Signal generation from 1930 to 1990, the analogue years of transmitter and receiver testing

The talk will cover the developments in signal generators from the earliest commercial units of the 1930s through to the microprocessor controlled synthesizers of the 1990s. With the use of archive photographs it will trace the advances in design from the early reliance on mechanical engineering solutions based on vacuum tube technology, through the introduction of solid state components to the greater freedom afforded by programmable equipment. Engineering innovations in response to changing measurement and customer requirements will be highlighted and example equipment from the MI museum will be on display.