Raymond A. Litke (1920-1986) was an American

electronic engineer Electronic engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering that emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current flow ...

, the inventor of a practical

wireless microphone A wireless microphone, or cordless microphone, is a microphone without a physical cable connecting it directly to the sound recording or amplifying equipment with which it is associated. Also known as a radio microphone, it has a small, battery ...

, and the first to patent the wireless microphone. He was born and raised on a farm near Alma, Kansas, but spent most of his adult life in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

Wireless microphone

Litke invented a

in 1957 while employed as an electronics expert at

San Jose State College San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State Universit ...

. His supervisor challenged him to invent a microphone to use in educational presentations which would be free of wires. Litke’s wireless mike resembled a silver tube with “a microphone at the top, a transmitter in the middle and its battery power supply at the bottom.” It was 6 inches long, 1 inch in diameter, and weighed 7 ounces; the device had a broadcast range of up to a half-mile. Two types of mikes were available: lavalier and hand-held. A companion receiver, weighing 17 pounds, completed the portable sound system.Alma Signal-Enterprise. November 10, 1960. Although Litke prototyped the wireless microphone in 1957, he did not file for a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

until May 8, 1961. U.S. Patent No. 3,134,074 was officially granted on May 19, 1964. His microphone is sometimes also called the “Vega-Mike” after the Vega Electronics Corporation which first manufactured it as a product. Vega sold other electronics items and tapes developed by Litke.Alma Signal-Enterprise. February 26, 1981. Litke's wireless microphone was first tested at the Olympic trials held at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1959. Next, the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

(ABC television) tested the microphone at the Democratic and Republican Conventions in 1960.San Jose Mercury News. September 10, 1960. Candidates

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

and

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

were among the first celebrities to use the Vega-Mike. TV anchor John Daly praised Litke's invention on the ABC television news broadcast in July 1960. Daly introduced it to Americans with the words: "This is a Vega-Mike" and went on to explain it "is a wireless microphone, six inches long... without any wires of any kind...." Daly pointed out it could be used to broadcast "within the (convention) hall or outside... without the inconvenience of interconnecting microphone cables...." Even the Federal Communications Commission was impressed with it. The FCC gave him 12 frequencies instead of the one he was seeking.

Other accomplishments

In the 1960s Litke worked at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center as the chief engineer of Educational Television and as an electronics expert. By 1961 he had worked for the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

system for ten years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Litke, Raymond A. 1920 births 1986 deaths People from Wabaunsee County, Kansas People from San Jose, California 20th-century American inventors