The Radio Club of America

The RCA is not only an organization dedicated to advancing wireless, its membership represents every part of the wireless ecosystem including some of the best and brightest engineers in the world, marketing people, attorneys, venture fund managers, and many who are deeply involved in the day-to-day design and operation of both Land Mobile Radio and commercial networks.

The Radio Club of America was founded 101 in years ago in 1909 and is alive and well today. With its rich history, the RCA’s roster of former and current members reads like a who’s who in the world of wireless.

This year’s banquet was held in New York City and was attended by almost 200 members and significant others. The keynote speech was delivered by a long time member of the club, Martin Cooper, who in 1973 invented the first handheld cellular phone while at Motorola. Yes, I said 1973, well before cellular services became available in the United States. Marty is one among the many notables who belong to and serve the club.

Club activities include a relationship with the Antique Wireless Association, which is working to preserve the history of wireless. This group is preparing to open a new museum that will be full of early communications equipment. RCA also offers scholarships to young people who are interested in wireless in order to help them complete their education, and one committee works with elementary and high schools across the nation to create interest in the field of wireless within the next generation.

The RCA is not only an organization dedicated to advancing wireless, its membership represents every part of the wireless ecosystem including some of the best and brightest engineers in the world, marketing people, attorneys, venture fund managers, and many who are deeply involved in the day-to-day design and operation of both Land Mobile Radio and commercial networks. We have representation from every facet of wireless. Broadcast, LMR, audio, commercial, public safety, and many more disciplines are all represented at the club. Many, but certainly not all RCA members are hams and share the common bond of amateur radio. During any gathering, you can sit next to someone who is famous in his or her own field, ask questions, hear answers, and learn about things you would otherwise have to spend years researching.

The RCA hosts breakfasts at many shows and conferences during the year including APCO, IWCE, and hopefully in 2011 at CTIA and other commercial events. Each of these breakfasts features a well-known speaker and offers members with common interests the opportunity to meet other members and enjoy some great conversation. The big RCA event is always the awards banquet, which is held in November, usually the week prior to Thanksgiving, and historically it has been held in New York City. However, last year’s 100^th anniversary banquet was held in Washington, DC and in 2011 it will be held near Dallas. It is hoped that holding the banquet in different cities will make it easier for club members and guests to attend.

The awards banquet is the highlight of the year. It is a time when many members come together for a black-tie (optional) event and enjoy spending time with other club members. The RCA also hosts a Technical Symposium on Friday afternoon before the evening’s cocktail party and awards banquet. This year I was asked to be the moderator and to present one of the three sessions. The first session was presented by David Bart, who is on the board of directors of the Antique Wireless Association and on the RCA Historical Committee. His presentation focused on the work being done by AWA and the new museum that will be located on the AWA Campus in East Bloomfield, NY.

This was followed by a presentation by John Facella, P.E., C.Eng, presently with Harris Corporation. John’s talk focused on LTE (Long Term Evolution) in the 700-MHz band, what is going on with the Public Safety broadband spectrum, today’s legislative and regulatory efforts, and then what a 700-MHz broadband solution might look like. Harris is the second largest supplier of Land Mobile Radio products serving the public safety market and, being with a company moving into the LTE environment, his perspective was both interesting and informative.

I presented the final speech, which was entitled, “Can Broadband Replace Channelized Wireless?” I covered the topic by discussing LTE voice capabilities now and well into the future as well as specific requirements of Public Safety voice communications. I concluded by stating my belief that LTE cannot now or well into the future, provide the required one-to-many and off-network (no cell site required), mission-critical voice communications services. There are others who work mostly for broadband companies and in some cases the government who don’t understand the Public Safety community’s specific voice requirements or the capabilities that will be provided by LTE for voice services starting in 2013. The session was well attended and there were many questions and discussions after each presentation.

The RCA 101^st Anniversary Annual Awards Banquet was held that evening. As mentioned, the keynote speaker was Martin Cooper, who is a Fellow in the Radio Club of American and a past board member. Prior to his speaking, a short video recapping some of his many accomplishments was played. This video should be up on YouTube by the time you read this or shortly afterward, and there are a number of videos about Marty already posted. These are well worth viewing both for their historical value and to hear about Marty’s visions of the future.

