Ross Amos Hull (ca.1902 – 14 September 1938) was an Australian-American radio engineer and experimenter who was for a time editor of the Australian ''Wireless Weekly'' and the

ARRL The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the United States. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was co-founded on April 6, 1914, by Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence D. Tuska o ...

magazine ''

QST ''QST'' is a magazine for amateur radio enthusiasts, published by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). It is a membership journal that is included with membership in the ARRL. The publisher claims that circulation of ''QST'' in the United St ...

''.

Early life

Ross Hull was born in St. Arnaud, Victoria, a son of (Presbyterian) Rev. Henry Tremlett Hull (1858 – 1 January 1933) and his wife Mabel Constance Josephine Hull (née Amos) ( – 13 July 1931), and was educated at Williamstown High School and Ballarat College.

Career

He trained as an architect, but had a keen interest in the rapidly developing field of wireless communication. He took a leading part in experiments which demonstrated the value of shorter wavelengths for commercial communication. He was first in Australia to relay (receive and rebroadcast) an overseas wireless programme, through 3LO shortly after it was opened. He was vice president of the Victorian Division of the

Wireless Institute of Australia The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) was formed in 1910, and is the first and oldest national amateur radio society in the world. It represents the amateur radio operators of Australia as the AR "peak body" in dealings with the Austral ...

in 1923. In 1925 Hull abandoned architecture and began practising in Sydney as a consulting radio engineer. He was elected Federal Secretary of the Wireless Institute and the Australian Radio Relay League. He was a key figure in ground-breaking communication experiments between the U.S. and Australia. In 1927 he went to the United States, to work with the headquarters staff of the

American Radio Relay League The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the United States. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was co-founded on April 6, 1914, by Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence D. Tuska o ...

on the production of the league's magazine ''QST'', then director of the ARRL Experimental Laboratory. Hull returned to Australia in 1929, to take up the post of technical editor of ''Wireless Weekly'' in Sydney. A year or two later he resumed his experimental and journalism work with ARRL at Hartford, Connecticut. He was particularly interested in UHF communication and built a radio-controlled

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

. Early in 1938 he assumed American nationality and was appointed editor of ''QST''. For over six months he was actively engaged in experiments in television, then was killed when he accidentally received a shock of 6,000 volts while experimenting with television apparatus in the laboratory of his summer residence at

Vernon, Connecticut Vernon is the most populous town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 30,215 at the 2020 census. Vernon contains the smaller villages of Talcottville and Dobsonville. Vernon contains the former City of Rockville. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hull, Ross Amos 1900s births 1938 deaths People from St Arnaud Accidental deaths by electrocution American electronics engineers Australian engineers Deaths from laboratory accidents Radio pioneers 20th-century American engineers