A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 301 Bidding
In fact, some people have wanted to study the technology of radio transmission of sound before, but due to the slow transmission of information, many people do not know.

And if you want to transmit sound, modulation is bound to be required, and many people have never thought of radio modulation at all.

"Modulation" simply means: since the radio can imitate Morse code to transmit information in the form of pulses, it can directly transmit continuous radio waves, and then make its amplitude change with the irregular changes of the sound waves.

To understand it more popularly, it can be regarded as the so-called radio and radio.

Of course, its uses can be very extensive, and it also involves issues such as encryption and bands.

But it is the triode that really affects the radio technology. If there is no triode, the radio cannot really grow.

Therefore, the electronic triode that Li Yu applied for is basically the most critical patent for the current wireless development.

Many subsequent technologies continue to improve radio based on this patent.

The first sound radio broadcast in history would not appear until three years later.

But Li Yu was thinking farther than broadcasting, he was thinking about "wireless telephony".

Westinghouse Electric has realized this technology by accident before, but the technology called "electromechanical spark gap" is too backward, because it is very complicated to manufacture, the power is very low, the communication distance is less than ten kilometers, and there is no commercial value.

— After all, there is still no electronic triode.

Anyway, the electronic triode is really a good thing. Before the transistor appeared, it was really a trump card.

Tesla knew how to adjust, and after listening to Li Yu for a while, he generally knew that it was feasible.

"I still need to find you a long-term helper." Li Yu said.

"Helper?" Tesla asked.

"I used to be your colleague at Westinghouse Electric." Li Yu said.

"Fedenson?" Tesla remembered. "He's a technical genius."

Li Yu nodded: "From now on, he will be our own."

As mentioned earlier, Feldensen's experience is very similar to Tesla's, initially working for Edison's company, and then entering Westinghouse Electric at Westinghouse.

Fedenson has obtained more than 500 patents in his life, but like Tesla with many patents, they have almost become other people's wage earners, and have not become rich.

Still for that reason, major companies do not pay enough attention to technical talents at this time.

But Li Yu understands how important talents are to an enterprise.

Fedenson was sent by Westinghouse to assist in the manufacture of radio equipment last time, so he happened to stay here.

"Director of radio research?" Fedensen exclaimed looking at the contract in front of him, still very puzzled in his heart, "I know about such a position, but is the salary you give too high?"

Li Yu said: "Not only is the salary high, but you will also be a senior executive of the company in the future, and you will receive stock dividends."

Fedenson opened his eyes wide, and quickly calculated in his mind. Even if dividends are not counted, at least seven to eight thousand dollars a year, in the United States today, is also the top 3% of the top high-income earners.

"I..." Fedenson didn't know what to say for a moment.

Li Yu smiled and said, "Why, could it be that you have liquidated damages at Westinghouse Electric?"

Fedenson said: "Well, I'm afraid it's hard to be called such a high salary."

Li Yu said: "Top talents should have the income that top talents should have. This is what you deserve."

Although Li Yu said so, Fedenson's concept still remained at the beginning of the [-]th century. As a technician, he never expected such a level of income. He worked for Westinghouse Electric for five or six years a year.

But Li Yu's appointment letter in black and white is in front of him, and hesitant to hesitate is simply disrespectful to money, and he promised: "I will do my best to complete the work!"

"In the future, you will be mainly responsible for R&D and education and training, that is, the debugging of radio technical details and the training of employees, which are all very relevant business sectors."

Li Yu originally wanted him to be a subordinate of Tesla, but Tesla's personality is obviously not suitable for being a manager, and is more suitable for specific tasks, so it is better to let their positions not have obvious subordinate-subordinate relationships, and bring a little overlap .

Just now, we are engaged in the research and development of new technologies. As a "product manager", Li Yu, after planning the "radio wave integration with wired telephone" project, let the two great gods implement it in detail.

——In fact, even if it is developed, the wireless phone will not have much use in the short term.

But this thing is like the practice of some car companies in later generations: they often launch high-end cars with advanced technology but high prices. abuse.

From the perspective of consumer psychology, the role of "spiritual totem" is indeed very effective.

