Donald Lewes Hings, (November 6, 1907 – February 25, 2004) was a Canadian inventor, born in
Leicester,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. In 1937
he created a portable radio signaling system for his employer
CM&S, which he called a "packset", but which later became known as the "
Walkie-Talkie
A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT), is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, ...
".
While Hings was filing a U.S. patent for the packset in
Spokane, Washington
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...
in 1939, Canada declared
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
on
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. CM&S sent Hings to
Ottawa to redevelop his new invention for military use, and he worked there from 1940 to 1945. During these years, he developed a number of models, including the successful C-58
Walkie-Talkie
A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT), is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, ...
which eventually sold eighteen thousand units produced for infantry use, and for which he received the
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
in 1946 and the
Order Of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
in 2001.
Following the war, he moved to
Burnaby
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, where he established an electronics R&D company, Electronic Labs of Canada. He continued researching and creating in the fields of communications and
geophysics
Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' so ...
until his retirement. He held more than 55 patents in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the United States, and was the inventor of the
klystron
A klystron is a specialized linear-beam vacuum tube, invented in 1937 by American electrical engineers Russell and Sigurd Varian,Pond, Norman H. "The Tube Guys". Russ Cochran, 2008 p.31-40 which is used as an amplifier for high radio frequen ...
magnetometer survey system.
[US Patent 4458205 - Geomagnetic prospecting method ] In 2006, Hings was inducted into the
Telecommunications Hall of Fame Canada's Telecommunications Hall of Fame was a Canadian not-for-profit foundation that sought to foster a greater awareness of Canada's role in developing and innovating telecommunications. The foundation began operating in 2005 and had two main pr ...
.
Born in Leicester, England, he moved to Canada with his mother and father when he was three.
He died on
Capitol Hill, Burnaby
Capitol Hill elev. 203m, is a hill in the city of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and also is the name of the neighbourhood spanning the summit of the hill. Standing on the north side of Hastings Street and bounded by Willingdon Avenue to th ...
, in 2004.
[
]
References
External links
Hings' Website
includes many original documents and images.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hings, Donald
1907 births
2004 deaths
20th-century Canadian inventors
Members of the Order of Canada
Canadian Members of the Order of the British Empire
British emigrants to Canada
People from Leicester