Alfred J. Gross

Irving "Al" Gross (; February 22, 1918 – December 21, 2000) was a pioneer in mobile wireless communication. He created and patented many communications devices, specifically in relation to an early version of the walkie-talkie, Citizens' Band radio, the telephone pager

His lifelong enthusiasm for radio was sparked at age nine, when traveling on Lake Erie by a steamboat. While sneaking around the boat he ended up in the radio transmissions room. The ship's operator let him listen in on transmissions. Later, Gross turned the basement of his house into a radio station, built from scavenged junkyard parts.

At sixteen he earned his amateur radio license, and he used his call sign (W8PAL) his whole life.

The walkie-talkie His interest and knowledge in radio technology had grown considerably by the time he in 1936 entered the BSEE program at Cleveland's Case of Applied Sciences (now a part of Case Western Reserve University). He was determined to investigate the unexplored frequency region above 100 MHz. Between 1938 and 1941, soon after the invention of the "walkie-talkie" in 1937 by Donald Hings, he created and patented his own version of it.

World War II During World War II, Gross had some limited involvement in building a two-way VHF air-to-ground communications system for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services for use in military operations, known as the Joan-Eleanor system. It comprised a hand-held SSTC-502 transceiver ("Joan") and a much larger aircraft-based SSTR-6 transceiver ("Eleanor"). Gross' actual contribution to the project is unclear (he was not an OSS member), but the main developers on the project were Dewitt R. Goddard and Lt. Cmdr. Stephen H. Simpson (Goddard's wife's name was Eleanor, and reportedly Joan was an acquaintance of Simpson).

The system operated at frequencies above 250 MHz, which was at a much higher frequency than the enemy had thought conceivable. This allowed operatives using "Joan" to communicate with high altitude bombers carrying "Eleanor" for times of 10 to 15 minutes without the use of code words, eliminating the need for decryption. It was developed beginning in late 1942, was highly successful and very difficult to detect behind enemy lines at the time. It was marked Top Secret by the U.S. military until it was declassified and made public in 1976.

Telephone pager Another breakthrough came in 1949 when he adapted his two-way radios to one-way for cordless remote telephonic signaling. He had effectively invented the first telephone pager system. His intention for this system was to be used by medical doctors, but was met with skepticism by doctors who were afraid the system would upset patients. This same technology is used in one-way radio signaling devices such as garage door openers.

Later years In 1950 he tried in vain to interest telephone companies in mobile telephony.

Recognition Gross has received much recognition for his work, including, but not limited to:

Awards 1984: IEEE Centennial Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, for his work in VHF and UHF mobile radio. 1992: Fred M. Link Award from the Radio Club of America 1997: Marconi Memorial Gold Medal of Achievement from the Veteran Wireless Operators Association 1998: Eta Kappa Nu's Vladimir Karapetoff Eminent Members' Award 1999: Edwin Howard Armstrong Achievement Award from the IEEE Communications Society 2000: IEEE Millennium Medal

Honors 2000: Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award for Invention and Innovation