National Electronics Museum

Radar: The Navy’s Secret Advantage⁠
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In 1942, the U.S. Navy launched a massive recruitment effort for the "Radio Technician" program to master the war’s most critical technical advancement: Radar. ⁠
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To secure the nation's sharpest minds, the Navy offered an unprecedented $5,000 training package (the equivalent of over $90,000 today). Candidates required no prior technical experience—only a mastery of high school math and physics and a passing score on the rigorous Eddy Aptitude Test.⁠
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Following nine months of intensive training, these technicians emerged as Petty Officers, ready to deploy the technology that would define modern warfare. Post-war, many of these specialists transitioned to Westinghouse’s defense division in Baltimore, where their expertise laid the groundwork for the modern electronics industry.⁠
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Who is excited to see our radar display at our new location? 📡✨

Did you know radio networks started with a phone call? 📞⁠
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On November 11, 1921, the nation honored the first Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. To make this tribute a shared national experience, AT&T conducted a high-stakes experiment to broadcast President Harding’s voice coast-to-coast.⁠
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Instead of picking up a phone, crowds of over 150,000 gathered at public address stations in Arlington, NYC, and San Francisco to hear the speech through massive loudspeakers! 📢⁠
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How did they do it?⁠
Harding spoke into a carbon microphone > Voice passed over phone lines > Boosted by powerful amplifiers at repeater stations along the way. 🎙️➡️⚡➡️🔊⁠
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This success proved that distance was no longer a barrier to shared experience, leading to the birth of the very first radio networks. 📻📡