Space Control was first
10-10-2014, 12:19 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Space Control was first
After Hershel passed a few years ago, I feel he deserved this, to set the record straight, as his Space Control was a ground breaking development that has been wrongly put in second place behind Al Doig's Ulti Multi development project. The Ulti Multi never achieved the full house, 4 channel simultaneous control that the Space Control did, not was it ever produced for sale, and it came long after Hershel had begun flight testing of the Space Control.
Hershel Toomin was the first, when it comes to full house multi proportional, period!
Most certainly, the very first widely used form of multi proportional was introduced by the Good brothers prior to the outbreak of WWII in the late 1930s, and this system was called TTPW. Two fixed frequency tones of variable pulse widths were sent to the receiver. At the receiving end, the tones were separated by a filter network, and each tone’s pulse width was amplified into a square wave to drive a servo motor in both directions. The pulse rate of the tones was fast enough as to cause minimal flapping of the control surfaces, they actually quivered. TTPW gave two simultaneous proportional controls, and position able throttle. The first TTPW sets used tubes and relays, and had spring centering of the servos. This was done to save weight as a feedback servo system would have been too heavy due to the increased complexity and amount of circuitry required.
After WWII, the Good brothers offered their TTPW system commercially, and by the mid-1950s it had been further refined, in no small part due to the introduction of the first commercially available transistors. At this time, there was quite a bit of experimentation with pulsed tone proportional systems that were essentially simplified versions of TTPW, and used one tone and a single servo to give all three functions. Initially called Kicking Duck, and Mickey Mouse, these systems where the forerunners of what was to become Galloping Ghost. Most of these pulse proportional systems used a lower pulse rate, and delivered proportional rudder, elevator, and position able throttle.
By the late 1950s, there were several attempts made to expand upon TTPW for additional proportional functions. Walt Good was asked why he had not expanded his TTPW to a third or fourth proportional function and he commented that when trying to send three or more simultaneous tones, it required too much circuitry at the receiving end to discriminate accurately between more than two tones at once, plus it required that the transmitter carrier frequency be much higher than 27MHz. The Goods realized that a different technology would be needed before they could add any more proportional functions to a proportional R/C system.
Multi-channel tone systems offered more functions, and up to two simultaneously, but they were not proportional. The next logical step was to use multiple tones (as in TTPW) one at a time, and either vary the tone frequency, of the pulsed duration of each tone was varied to convey the proportional servo movements. The first successful type of system to merge these two technologies was developed by Hershel Toomim of Electrosolids/Solidtronics. He came up with a scheme best described as TTPWR, meaning two tones pulse width and pulse rate modulated. Elevator and aileron tones were alternatively sent, each tone frequency was varied to convey position information, and the pulse rate and pulse width of each tone contained the throttle and rudder information. The system started out in late 1956 as an all tube transmitter and gas tube super-regen receiver with transistorized discriminators and pulse width/rate detectors, it was the prototype of what was to become the Space Control. Hershel recalled in 1960 that the system had been undergoing extensive flight testing for over two years and prior to that it had been in development for 5 years.
Thus, the Space Control was a full house, 4 channel, simultaneous proportional system, that had been in flight testing since late 1957, and in the prototype stage for several years prior to that. What is interesting to note is that for several years after the first Space Control was released, many other designers continued to try and develop their own multi tone proportional systems, largely ignoring the breakthrough development of TTPWR by Toomim. Many of these designs were widely publicized and appeared in magazines, with the hope that others would possibly refine them, but they were unable to match the Space Controls full house 4 function system. By contrast, Toomin worked largely alone, and did not publish his designs or prototypes in hobby magazines; instead he enlisted the assistance of several well known flyers who were also skilled in electronics to assist him with the finishing touches needed to make the Space Control into a commercially viable system.
Hershel initially asked Don Mathes, Doug Spreng, and later, Zel Ritchie to be part of his team. By the time Zel met Hershel, in late 1959, the Space Control had already undergone several major changes, and Ritchie added his own touch: rechargeable NiCads and a voltage converter to replace the 67.5 volt “B” batteries the tubes required. He also laid out the transmitter controls to be more ergonomic and re-vamped the receiver “brick” with better connector plugs and servo wheels in place of arms. These final touches made the system much more refined and easy to use.