Each Year the RCA presents a number of awards at this banquet and the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) also presents an award. This year the following awards, medals, and citations were presented:

The Armstrong Medal went to Donald C. Cox, Ph.D, for his substantial contribution to the advancement and development of land mobile radio and communications.

The Sarnoff Citation was awarded to me, Andrew Seybold, “for his significant contributions to the advancement of electronic communications. (This was a real honor for me I can assure you.)

The Barry Goldwater Award went to Timothy J. Duffy in Recognition of a long record of service to the public through the use of amateur radio communications.

The President’s Award went to Stephen M. Meer for his continuing efforts and support on behalf of the Radio Club of America.

A Special Service award went to Paula A. Nelson-Shira for her continuing support of the Radio Club of America and its activities.

A Special Recognition Award went to Richard G. Somers for his commitment in initiating and implementing the Radio Club’s youth education program.

Last but far from least, Alan C. Caldwell was honored with NPSTC’s Richard DeMello Award for being instrumental in bringing all of the frequency coordinators together to form NPSTC.

Congratulations to all of the honorees.

Also of note is that Ray Trott, a long time member of RCA, was recently inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame. Other famous RCA members included Fred Link, who founded Link Communications and developed two-way FM radios for Public Safety and built much of the radio equipment used by our military during World War II. John H. Bose, founder of the Bose company, Emmett “Jay” Kitchen, first of NABER and then CEO of the PCIA, Mal Gurian, a long time cellular executive at OKI and other companies, and many others.

Those who have received the Sarnoff Citation include the first recipient Barry Goldwater in 1973, Jack R. Poppele, Fred Link, Mal Gurian, William E. Endres, Jai P. B’hagat (Skytel), Paul Jacobs (Qualcomm), and Brian Williams.

The RCA is about both the past and the present, mingling with people who contributed to wireless in many forms, and those who are new to wireless who will, in their own right, contribute to its future. It is about preserving the history of wireless and providing funding for students who want to enter the wireless field, teaching our youth, including students in elementary and high school. And it is about sharing the incredible knowledge among members freely and openly to help ensure a bright future.

As for me, I have been a member of RCA since the early 1990s, was elected a Fellow in the club in 2000 for my contributions to the field of wireless data, and this year received the wonderful Sarnoff Citation. On top of all this, I was elected to the Board of Directors of the RCA and will serve in that capacity beginning in January 2011. One of the most special moments of my time with the RCA was during this banquet. I knew I was to be honored with the Sarnoff Citation, but I did not know that Sandra Black, a board member and chairman of the awards committee, would be giving up her time introducing me so that Deputy Chief Charles Dowd of the NYPD Communications Division could do the honors. I was humbled by what he had to say and his comments made a very special evening all the more special for me.

My experience with the Radio Club has been wonderful. I knew Fred Link prior to joining, but I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with him for hours during our events and I learned a lot from him. Likewise, I have known Marty Cooper for a long time and have a tremendous amount of respect for him. Over the past few years, I have had the distinct pleasure of listening to him speak and sitting across a table discussing all sorts of things wireless. I consider Mal Gurian, Jai B’hagat, Jay Kitchen, and many more members of the club to be friends and have learned much from each of them. The RCA is clearly a place where you can mingle with those who created the past and have a vision of the future, and where you can sit with people from all walks of wireless and learn.

Membership in the RCA is only $50.00 per year and encompasses all who are involved in any segment of wireless regardless of whether they are engineers, marketers, sales people, executives, venture capitalists, or attorneys.  Our banquet speakers over the past few years have included Martin Cooper, Andy Rooney (the night the club honored both Mr. Rooney and Walter Cronkite), Steve Forbes, and a host of others.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about the Radio Club of America and I hope you will consider joining us as a member. The people you will meet and come to know because of your association with the Club you could never meet anywhere else, and it is a friendly bunch, always willing to share their experiences and, of course, discuss what is right and what is wrong with our industry moving forward. This group is the cream of the cream when it comes to wireless and I hope you will join us at one of our many functions, contribute to our scholarship fund, take part in our education sessions, and perhaps speak at our next Technical Session before our Awards Banquet in November of 2011 near Dallas.

I can attest to the fact that the RCA is a club worth joining, and you will be welcomed as a new member no matter where you fit in the wireless ecosystem. Come join me and the wonderful group of people who make up the Radio Club of America.

Andrew M. Seybold