Alexanderson

alternator

200 kW Alexanderson alternator preserved at the

Grimeton radiotelegraphy station, Sweden, the only
remaining example of an Alexanderson transmitter.

An Alexanderson alternator is a rotating

machine invented by Ernst Alexanderson
in 1904 for the generation of high-
frequency alternating current for use as a
radio transmitter. It was one of the first
devices capable of generating the
continuous radio waves needed for
transmission of amplitude modulation
(sound) by radio. It was used from about
1910 in a few "superpower" longwave
radiotelegraphy stations to transmit
transoceanic message traffic by Morse
code to similar stations all over the
world.

Although obsolete by the early 1920s due

to the development of vacuum-tube
transmitters, the Alexanderson alternator
continued to be used until World War 2. It
is on the list of IEEE Milestones as a key
achievement in electrical engineering.[1]

History
Prior developments

After radio waves were discovered in

1887, the first generation of radio
transmitter, the spark gap transmitters,
produced strings of damped waves,
pulses of radio waves which died out to
zero quickly. By the 1890s it was realized
that damped waves had disadvantages;
their energy was spread over a broad
frequency bandwidth so transmitters on
different frequencies interfered with each
other, and they could not be modulated
with an audio signal to transmit sound.
Efforts were made to invent transmitters
that would produce continuous waves, a
sinusoidal alternating current at a single
frequency.

In an 1891 lecture, Frederick Thomas

Trouton pointed out that, if an electrical
alternator were run at a great enough
cycle speed (that is, if it turned fast
enough and was built with a large
enough number of magnetic poles on its
armature) it would generate continuous
waves at radio frequency.[2] Starting with
Elihu Thomson in 1889,[3][4][5][6] a series
of researchers built high frequency
alternators, Nikola Tesla[7][8] (1891,
15 kHz), Salomons and Pyke[8] (1891,
9 kHz), Parsons and Ewing (1892,
14 kHz.), Siemens[8] (5 kHz), B. G.
Lamme[8] (1902, 10 kHz), but none was
able to reach the frequencies required for
radio transmission, above 20 kHz.[5]

Alexanderson 200-kW motor-alternator set installed

at the US Navy's New Brunswick, NJ station, 1920.

Construction
In 1904, Reginald Fessenden contracted
with General Electric for an alternator
that generated a frequency of 100,000
hertz for continuous wave radio. The
alternator was designed by Ernst
Alexanderson. The Alexanderson
alternator was extensively used for long-
wave radio communications by shore
stations, but was too large and heavy to
be installed on most ships. In 1906 the
first 50-kilowatt alternators were
delivered. One was to Reginald
Fessenden at Brant Rock,
Massachusetts, another to John Hays
Hammond, Jr. in Gloucester,
Massachusetts and another to the
American Marconi Company in New
Brunswick, New Jersey.

Alexanderson would receive a patent in

1911 for his device. The Alexanderson
alternator followed Fessenden's rotary
spark-gap transmitter as the second
radio transmitter to be modulated to
carry the human voice. Until the invention
of vacuum-tube (valve) oscillators in
1913 such as the Armstrong oscillator,
the Alexanderson alternator was an
important high-power radio transmitter,
and allowed amplitude modulation radio
transmission of the human voice. The
last remaining operable Alexanderson
alternator is at the VLF transmitter
Grimeton in Sweden and was in regular
service until 1996. It continues to be
operated for a few minutes on
Alexanderson Day, which is either the
last Sunday in June or first Sunday in
July every year.

Stations
 Wavelength Frequency Power Shut
Location Callsign Installed Scrapped Remark
(m) (kHz) (kW) down

Replaced
50 KW
New
WII 13,761 21.8 1918 1948 1953 alternato
Brunswick ,
installed
NJ, USA
Feb 1917

WRT 13,274 22.6 1920 1948 1953

Replaced
Marconi
WQR 13,423 22.3 1920 1932
timed spa

Marion , MA, transmitt

USA Haiku, HI
WSO 11,623 25.8 1922 1932
after 194

Smithson
AFA2 11,623 25.8 1949 1959
after 196

Replaced
Marconi
KET 13,100 22.9 1920 1930 1946
Bolinas , CA, timed spa
USA transmitt

Haiku aft
KET 15,600 19.2 1921 1930
1942

WQK 16,484 18.1 1921 1948 1951

Marion
Radio
1949-195
Central ,
(callsign
Rocky Point, WSS 15,957 18.8 1921 1948
AFA2), no
NY, USA
at
Smithson

Kahuku , HI, KGI 16,120 18.6 1920 1930 1938

USA KIE 16,667 18 1921 1930 1938

Haiku, HI 13,423 22.3 1943 1958 1969

Tuckerton , Initially a
NJ, USA WCI 16,304 18.4 1921 1948 1955 Goldschm
alternato
 WGG 13,575 22.1 1922 1948 1955

Caernarvon , MUU 14,111 21.2 1921 1939

Wales, UK GLC 9,592 31.3 1921 1939

Destroyed
AXO 21,127 14.2 1923 during Wo
Warsaw, War II
Poland Destroyed
AXL 18,293 16.4 1923 during Wo
War II

Initially
18.600 m
Operation
Preserved
SAQ 17,442 17.2 1924
Grimeton, UNESCO
Sweden World
Heritage
Site.