So for those who are looking for “documentation” in the form of dated press releases, and magazine articles on the Space Controls development prior to its commercial debut, they will be sadly disappointed. However, once the Space Control was released for sale, we thankfully have a detailed interview with Hershel that was published in a hobby magazine in 1960 where he tells about the timeline of development of his system and from that we know he had it in a working form 3 years before its release.
This should come as no surprise to those who have researched the development of full hose multi proportional R/C systems. Howard Bonner had been quietly trying to develop a proportional system in secrecy with Al Doig, Bob Elliot, Gordon Larson and Frank Kagle, to name but a few. Obviously Toomin, not being connected to the hobby industry like Bonner and his cohorts, was at an advantage when it came to keeping the cat in the bag so to speak until he was ready to go to market with his product. Due to this planned lack of publicity, Hershel’s system took the hobby industry by surprise, and because he had no endorsements, or flyers who had written pre-release reviews on it, it was viewed with skepticism as Hershel lacked any reputation being a newcomer to the R/C manufacturing industry. At the price a Space Control commanded, well over $500.00, very few had the means and the notion to try out what amounted to an un-proven new system. Credibility was not long in coming however, as Hershel quickly realized he needed an endorsement from a well-respected independent source, and that turned out to be Zel Ritchie. Herschel approached Zel and gave him a complete system to fly in late 1959, and before long the orders began to roll in.
We are fortunate to have eye witness accounts from one of Hershel’s top technician at Solidtronics, one Doug Garrabrandt, who built all of the prototype Space Controls and witnessed the flight testing. Doug held onto one of the early pre-production transmitters that was never fully completed which had parts with date codes from the mid to late 1950s in it, which is objective evidence that cannot be disputed. This prototype dispels any questions about “fading memories”, and “retold stories that grow with each time they are recounted” that have been put forth by supposed Johnny-come lately types who have deemed themselves as authorities on an era they were too young to remember. We have the physical evidence, and Hershel’s article from back in 1960, and his assistant Doug Garrabrandts concurring accounts, which are far more credible than a curator’s opinion based on magazine articles. The magazines were, and still are essentially paid advertisements for manufacturer’s products. But since Hershel was not interested in promoting his product until it was completely tested, he did not pursue periodical publications while he was in the development and testing phases, thus it must be pointed out that periodicals are not the be-all-end-all when it comes to documenting the chronology of a certain product, and only tell part of the story.
Once one has done the research, it is clearly apparent that the Space Control was the very first 4 channel, full house simultaneous proportional system to be used successfully for controlling model airplanes. It was also the first commercially produced system as well, and widely copied by others for many years. There were valiant attempts at different scenarios attempted by others such as Doig and Pullen, to make an equivalent system to Space Control, but none ever succeeded. Neither Pullen, nor Doig were ever successful in getting more than three proportional controls at once, and the fourth command, throttle, interrupted the other three channels when activated, which was unacceptable for anything but sport flying. Once digital proportional came along, analog tone systems faded from the scene by 1969.
Hershel Toomin was the first, when it comes to full house multi proportional, period!
Most certainly, the very first widely used form of multi proportional was introduced by the Good brothers prior to the outbreak of WWII in the late 1930s, and this system was called TTPW. Two fixed frequency tones of variable pulse widths were sent to the receiver. At the receiving end, the tones were separated by a filter network, and each tone’s pulse width was amplified into a square wave to drive a servo motor in both directions. The pulse rate of the tones was fast enough as to cause minimal flapping of the control surfaces, they actually quivered. TTPW gave two simultaneous proportional controls, and position able throttle. The first TTPW sets used tubes and relays, and had spring centering of the servos. This was done to save weight as a feedback servo system would have been too heavy due to the increased complexity and amount of circuitry required.
After WWII, the Good brothers offered their TTPW system commercially, and by the mid-1950s it had been further refined, in no small part due to the introduction of the first commercially available transistors. At this time, there was quite a bit of experimentation with pulsed tone proportional systems that were essentially simplified versions of TTPW, and used one tone and a single servo to give all three functions. Initially called Kicking Duck, and Mickey Mouse, these systems where the forerunners of what was to become Galloping Ghost. Most of these pulse proportional systems used a lower pulse rate, and delivered proportional rudder, elevator, and position able throttle.
