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A walkie-talkie is a hand-held portable, bi-directional radio transceiver. The first walkie-talkies were developed for military use. Major characteristics include a half-duplex channel (only one radio transmits at a time, though any number can listen) and a push-to-talk switch that starts transmission. The typical physical format looks somewhat like a telephone handset, possibly slightly larger but still a single unit, with an antenna sticking out of the top. Where a phone's earpiece is only loud enough to be heard by the user, a walkie-talkie's built-in speaker can be heard by the user and those in his immediate vicinity.
The first radio receiver/transmitter to be nick-named "Walkie-Talkie" was the backpacked Motorola SCR-300, created by an engineering team in 1940 at the Galvin Manufacturing Company (fore-runner of Motorola). The team consisted of Dan Noble, who conceived of the design using FM technology, Henryk Magnuski who was the principal RF engineer, Marion Bond, Lloyd Morris, and Bill Vogel. Motorola also produced the hand-held AM SCR-536 radio during the war, and it was called the "Handie-Talkie" (HT).
Time Line
1940: Handie-Talkie SCR536 Radio
In 1940 Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (later Motorola) engineers developed the Handie-Talkie SCR536 AM portable two-way radio. This handheld radio became an icon on World War II battlefronts.
1941: First Motorola Commercial FM Two-Way Radio System
Galvin Manufacturing Corporation introduced its first commercial line of Motorola FM vehicular two-way radio systems and equipment in 1941. The first Motorola FM system was installed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
1943: World's First FM Portable Two-Way Radio
In 1943, Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (later Motorola) designed the world's first FM portable two-way radio, the SCR300 backpack model, for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Weighing 35 pounds, the "walkie-talkie" radio had a range of 10 to 20 miles (16-32 kilometers
Find out more about the history of Motorola.
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