In paralle
1924 1960 1960
connectio

Actually
Arco
LPZ 16,700 18 500 1924 1931
Monte alternato
Grande , made by
Buenos Aires, Telefunke
Argentina
LPZ 8,350 36 500 1924 1931 Current
status

Delivered
1924,
Pernambuco, returned t
never
Recife, Brazil Radio
Central af
1946

US Navy stations during

World War II

Starting in 1942 four stations were

operated by US Navy: the station at
Haiku, Hawaii until 1958, Bolinas until
1946, Marion, and Tuckerton (both until
1948). Two alternators were shipped to
Hawaii in 1942, one each from Marion,
MA and Bolinas, CA. Haiku received one.
The other went to Guam but returned to
Haiku after World War 2. Haiku began
operation of the first 200 kW alternator in
1943. The second alternator went into
operation at Haiku in 1949. Both
alternators were sold for salvage in 1969,
possibly to Kreger Company of
California. The Marion station was
transferred in 1949 to the US Air Force
and used until 1957 for the transmission
of weather forecasts to the arctic as well
as for the Basen to Greenland, Labrador,
and Iceland. One of the alternators was
scrapped in 1961 and another one was
handed over to the US office of standard,
it now resides in a Smithsonian
Institution warehouse. The two machines
in Brazil were never used because of
organizational problems there. They were
returned to Radio Central after 1946.

Design
Rotor of 200 kW alternator

Closeup of above rotor. It has 300 narrow slots cut

through the rotor. The "teeth" between the slots are
the magnetic poles of the machine.

The Alexanderson alternator works

similarly to an AC electric generator, but
generates higher-frequency current, in
the very low frequency (VLF) radio
frequency range. The rotor has no
conductive windings or electrical
connections; it consists of a solid disc of
high tensile strength magnetic steel, with
narrow slots cut in its circumference to
create a series of narrow "teeth" that
function as magnetic poles. The space
between the teeth is filled with
nonmagnetic material, to give the rotor a
smooth surface to decrease
aerodynamic drag. The rotor is turned at
a high speed by an electric motor.

The machine operates by variable

reluctance (similar to an electric guitar
pickup), changing the magnetic flux
linking two coils. The periphery of the
rotor is embraced by a circular iron stator
with a C-shaped cross-section, divided
into narrow poles, the same number as
the rotor has, carrying two sets of coils.
One set of coils is energized with direct
current and produces a magnetic field in
the air gap in the stator, which passes
axially (sideways) through the rotor.

As the rotor turns, alternately either an

iron section of the disk is in the gap
between each pair of stator poles,
allowing a high magnetic flux to cross
the gap, or else a non-magnetic slot is in
the stator gap, allowing less magnetic
flux to pass. Thus the magnetic flux
through the stator varies sinusoidally at a
rapid rate. These changes in flux induce a
radio-frequency voltage in a second set
of coils on the stator.

The RF collector coils are all

interconnected by an output transformer,
whose secondary winding is connected
to the antenna circuit. Modulation or
telegraph keying of the radio frequency
energy was done by a magnetic amplifier,
which was also used for amplitude
modulation and voice transmissions.

The frequency of the current generated

by an Alexanderson alternator in hertz is
the product of the number of rotor poles
and the revolutions per second. Higher
radio frequencies thus require more
poles, a higher rotational speed, or both.
Alexanderson alternators were used to
produce radio waves in the very low
frequency (VLF) range, for
transcontinental wireless
communication. A typical alternator with
an output frequency of 100 kHz had 300
poles and rotated at 20,000 revolutions
per minute (RPM) (330 revolutions per
second). To produce high power, the
clearance between the rotor and stator
had to be kept to only 1 mm. The
manufacture of precision machines
rotating at such high speeds presented
many new problems, and Alexanderson
transmitters were bulky and very
expensive.
Frequency control

The output frequency of the transmitter

is proportional to the speed of the rotor.
To keep the frequency constant, the
speed of the electric motor turning it was
controlled with a feedback loop. In one
method, a sample of the output signal is
applied to a high-Q tuned circuit, whose
resonant frequency is slightly above the
output frequency. The generator's
frequency falls on the "skirt" of the LC
circuit's impedance curve, where the
impedance increases rapidly with
frequency. The output of the LC circuit is
rectified, and the resulting voltage is
compared with a constant reference
voltage to produce a feedback signal to
control the motor speed. If the output
frequency gets too high, the impedance
presented by the LC circuit increases,
and the amplitude of the RF signal
getting through the LC circuit drops. The
feedback signal to the motor drops, and
the motor slows down. Thus the
alternator output frequency is "locked" to
the tuned circuit resonant frequency.