Although many consumers buy the Mercedes-Benz C-Class or the entry-level A-Class, it can be imagined as an S-Class or even a Maybach-Class Mercedes!
There's nothing shameful in being happy about yourself.

There is a saying, "With a turbo in your heart, you can drive everything with a T"!
Due to the clear technical direction and the direct use of the triode patent, the two quickly completed the development of the wireless telephone.

Unless there is a war, there will be no excessive demand for a certain period of time.

But if it is used by civilians, it can be extended to the urban taxi system in the near future.

Because taxis have to travel around, they, like ships, need portable radios.

And it is true in history.

The patent is registered with the LY company, and the certificate has the names of Li Yu, Tesla, and Fedenson.

-

Not long after, the U.S. Navy called for a tender.

Since the amount of this order is not small, it will have a strong advertising effect if it is completed, so not only Li Yu's company, Marconi's company, but also some German companies such as Siemens also came to compete.

After the first wave of technical bid evaluation, only Li Yu and Marconi remained.

The second round was the quotation session. The U.S. Navy had a headache after seeing the quotation from Marconi, because what Marconi submitted was actually a lease plan:
Rent for 20 radios is $2 for the first year and $1 per year thereafter.In addition, other conditions are very strict, the rent does not include maintenance costs, and the base station must use the proprietary base station of Marconi.

Major Abel said to him: "Mr. Marconi, can your quotation be revised? As a military supply, we cannot accept the lease plan."

But Marconi said: "Major, I have read the military's bidding documents. Your requirements are stability and distance. These are the advantages of our company's products. No one will make better equipment than me."

Marconi is still relatively proud. Although he is not as good as Tesla, he is sure that as the first person to invent radio (although there are disputes), the equipment he created must be the best in the world.

Major Abel pulled out the quotation from Li Yu's company: "Coincidentally, you may meet one today."

"See what?" Marconi obviously didn't realize the seriousness of the problem.

Major Abel said: "From a technical point of view, LY's products seem to be more advanced than yours. The technical specification says that it can achieve an effective communication distance of 3500 kilometers, and they accept the direct purchase plan."

Marconi just came to the United States from Europe. In his eyes, it is impossible for Yankees to master the advanced technology of Europe. He said with a smile: "Major Abel, for such a big matter as military procurement, you must keep your eyes open and don't be fooled by liars." Get over it. 3500 kilometers, although I can do it, but the signal is already extremely weak, and it is a lie to say that it is 'effective communication'."

Major Abel spread out his hands: "Then you can ask Mr. Li Yu directly."

"Li Yu?" Marconi had heard his name before, "That famous scientist in Europe? How could he also know radio?!"

"I'll call him, you can communicate face to face." Major Abel said.

The U.S. Navy’s bid evaluation time is not short, so Li Yu took the time to play poker with Tesla and Fedenson in a small lounge.

"Wang Bo!" Li Yu threw out two cards, "I won again!"

"Keep going," Tesla and Fedenson were not discouraged after losing, "It turns out that poker is still such an interesting way to play."

While shuffling the cards, Li Yu said, "I just said that Fighting the Landlords is very interesting. I guarantee you will become addicted."

"Call the landlord!"

This time Li Yu became the landlord again, and then hit three 3s and three 4s.

"Steel plate!"

"do not want!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Shunzi!"

"do not want!"

"Pass!"

……

"spring!"

The two of them didn't play a single card, and Li Yu felt that they were bullying the beginners.

Fedensen smiled wryly: "You play your cards too well."

Tesla was unconvinced and continued to fight.

But as soon as he dealt the cards, Major Abel opened the door and walked in: "Mr. Li Yu, please come here."

"Is it the final bidding session? We're coming right now." Li Yu was confident, threw down the cards, and said to the two of them, "You guys need to practice more."

Tesla couldn't stop thinking about it, planning in his mind to continue fighting landlords at night.

When they came to the hall, Marconi first recognized Tesla, "Is that you?"

With Edison's intervention, the U.S. Patent Office revoked Tesla's radio patent and granted it to Marconi instead.