By the late 1950s, there were several attempts made to expand upon TTPW for additional proportional functions. Walt Good was asked why he had not expanded his TTPW to a third or fourth proportional function and he commented that when trying to send three or more simultaneous tones, it required too much circuitry at the receiving end to discriminate accurately between more than two tones at once, plus it required that the transmitter carrier frequency be much higher than 27MHz. The Goods realized that a different technology would be needed before they could add any more proportional functions to a proportional R/C system.
Multi-channel tone systems offered more functions, and up to two simultaneously, but they were not proportional. The next logical step was to use multiple tones (as in TTPW) one at a time, and either vary the tone frequency, of the pulsed duration of each tone was varied to convey the proportional servo movements. The first successful type of system to merge these two technologies was developed by Hershel Toomim of Electrosolids/Solidtronics. He came up with a scheme best described as TTPWR, meaning two tones pulse width and pulse rate modulated. Elevator and aileron tones were alternatively sent, each tone frequency was varied to convey position information, and the pulse rate and pulse width of each tone contained the throttle and rudder information. The system started out in late 1956 as an all tube transmitter and gas tube super-regen receiver with transistorized discriminators and pulse width/rate detectors, it was the prototype of what was to become the Space Control. Hershel recalled in 1960 that the system had been undergoing extensive flight testing for over two years and prior to that it had been in development for 5 years.
Thus, the Space Control was a full house, 4 channel, simultaneous proportional system, that had been in flight testing since late 1957, and in the prototype stage for several years prior to that. What is interesting to note is that for several years after the first Space Control was released, many other designers continued to try and develop their own multi tone proportional systems, largely ignoring the breakthrough development of TTPWR by Toomim. Many of these designs were widely publicized and appeared in magazines, with the hope that others would possibly refine them, but they were unable to match the Space Controls full house 4 function system. By contrast, Toomin worked largely alone, and did not publish his designs or prototypes in hobby magazines; instead he enlisted the assistance of several well known flyers who were also skilled in electronics to assist him with the finishing touches needed to make the Space Control into a commercially viable system.
Hershel initially asked Don Mathes, Doug Spreng, and later, Zel Ritchie to be part of his team. By the time Zel met Hershel, in late 1959, the Space Control had already undergone several major changes, and Ritchie added his own touch: rechargeable NiCads and a voltage converter to replace the 67.5 volt “B” batteries the tubes required. He also laid out the transmitter controls to be more ergonomic and re-vamped the receiver “brick” with better connector plugs and servo wheels in place of arms. These final touches made the system much more refined and easy to use.
So for those who are looking for “documentation” in the form of dated press releases, and magazine articles on the Space Controls development prior to its commercial debut, they will be sadly disappointed. However, once the Space Control was released for sale, we thankfully have a detailed interview with Hershel that was published in a hobby magazine in 1960 where he tells about the timeline of development of his system and from that we know he had it in a working form 3 years before its release.
This should come as no surprise to those who have researched the development of full hose multi proportional R/C systems. Howard Bonner had been quietly trying to develop a proportional system in secrecy with Al Doig, Bob Elliot, Gordon Larson and Frank Kagle, to name but a few. Obviously Toomin, not being connected to the hobby industry like Bonner and his cohorts, was at an advantage when it came to keeping the cat in the bag so to speak until he was ready to go to market with his product. Due to this planned lack of publicity, Hershel’s system took the hobby industry by surprise, and because he had no endorsements, or flyers who had written pre-release reviews on it, it was viewed with skepticism as Hershel lacked any reputation being a newcomer to the R/C manufacturing industry. At the price a Space Control commanded, well over $500.00, very few had the means and the notion to try out what amounted to an un-proven new system. Credibility was not long in coming however, as Hershel quickly realized he needed an endorsement from a well-respected independent source, and that turned out to be Zel Ritchie. Herschel approached Zel and gave him a complete system to fly in late 1959, and before long the orders began to roll in.
