Stuart William Seeley
Encyclopedia
Stuart William Seeley was a noted American electrical engineer, best known for inventing the Foster-Seeley discriminator
and SHORAN
.
Seeley was born in Chicago, Illinois, and received his B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Michigan State College in 1925. From 1915-1924 he was an amateur radio experimenter and commercial operator, then worked at General Electric
1925-1926, Sparks Withington 1926-1935, and the RCA
License Laboratory, starting in 1935.
In 1936 Seeley invented the Foster-Seeley discriminator
with D. E. Foster, publishing details in 1937. It helped reduce the cost of FM radio receivers to a level comparable to AM receivers.
In 1938, while attempting to remove "ghost" signals from an experimental television
system, Seeley realized that he could measure distances by time differences in radio reception. In summer 1940, Seeley proposed building SHORAN
, a bombing navigation system for the Army Air Force. Contract was awarded 9 months later, and SHORAN given its first military flight tests in August 1942. First procurement was spring 1944, with initial combat operations in northern Italy on December 11, 1944.
Seeley received the 1948 IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award
"for his development of ingenious circuits related to frequency modulation", and the 1960 Magellanic Premium
from the American Philosophical Society
for Shoran
.
Foster-Seeley discriminator
The Foster-Seeley discriminator is a common type of FM detector circuit, invented in 1936 by Dudley E. Foster and Stuart William Seeley. The circuit was envisioned for automatic frequency control of receivers, but also found application in demodulating an FM signal.It uses a tuned RF transformer...
and SHORAN
SHORAN
SHORAN is an acronym for SHOrt RAnge Navigation, a type of electronic navigation and bombing system with a precision radar beacon used in the B-26 and B-29 bomber aircraft during the Korean War.-Origin:...
.
Seeley was born in Chicago, Illinois, and received his B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Michigan State College in 1925. From 1915-1924 he was an amateur radio experimenter and commercial operator, then worked at General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
1925-1926, Sparks Withington 1926-1935, and the RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
License Laboratory, starting in 1935.
In 1936 Seeley invented the Foster-Seeley discriminator
Foster-Seeley discriminator
The Foster-Seeley discriminator is a common type of FM detector circuit, invented in 1936 by Dudley E. Foster and Stuart William Seeley. The circuit was envisioned for automatic frequency control of receivers, but also found application in demodulating an FM signal.It uses a tuned RF transformer...
with D. E. Foster, publishing details in 1937. It helped reduce the cost of FM radio receivers to a level comparable to AM receivers.
In 1938, while attempting to remove "ghost" signals from an experimental television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
system, Seeley realized that he could measure distances by time differences in radio reception. In summer 1940, Seeley proposed building SHORAN
SHORAN
SHORAN is an acronym for SHOrt RAnge Navigation, a type of electronic navigation and bombing system with a precision radar beacon used in the B-26 and B-29 bomber aircraft during the Korean War.-Origin:...
, a bombing navigation system for the Army Air Force. Contract was awarded 9 months later, and SHORAN given its first military flight tests in August 1942. First procurement was spring 1944, with initial combat operations in northern Italy on December 11, 1944.
Seeley received the 1948 IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award
IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award
The initially called Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize provided by the Institute of Radio Engineers , the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award was created in 1919 in honor of Colonel Morris N. Liebmann. It was initially given to awardees who had "made public during the recent past an important...
"for his development of ingenious circuits related to frequency modulation", and the 1960 Magellanic Premium
Magellanic Premium
The Magellanic Premium, also known as the Magellanic Gold Medal and Magellanic Prize is awarded for major contributions in the field of navigation , astronomy, or natural philosophy....
from the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
for Shoran
SHORAN
SHORAN is an acronym for SHOrt RAnge Navigation, a type of electronic navigation and bombing system with a precision radar beacon used in the B-26 and B-29 bomber aircraft during the Korean War.-Origin:...
.
Selected works
- D. E. Foster and S. W. Seeley, "Automatic tuning, simplified circuits, and design practice," Proceedings of the IRE, vol. 25, pages 289-313, March 1937.
- "Frequency modulation", RCA Rev. vol 5, p 468, April 1941.
- S. W. Seeley and J. Avins, "The ratio detector," RCA Rev., vol. 8, pages 201-236, June 1947.
- "Shoran - A Precision Five Hundred Mile Yardstick", Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 105, no. 4 (Aug. 15, 1961), pages 447-451.