The main conflict between the two focused on the "radio tuning circuit". In order to fight for the patent, they even filed a lawsuit, but in the end Tesla lost the lawsuit and Marconi obtained the patent right.

After all, Tesla is weak and weak, and it can't compete with Marconi, who has a better business acumen.

There is a big difference between the two of them. Marconi wants to do business more, while Tesla is a bit idealistic.

This also led to a very different fate of the two.

Tesla said: "Mr. Marconi, you really don't think you can sit back and relax with a few patents?"

The relationship between the two of them is not good at all, Marconi immediately replied: "My equipment is the most advanced, and I have made many improvements, how can I sit back and relax?"

Tesla smiled and said: "I'm really interested to hear what is improved. Don't say something that I know."

Marconi said: "My device is able to communicate through continuous waves generated by electromechanical alternators. It is reliable and our company also has the most independent base stations. This is an advantage that no one company has."

"It turned out to be an alternator," Tesla said. "I'm familiar with that. But reliability and the number of base stations are not an advantage."

The two faced each other tit for tat. Major Abel knew that they were industry leaders, so he quickly persuaded them to fight: "In fact, the navy also values ​​the reliability of Marconi's products and the number of existing base stations, but the leasing plan is difficult to accept."

Li Yu said: "Since we are talking about reliability and distance, let's make a long story short. We can increase the reliability of communication while increasing the effective communication distance, thereby reducing the number of base stations, and have a better information transmission effect than other companies. "

Marconi said: "You are Mr. Li Yu? Excuse me, I know that you have extremely high achievements in physics, astronomy and mathematics, but radio is different from them and has extremely high professionalism."

Li Yu smiled and said: "That's right, so I value this technology, and developed a triode to amplify the signal and reduce the size of radio equipment."

"Amplification? Signal?" Marconi had never heard of such a technology in reality.

"There is no evidence to prove it, and it still needs to be verified by experiments," Li Yu said to Major Abel, "I heard that the Navy happens to have a mission to go to Panama to perform duties. You will conduct a comparative test at that time, and the results will be clear at a glance. Isn't it simple and clear."

Just a month ago, the United States and Panama signed the "Special Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Panama on the Construction of a Navigable Canal Connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean", which is the so-called "US-Malaysia Treaty."

The treaty required the United States to guarantee Panama's independence for a one-time payment of $1000 million, followed by annual payments of $25 over ten years.

It seems to be very equal, but in fact it is completely an unequal treaty of Panama, because the sovereignty of the canal and the nearby islands were handed over to the United States.

The Americans themselves commented: "We stole it rightfully!"

This is a huge project, and it is overseas, so the U.S. Navy must take on the escort mission.

——This is what the U.S. Navy mainly does today.

After World War II, the U.S. Navy was invincible, but before World War I, it was still far behind Britain, Germany and other countries.

It is said that there are actually many Chinese laborers who built the Panama Canal, and many sacrificed.

In the early [-]th century, Chinese laborers were behind many major projects in the United States, but unfortunately they did not receive the respect they deserved for a long time, and they were not even reported at all.

Major Abel felt that it was a good idea and accepted the proposal, "All of you need to wait for news during this time."

Li Yu smiled and said, "You can send me the results directly from Panama by radio."

The straight-line distance from New York to Panama is exactly about 3500 kilometers.

Marconi felt a little uneasy, because their company did not deploy base stations in Central America, and they always felt that it was unnecessary.

We can only hope that the base station in Florida will receive the signal and transmit it.

Tesla and Fedenson are also full of confidence. They have verified the amplification effect of the triode in private. Not to mention the telegram, the voice can be transmitted within 3500 kilometers.

The result can be said to be obvious, they just need to wait for the good news.

Tesla's hands were still itchy, and he immediately told Li Yu and Fedenson to go back to Fifth Avenue: "I must win Li Yu today!"

Fedenson smiled and said, "He's the boss, isn't that bad?"

Tesla didn't care: "I don't agree with playing cards!"

Li Yu was also not afraid at all. Instead, he was still thinking about whether he would need to find Franklin Roosevelt again after the supply contract was signed. The company really needed a long-term legal adviser.

(End of this chapter)