"Wireless Pioneer, Al Gross"
By Ted Rappaport, Virginia Tech
Al Gross, a pioneer of personal wireless communications and inventor of the citizens’ band radio, died on December 21, 2000, at age 82. His wife, Ethel, survives him at their home in Sun City, Arizona.
Through lifetime contributions to the communications field, Mr. Gross received much recognition for his achievements and was a frequent and enthusiastic lecturer. Mr. Gross was a Life Fellow of the Radio Club of America and was honored with the society’s Fred B. Link Award in 1992. As a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), he received the 1999 Edwin H. Armstrong Achievement Award for significant contributions to the field of communications. Mr. Gross was also an Honorary Permanent Member of the International Telecommunications Union, member of the World Personal Radio Congress, and member of the Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society. In 1997, the Veteran Wireless Operators Association awarded him the Marconi Memorial Gold Medal of Achievement.
At the age of 12, Mr. Gross constructed a working ham radio of parts salvaged from junkyards, and at age 16, earned an amateur operator’s license, W8PAL. His interest in the study of electronics led to his invention of the “walkie-talkie,” a hand-held portable radio. In the late 1930s, he enrolled in the Case School of Applied Sciences in the Electrical Engineering program, near Cleveland, Ohio, in hopes of creating a portable short-range transceiver. At the beginning of World War II, Mr. Gross’ walkie-talkie invention appeared in a radio magazine, soon catching the attention of the U.S. Army. Mr. Gross was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to develop a two-way, air-to-ground system for use by troops behind enemy lines to communicate intelligence to bomber pilots. The project, code-named “Joan-Eleanor,” was perfected in 1941, and was praised by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
After the war, Mr. Gross left the OSS Communications Group to set up his own company for implementing walkie-talkies for private use. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had allocated the first frequencies for the new Citizens Radio Service Frequency Band, and Mr. Gross’ company won approval for use in this new “Citizens’ Band.” Although many of his early inventions were successful, they were far ahead of the industry’s ability to make practical use of these mobile wireless gizmos. By 1949, Mr. Gross was developing several products, including a portable receiver that could be worn as a wristband (later adopted in the original Dick Tracy comic strip by cartoonist, Chester Gould), and a predecessor of today’s cellular and paging devices.
Through the 1950s and ‘60s, Mr. Gross worked at his own company and for the U.S. government, while continuing to invent and patent several mobile personal communication devices. Later, he served as a principal engineer for electronics companies, such as Sperry Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, and AG Communications Systems. Since 1990, Mr. Gross worked as a senior principal engineer for Orbital Sciences Corporation, specializing in aerospace, satellite, and military electronic systems. As an active engineer throughout his lifetime, Mr. Gross made remarkable achievements in wireless communications and often inspired young engineers to have enthusiasm for invention.
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