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EARLY YEARS of WADLEY'S RECEIVERS ERA
(Courtesy of David
Larsen)
In the early 1950s, the only tuneable receiver
with the frequency stability of a crystal oscillator was
the Collins 51J (USA) HF receiver. (Click on Photograph
to enlarge) The 51J required multiple crystals to provided
'tuneable' coverage over the entire HF frequency range.
Dr Wadley's invention relied on a single crystal oscillator
to establish multiple 'tuneable' channels that covered the
entire HF spectrum.
Dr Wadley made two TRL WADLEY prototype receivers
in the Telecommunications Research Laboratories (TRL) of
the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR). Whilst Dr Wadley was working on the Mark
II TRL WADLEY prototype Mr Tesseyman (Tess) Peter, who was
with the South African Post Office (GPO) at the time, worked
alongside him and built an identical receiver for use by
the GPO. The first photograph is of the Mark I prototype.
(Click on Photograph to enlarge)
In the early 1950s S.M.D. Manufacturing Company
(Pty) Ltd (SMD) built six prototype SMD WADLEY receivers
under contract to the CSIR. In 1952, as a result of a project
initiated by SMD Directors Horace Dainty and Barry Cooke,
David Larsen built the 7th prototype SMD WADLEY receiver.
It was the first WADLEY RECEIVER prototype that had little
resemblance to the earlier WADLEY models as it was intended
for amateur radio and commercial use. This receiver is shown
the second photograph. (Click on Photograph to enlarge)
Circa 1954 Dr Frank Hewitt (TRL-CSIR) and
Mr Tesseyman (Tess) Peter (TRL-CSIR) demonstrated the 2nd
prototype TRL WADLEY receiver and 7th prototype SMD WADLEY
receiver at the RACAL ELECTRONICS LTD (RACAL) head quarters
in Bracknel, Berkshire, England. A licence agreement followed
and development of the RACAL WADLEY receiver commenced at
Bracknell in late 1954. The team was lead by Geoff Meakes
and this receiver became known as the RA17. (Click on Photograph
to enlarge). Mr Tess Peter, who was on attachment from TRL-CSIR
to TRE Malvern during the period 1952 -1955, worked on the
7th prototype SMD WADLEY receiver at RACAL. Mr Tess Peter
may have been mistaken for Dr Wadley and this could have led
to the legend that Dr Wadley had once worked for TRE Malvern.
To read more about the Racal RA17 and Related Equipment CLICK
HERE |
Circa 1960 Ken Clayton and David Larsen built
the first 'all transistor' WADLEY receiver as an amateur
radio project. RACAL-SMD Electronics (Pty) Ltd (RACAL-SMD)
acquired the rights to the concept and this resulted in
the RACAL UK development of the RA217 'all transistor' WADLEY
receiver. The RA217 development team was lead by John Dingley.
(Click on Photograph to enlarge) To read more about the
RA217 CLICK
HERE
In the mid 1960s Dr Wadley built the first
prototype of the BARLOW WADLEY 'all transistor' portable
receiver. The first prototype was built whilst he was with
RACAL-SMD in Pretoria (Click on Photograph to enlarge).
The final prototypes were completed at the Barlow Manufacturing
Company in New Germany.
It is interesting to note that, in the early
1960s, the Barlow Group acquired S.M.D. Manufacturing Company
(Pty) Ltd (SMD), that was located at 9 Young Road in Pinetown,
(Click on Photograph to enlarge) and moved both the staff
and the plant to New Germany where it became know as the
Barlow Manufacturing Company Ltd (BMC). Barry Cooke, a founder
member and senior director of S.M.D. Manufacturing Company
(Pty) Ltd, was appointed Managing Director of Barlow Manufacturing
Company Ltd.
LR: Dr Trevor Lloyd Wadley, Raymond
Vice (TRL), Dr Webb (NBRI-CSIR), Ursula and David Larsen
(RACAL-SMD). Photographs taken 1964/1965 at the Boulevard
Hotel, Struben Street Pretoria. Dr Wadley had recently retired
from the Telecommunications Research Laboratories (TRL)
and joined the board of RACAL-SMD (Pty) Ltd. Circa 1965
RACAL-SMD (Pty) Ltd became Racal Electronics South Africa
Ltd. (RESA). (Click on Photograph to enlarge)
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