Maurice PONTE and Henri GUTTON · Maurice PONTE and Henri GUTTON, pioneers of early French studies on Resonant Magnetron March 25th, 1939 – SFR’s one-day show at Sainte Adresse

Yves BLANCHARD, 19/04/10

Maurice PONTE and Henri GUTTON, pioneers of early French studies on Resonant Magnetron

Maurice PONTE and Henri GUTTON

Pioneers of early French studies on

Resonant Magnetron (1932-1940)



Maurice PONTE and Henri GUTTON French Pioneers of Resonant Magnetron

1 - The early times of Ultra-High-Frequencies in France

2 – Maurice PONTE takes a decisive turn (1932)

3 – Henri GUTTON and the M-16 achievement (1934-1940)

4 – Early Radar applications

5 – A transmitted legacy




Général Ferrié




1923

Général Ferrié

René Mesny, Pierre David

radio link on 1.2 m




René Mesny, Pierre David

1923

1927

Général Ferrié

Camille Gutton, Emile Pierretradio link on 1.2 m

12 cm triodewith a modified Barkhausen scheme



Anglo-French studies in a joint ITT laboratory

1931

André Clavier

A two-way radio link established across the Channel on λ = 18 cm




2 – Maurice PONTE takes a decisive turn (1932)

3 – Henri GUTTON and the M-16 achievement





Maurice PONTE (1902-1983)

La Flèche, 1919

Ecole Normale Supérieure (1920) Agrégation (1924)



La Flèche, 1919


1925


Married with Nelly Andrews (1925)



La Flèche, 1919


1925

Married with Nelly Andrews (1925)

Bragg lab (1925)




Agrégé-Préparateur àl’ENS (1926-1929)

Thesis on Electron analysis by X-rays diffraction mechanisms (1930)



1929 : E. Girardeau establishes the CSF General Research Laboratoryunder Maurice Ponte’s management

E. GirardeauCEO of SFR / CSF



1930 – Girardeau focuses the lab priority on the development of high-power triodes for his CSF broadcasting transmitters

He gives Ponte a free hand to recruit « the best among excellent »young physicians : P. Grivet, Y. Rocard, R. Warnecke, and later H. Gutton

1932 – After two years, Ponte turns his main effort on the « race to the Very High Frequencies »

He makes a decisive choice for the Magnetron studies



Basically, Hull’s Magnetron works as an amplifier

1918



Basically, Hull’s Magnetron works as an amplifier

1918H



First generation of oscillating Magnetrons

August Žáčec (1924) λ = 29 cm Erich Habann (1924) λ = 3 m

« type A » or Transit Time oscillator « type B » or Negative Resistance oscillator



First generation of oscillating Magnetrons

Kinjiro Okabe, the «split anode» (1927) λ = 12 cm and later 5,6 cmFirst patents in Japan (1927)

and USA (1928)



1932 : 2 objectives of Ponte’s program

1 – to establish a complete theory of the two oscillatingmodes, taking into account the space charge phenomena,and resulting in practically available formulas

2 – to get magnetron devices out of the laboratory, andusable in field applications



λ = 3 m (100 MHz), 40 W

1932 : first two-segments Ponte’s Magnetrons



λ = 80 cm (375 MHz), 10 W laboratory electromagnet arrangment



31 march 1932




2 – Maurice PONTE takes a decisive turn






1932 : H. Gutton succeeds Ponte as SFR Research Laboratory manager

Henri GUTTON (1905–1984)



1932 : H. Gutton succeeds Ponte as SFR Research Laboratory manager

Camille et Henri GUTTON

Henri GUTTON (1905–1984)



1932 : Gutton’s « multisegments » resonating anode



1934-38 : H. Gutton and S. Berline make repetitivetrials with many « interdigited segments » anodes

Tube n°8 (1938)

10 W



17 april 1937 10 dec 1937



The last step

1939 : adoption of a large diameter cathode, oxyde coated and indirectly heated

Advantages :

better efficiency

easier cooling

electron retro-emission (back bombardment)



The M-16 magnetron series

• 1937 : 10 W (tungstene filament)

