AM and went to work for WJZ-TV in 1949. In 1969, he became VP of Engineering for the Capital Area Post Newsweek Stations. He was part of the design team for the 1959 candelabra three-antenna tower at Television Hill in Baltimore, the first of its kind. His proof of performance manual was adopted by the FCC for their technical rules on how to conduct proof of performance. He also was known for design of a dual transmitter system developed by RCA.
John M. Sherman began working for the FCC in 1929 and joined WTCN in Minneapolis in 1936. After serving in the Army Air Corps, he helped launch WCCO as a television station. He is credited with bringing the first weather radar of its kind to the Twin Cities, designed a remote pick-up vehicle with video tape recording (known as the “Sherman Tank”), led the station from black-and-white to color and led WCCO’s first live intercontinental satellite TV broadcast via the Telstar satellite, as well as participating in the construction of the Twin Cities antenna farm.
A. James Ebel was a Nebraska broadcasting pioneer and the general manager of KOLN/KGIN-TV beginning in 1954. Adding translators across the state, he greatly expanded the reach of the station. A recognized expert on satellite communications, he represented Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission on various FCC subcommittees and was chairman of the combined Satellite Study Committees of ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates. He also represented the US at the WARC on Space Telecommunications in 1971, achieving additional spectrum space for broadcasters in the 7 GHz band.
Joseph B. Epperson was Vice President of Engineering for Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. in Cleveland OH. He joined Scripps in 1937, led the construction of several television stations and became Scripps’ VP of Engineering in 1956. He invented the Epperson TV Coverage Calculator, a modified slide rule to show station coverage based on power and antenna height. In NAB committees he advocated strongly for engineering training programs and was instrumental in founding the NAB annual directional antenna seminar at the Cleveland Scientific Institute and the NAB engineering management seminar at Purdue University.
John Daniel Silva was director of R&D for Golden West Broadcasters. He joined KTLA-TV after World War II and served as chief engineer for 21 years. He was the first to outfit a helicopter with a TV camera in 1958 and created a flying TV studio, reducing 2000 pounds of television equipment to 368 pounds so the Bell 47 helicopter could get off the ground. The first of its kind, KTLA ushered in a new era of live aerial coverage from news helicopters of parades, fires, earthquakes and freeway congestion. He earned an Emmy Award in 1974 for developing the Telecopter.
Frank Gregg Kear co-founded the firm of Kear & Kennedy, consulting engineers, in 1941, along with his partner Robert E.L. Kennedy. He served as a consultant to ABC and in 1950 was the engineer-in-charge for construction of what was then the world’s tallest television antenna tower on the Empire State Building. He also assisted the Chicago Broadcast Antenna Committee in the late 1960’s to move six television station antennas to the top of the John Hancock building, as well as moving eight television stations to the candelabra atop Mount Sutro in San Francisco. He largely retired in 1972, although he continued to consult as a partner with A.D. Ring & Associates, which took over the practice of the Kear & Kennedy firm.
Daniel Holt Smith was Senior Vice President of Engineering at Capital Cities Communications. He started his broadcast career in 1936 at WTAR (AM) in Norfolk VA as a radio engineer and moved to a civilian job for the Navy as a radio inspector. After stints with Western Electric and as technical director of the Maine Broadcasting System, he Joined WTVT in Tampa as Technical Director in 1954, and then joined Capital Cities in 1959, directing numerous projects, including the first use in the US of a directional antenna on a VHF station, at WTEN (TV) in Albany, NY. He retired from Capital Cities in 1976.
John (Jack) Arbuckle Mosely founded Moseley Associates Inc in his garage in 1959, developing remote control equipment for radio and TV stations. The company grew with the broadcast industry, adding FM exciters, stereo generators, SCA generators, digital control systems and satellite earth station control systems to its product line. He was instrumental in having the FCC allocate dual studio-transmitter links for FM stereo, assisted NAB in field tests leading to the adoption of rules for TV remote control and worked on the development of AM stereo transmission standards. Having started as a one-man shop, Mosely sold the 125-employee company in 1977 to Flow-General.
Robert Waples Flanders was vice president and director of engineering for McGraw-Hill Broadcasting in Indianapolis beginning in 1972. He joined WFBM (predecessor of WRTV) in 1942, becoming director of engineering at WFBM from 1960 to 1972. In 1950 he designed and built one of the first programmable, automated switchers and in 1952 he designed one of the first modular TV cameras. An active industry participant, he was twice past president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, served as chairman of the NAB’s Engineering Advisory Committee and the NAB Engineering Conference Committee, as well as being an advocate of the NAB broadcast engineering management program at Purdue University.
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