Hilmer Irvin Swanson (July 25, 1932
Davenport, Iowa – July 21, 2005
Quincy, Illinois)
[Hilmer Irvin Swanson 1932 - 2005](_blank)
, Barry Mishkind – the Eclectic Engineer, theBDR.net[Hilmer Swanson Dies](_blank)
RadioWorld, July 22, 2005, accessed April 18, 2012
radiolists.net, July 23, 2005, accessed April 18, 2012 was an American
radio engineer
Broadcast engineering is the field of electrical engineering, and now to some extent computer engineering and information technology, which deals with radio and television broadcasting. Audio engineering and RF engineering are also essential ...
who developed several leading, patented techniques for
broadcast radio
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
Amplitude Modulation (AM) while working for
Harris Corporation.
Early years and education
Swanson was educated in his home town of Davenport, Iowa, from a rural one room school house to high school. He was then drafted into the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
and served with the
10th Army Mountain Division at
Fort Riley, Kansas
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Gea ...
.
The Army
Signal Corps sent him to its school at Fort Gordon, where he graduated with honors.
Hilmer was assigned to Fort Huachuca where he was involved with AM transmitters with the US Army Electronic Proving Ground (EPG), and began his career in
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
.
Upon demobilization with an honorable discharge on June 25, 1953,
he went to Indiana and worked briefly with
Bendix, then attended
Valparaiso's
Technical Institute
An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
(closed 1991), and was awarded the degree of
Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an Academic degree, academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university.
In ...
. He then was awarded the degree of
Master of Science In Electrical Engineering from
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...
on February 4, 1959.
Working life
Swanson worked for
Collins Radio
Rockwell Collins was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radio Compa ...
in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa and
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
before joining Gates Radio in Quincy Illinois, which was later bought by
Harris Corporation.
Swanson worked for Harris for 35 years until retirement in 1999, primarily on the design of high efficiency
amplitude modulation (AM)
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
s. His work led to a series of
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
s on various types of high efficiency modulation, and led to the first commercial implementation of
pulse duration modulation (PDM) system,
[Digital AM Transmitter Page](_blank)
Jim Hawkins' Radio 77 WABC, date unknown and later
progressive series modulation (PSM), polyphase PDM, and
digital amplitude modulation.
Swanson's patents led to almost all AM broadcast transmitters being designed using digital modulation techniques, and made AM
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied.
The type known as ...
transmitters obsolete.
Swanson designed and developed a 2 Million Watt transmitter for the Voice of America. It still stands as the world's most powerful AM Broadcast transmitter ever made.
One of his last works was a paper, "Performance of Modern AM Modulation Methods for Linear Digital Broadcast Applications," co-authored with
John DeLay.
Honors
Swanson was a made a Harris Fellow, the highest honor given to an employee of that company. After retirement, Harris created a scholarship in Swanson's name at the
John Wood Community College
John Wood Community College (JWCC) is a public community college in Quincy, Illinois. It is one of 48, two-year, open-admission colleges of the Illinois Community College System organized under the Illinois Public Community College Act.
History ...
in Quincy, Illinois for the study of radio broadcast technology.
Phillip W. Farmer, former Harris Chairman, President and CEO, said, "Mr. Swanson, a Senior Scientist at the Broadcast Communications Division has become a radio engineering legend in his own time. It is believed that no one has contributed more to the advancement of AM broadcast radio transmitters than Hilmer Swanson. Most famous are his PDM and PSM modulation techniques, and his "Crown Jewel"—the digital AM generation technology for Harris' DX series AM broadcast product Line."
In 1990, Swanson received the
National Association of Broadcasters Engineering Achievement Award.
He was an honorary member of
Society of Broadcast Engineers
The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) is a professional organization for engineers in broadcast radio and television. The SBE also offers certification in various radio frequency and video and audio technology areas for its members.
Backgr ...
(SBE), and a life member of
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the
Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...
Science Honor Fraternity.
Swanson was awarded at least 28 patents in at least six countries
Swanson Hilmer I - Inventor
patentmaps.com, accessed 18 April 2012
Later life
In his retirement, Swanson and his wife, Carolyn, performed missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
work in Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...
, Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
working to establish Christian AM broadcast radio stations.
He was survived by three sons, a daughter, and their families.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swanson, Hilmer
1932 births
2005 deaths
United States Army personnel of the Korean War
Iowa State University alumni
American electronics engineers
American Protestant missionaries
Protestant missionaries in Palau
Protestant missionaries in Chile
American expatriates in Palau
American expatriates in Chile
American expatriates in Estonia
Protestant missionaries in Estonia
20th-century American engineers
20th-century American inventors
John Wood Community College people
Bendix Corporation people