• may 1939 : 50 W (thoriated tungstene spiral filament)

• june 39 : 300 W (oxide coated cathode)

• 1940 : 1 kW










1934 : Naval « obstacle detector »

a GUTTON’s idea, shared and supported by PONTE



5th june1934



20 july 1934



20th july 1934

12th febr 1935



20th july 1934

14th april 1934



SS Liner Normandie (1935)



1st Gutton’s prototype

UC-16 triode (0,5 W)

CW

Target discrimination with focused beams

Alert by earphone and indicator lamp



august 1935



Gutton and Moueix – New York, sept 1935

parabolic antennas on the Normandie upper desk



original Radar equipments on-board the liner Normandie



A great media event… … but a mixed technical result !





1936 : settling at Le Havre - Sainte Adresse



16 febr 193829 jan 1936

Pulse transmission patents



The new equipment



« type A » visualisation



March 25th, 1939 – SFR’s one-day show at Sainte Adresse

a chartered train takes a lot of VIP guests from the main departments of the French Navy and Air Force, PTT or Public Works.

the equipment has been fitted with a new M-16 (with thorium-coated tungsten filament) giving 50w on 4 µs pulses

The demonstration is a complete succes :

-For more than three hours the device tracks a tug moving around the Seine Bay in an area between 3 and 10km

-The guests can observe for themselves on the display the echoes from all the large and small vessels entering Le Havre, 12 to 15miles away.

-However at the debriefing, Girardeau noticed : “no Air Force representative seemed to understand the potential of the system”, whereas the Naval officer in charge of evaluation concluded definitively that this device was unusable for any Naval application !

The centimetric time had not yet come



September 1939 : first (but late) military orders

- For the Navy : a naval « telemeter » tested at Brest – Pointe St Mathieu (dec 1939)

« telemeter » trials at Brest – St Mathieu (1940)

Φ antennas : 1,20 m, Pc = 300 W

-For the Army : anti-air gun control prototype (tested at Sannois, entering service on 8 june 1940… destroyed three days later !



1940-42: first Gun Control decimetric Radar

Gun Control Radar atToulon-St Mandrier (1942) Horns and wave

guides

Bi-lobing

Pc = 500 W



1940-42: first Gun Control decimetric Radar

Gun Control Radar atToulon-St Mandrier (1942)

But….

27 novembre 1942…










The « Magnetron community » in the early 30s’

USA :

George R. Kilgore (RCA)

Ernest G. Linder (RCA)

Arthur L. Samuel (Bell Labs)

EUROPE:

Eric C.S. Megaw (Gec, GB)

Klaas Posthumus (Philips, NL)

Maurice PONTE (CSF, F)

Hans E. Hollmann (Telefunken, Ge)

Eric MEGAW (1908-1956)



1938-1940 : close scientific exchanges (and labs visits) between E.C.S Megaw (GEC) and H. Gutton (CSF)

Three main questions :

- does the multi-segments anode workunder a new oscillating mode ?

- is it a limit to the segments number ?

- how to avoid the premature cathode burning ?



November 1939

After being accepted by Megaw, the multi-segments anode opened the way to the Randall/Boot’s multi-cavities solution





The M-16 magnetron series

• 1937 : 10 W (tungstene filament)

• may 1939 : 50 W (thoriated tungstene spiral filament)

• june 39 : 300 W (oxide coated cathode)

• 1940 : 1 kW









8th may 40 : provisional end of the story

These M-16 magnetrons, which had already given pulse powers of the order of 1 kW, were brought to Wembley by Dr. M.Ponte of the CSF and were disclosed to us with the authority of the French Government. This was the starting point of the use of the oxidecathode in pratically all our subsequent pulsed transmitting valves, and as such was a significant contribution to British radar. Thedate was the 8th of May, 1940

E.G.S MEGAW



Sept 39

march 40

16th may 40

E1188

E1189

Maurice PONTE and Henri GUTTON · Maurice PONTE and Henri GUTTON, pioneers of early French studies on Resonant Magnetron March 25th, 1939 – SFR’s one-day show at Sainte Adresse

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