Clarence D. Tuska
| Clarence D. Tuska (1916) | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
August 15, 1896 New York, New York |
| Died | June 30, 1985 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | Radio engineer, patent attorney, author |
| Employer | Radio Corporation of America |
| Known for | Amateur and professional radio |
| Home town | Nyack, New York |
| Spouse(s) | Edith Tuska |
| Children | James Tuska, Shirley Anne Tuska Jenkins |
Clarence Denton "C. D." Tuska (August 15, 1896 – June 30, 1985) was an early radio experimenter and amateur operator who also became one of the first radio receiver manufacturers. He is best known as the co-founder of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), along with Hiram Percy Maxim. He was also the original editor and owner of the amateur radio publication QST, which he subsequently sold to the ARRL in 1919 as part of his reorientation toward professional activities within the radio industry.
Tuska was born in New York city, the only child of Ida Anna Ruddell and David Tuska. He lived in Nyack, New York until 1909, when his family moved to Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating from high school, he attended the local Trinity College (class of 1919), although he did not receive his Bachelor of Science degree until 1939.
Tuska had an early interest in radio communication (then known as "wireless telegraphy") and experimentation. While living in Nyack in 1908, a New York City cousin helped him construct a small radio transmitter, and he constructed progressively more powerful stations after moving to Hartford the next year. Radio transmitters in the United States were not licensed at this time, so he initially operated using the self-assigned call letters SNT, which stood for "Southern New England-Tuska".
Tuska began earning pocket money around 1910, while in the ninth grade, by selling rubber band-powered model airplanes on consignment through the Harris Parker Toy Store. After these sales started to decline, he constructed a simple crystal radio receiver, also offered through consignment at the toy store. Inventor Hiram Percy Maxim took this set home to test, but soon returned it, and the store owner incorrectly informed Tuska that Maxim had said that it didn't work. This upset Tuska, so he travelled unannounced to Maxim's house with friend William Ball to investigate. Maxim clarified that he actually just needed better quality equipment, so Tuska and Ball arranged for ordering the appropriate components which were used to construct a set that "gave satisfactory service for a number of years". Both Maxim and Tuska became prominent local amateur radio enthusiasts, with the two forming an informal "father-foster-son relationship", as Tuska's father was deceased.
The United States enacted the Radio Act of 1912, and all radio transmitters were required to be licensed. Tuska was issued a standard Amateur license in early 1913 with the call sign 1WD. On January 14, 1914, local amateurs founded the Hartford Radio Club, and Tuska became the club's secretary. In the fall of 1915, he began teaching a radio principles class at the local Y.M.C.A. Tuska also began experimenting with radiotelephony, using an arc transmitter of his own design which employed tungsten electrodes to make audio transmissions. In March 1916, he was broadcasting semi-regular phonograph concerts at a time when virtually all radio transmissions were still employing the dots and dashes of Morse code.
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