Field Guide · person

Also known as: Reginald Fessenden, Fessenden

Reginald Fessenden (1866–1932) was a Canadian-American inventor credited with some of the first audio radio transmissions, moving radio beyond Morse code to voice using amplitude modulation.1

voice on the amplitude envelope
Fessenden pioneered AM voice radio, credited with the first audio (voice and music) broadcast in 1906.

Life and work

Where early wireless sent spark-gap pulses, Fessenden championed continuous-wave radio and the heterodyne principle, transmitting speech and music in the early 1900s.1

Contribution

His continuous-wave and AM techniques made broadcasting possible and influenced receiver design.

Legacy

Fessenden is remembered as a pioneer of voice radio, complementing Marconi’s telegraphy.

Sources

  1. Reginald Fessenden — Wikipedia, for biography and his pioneering of AM voice radio.  2

See also