The sets were built to operate at

wavelengths of 10,500 to 24,000 meters
(28.57 to 12.5 KHz) . This was
accomplished by three design variables.
The alternators were built with 1220 or
976 or 772 poles . Three gear boxes were
available with ratios of 2.675- 2.973 and
3.324 and the 900 RPM driving motor
was operated at slips of 4% to 20%,
giving speeds of 864 to 720 RPM .
Transmitters installed in Europe,
operating on 50 cycle power, had a
wavelength range of 12, 500 to 28, 800
meters because of the lower speed of
the driving motor.

Performance advantages
A large Alexanderson alternator might
produce 500 kW of output radio-
frequency energy and would be water- or
oil-cooled. One such machine had 600
pole pairs in the stator winding, and the
rotor was driven at 2170 RPM, for an
output frequency near 21.7 kHz. To
obtain higher frequencies, higher rotor
speeds were required, up to 20,000 RPM.

Along with the arc converter invented in

1903, the Alexanderson alternator was
one of the first radio transmitters that
generated continuous waves. In contrast,
the earlier spark-gap transmitters
generated a string of damped waves.
These were electrically "noisy"; the
energy of the transmitter was spread
over a wide frequency range, so they
interfered with other transmissions and
operated inefficiently. With a continuous-
wave transmitter, all of the energy was
concentrated within narrow frequency
band, so for a given output power they
could communicate over longer
distances. In addition, continuous waves
could be modulated with an audio signal
to carry sound. The Alexanderson
alternator was one of the first
transmitters to be used for AM
transmission.

The Alexanderson alternator produced

"purer" continuous waves than the arc
converter, whose nonsinusoidal output
generated significant harmonics, so the
alternator was preferred for long-
distance telegraphy.
Disadvantages
Because of the extremely high rotational
speed compared to a conventional
alternator, the Alexanderson alternator
required continuous maintenance by
skilled personnel. Efficient lubrication
and oil or water cooling was essential for
reliability which was difficult to achieve
with the lubricants available at the time.
In fact, early editions of the Royal Navy's
"Admiralty Handbook of Wireless
Telegraphy" cover this in considerable
detail, mostly as an explanation as to
why the navy did not use that particular
technology. However, the US Navy did.
Other major problems were that
changing the operating frequency was a
lengthy and complicated process, and
unlike a spark transmitter, the carrier
signal could not be switched on and off
at will. The latter problem greatly
complicated "listening through" (that is,
stopping the transmission to listen for
any answer). There was also the risk that
it would allow enemy vessels to detect
the presence of the ship.

Because of the limits of the number of

poles and rotational speed of a machine,
the Alexanderson alternator is capable of
generating transmission frequencies up
to around 600kHz in the lower Medium
wave band, with Shortwave and higher
frequencies being physically impossible.

See also
Alexanderson Day
Tonewheel
Resolver (electrical)

Notes
1. "Milestones:Alexanderson Radio
Alternator, 1904" . IEEE Global History
Network. IEEE. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
2. "Radiation of Electric Energy" by
Frederick Trouton, The Electrician
(London), January 22, 1892, page 302.
3. "Prof. Thomson's new alternating
generator" . The Electrical Engineer.
Electrical Engineer Co. 11 (154): 437. April
15, 1891. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
4. Thomson, Elihu (September 12, 1890).
"letter" . The Electrician. London. 25:
529–530. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
5. Aitken, Hugh G.J. (2014). The
Continuous Wave: Technology and
American Radio, 1900-1932 . Princeton
Univ. Press. p. 53. ISBN 1400854601.
6. Fessenden, R. A. (1908). "Wireless
Telephony" . Annual Report of the
Smithsonian Institution. Government
Printing Office: 172. Retrieved April 18,
2015.
7. U.S. Patent 447,920 , Nikola Tesla
"Method of Operating Arc-Lamps" (March
10, 1891)
8. Fleming, John Ambrose (1910). The
principles of electric wave telegraphy and
telephony, 2nd Ed . London: Longmans,
Green and Co. pp. 5–10.

References
Antique Wireless Association - column
edited by Frank Lotito
David E. Fisher and Marshall J. Fisher,
Tube, the Invention of Television
Counterpoint, Washington D.C. USA,
(1996) ISBN 1-887178-17-1
Hammond, John Winthrop. Men and
Volts, the Story of General Electric .
Philadelphia & New York: J. B.
Lippincott (1941), pp. 349–352, 372.
Notes from the Navy Institute
proceedings 1952 from M.G.
Abernathy files.
Letter to M.G. Abernathy from G.
Warren Clark Captain USNR (Ret)
Letter to Mr. Mayes from Lt. Francis J.
Kishima Commanding Officer USCG
Omega Station Hawaii
Milestones:Yosami Radio Transmitting
Station, 1929
E. F. W. Alexanderson, U.S. Patent
1,008,577 High Frequency Alternator
N. Tesla, U.S. Patent 447,921
External links
Description of the 200 kW alternator at
New Brunswick
Alexanderson Alternators at Haiku
Valley Oahu
Alexanderson Alternators at Marion,
Massachusetts

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