We are fortunate to have eye witness accounts from one of Hershel’s top technician at Solidtronics, one Doug Garrabrandt, who built all of the prototype Space Controls and witnessed the flight testing. Doug held onto one of the early pre-production transmitters that was never fully completed which had parts with date codes from the mid to late 1950s in it, which is objective evidence that cannot be disputed. This prototype dispels any questions about “fading memories”, and “retold stories that grow with each time they are recounted” that have been put forth by supposed Johnny-come lately types who have deemed themselves as authorities on an era they were too young to remember. We have the physical evidence, and Hershel’s article from back in 1960, and his assistant Doug Garrabrandts concurring accounts, which are far more credible than a curator’s opinion based on magazine articles. The magazines were, and still are essentially paid advertisements for manufacturer’s products. But since Hershel was not interested in promoting his product until it was completely tested, he did not pursue periodical publications while he was in the development and testing phases, thus it must be pointed out that periodicals are not the be-all-end-all when it comes to documenting the chronology of a certain product, and only tell part of the story.
Once one has done the research, it is clearly apparent that the Space Control was the very first 4 channel, full house simultaneous proportional system to be used successfully for controlling model airplanes. It was also the first commercially produced system as well, and widely copied by others for many years. There were valiant attempts at different scenarios attempted by others such as Doig and Pullen, to make an equivalent system to Space Control, but none ever succeeded. Neither Pullen, nor Doig were ever successful in getting more than three proportional controls at once, and the fourth command, throttle, interrupted the other three channels when activated, which was unacceptable for anything but sport flying. Once digital proportional came along, analog tone systems faded from the scene by 1969.
Last edited by jaymen; 10-10-2014 at 12:22 PM.
10-13-2014, 07:01 PM
#2
Join Date: Oct 2003
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I enjoyed reading your history of some of the early development of RC systems. Thanks for writing it. I lived in that era and flew RC models using equipment I had built, mostly 5- 10 channel reed systems but also tried a single channel discriminator based proportional system that was transmitted above the normal range of the audio tones used for the reeds.
John Wisniewski
John Wisniewski
10-13-2014, 07:11 PM
#3
Interesting.
In 61' and 62' I was at Sepulveda Basin in Los Angeles very regularly in an observer mode.
I was trying to determine what equipment would be the best to buy at the time.
In the process....I never saw a Space Control make a successful flight.
I am not saying that it did not happen....but I didn't see it....and I was out there a lot.
Finally....in early 65' I found a Bonner 8 at Wilshire Model Center in Santa Monica that was on consignment for $350 by a guy in upstate California named Davis I seem to remember.
This was too good of a deal to let go so I was happy to fork over the cash to Hans and let the rough side drag.
I found out later that this unit was part of the first production run in I believe late 64'.
I made a few successful flights with it on 26.995mhz then asked Larson to convert it to the 6mtr ham band.
After that I flew it many, many successful flights until 69' when I stupidly traded it off.
I never had a problem with it.
Dave
AMA 5053
In 61' and 62' I was at Sepulveda Basin in Los Angeles very regularly in an observer mode.
I was trying to determine what equipment would be the best to buy at the time.
In the process....I never saw a Space Control make a successful flight.
I am not saying that it did not happen....but I didn't see it....and I was out there a lot.
Finally....in early 65' I found a Bonner 8 at Wilshire Model Center in Santa Monica that was on consignment for $350 by a guy in upstate California named Davis I seem to remember.
This was too good of a deal to let go so I was happy to fork over the cash to Hans and let the rough side drag.
I found out later that this unit was part of the first production run in I believe late 64'.
I made a few successful flights with it on 26.995mhz then asked Larson to convert it to the 6mtr ham band.
After that I flew it many, many successful flights until 69' when I stupidly traded it off.
I never had a problem with it.
Dave
AMA 5053
10-18-2014, 08:52 AM
#4
My Feedback: (2)
Zel Ritchie came to Denver sometime prior to 1965 to do some demo flights of the Space Control. I know it was prior to 1965 because I bought a Bonner 8Ch in 65' and I didn't have the Bonner yet when Zel did the demo. He flew several flights with no malfuctions. He did have an engine quit in his "Trainer" P-51 but made a good landing.
The Bonner sold for $600.00 and I earned mine by testing every single channel servo that Royal Products shipped for $0.10 ea. Even paying wholesale that was approx. 5000 servos tested.
The Bonner sold for $600.00 and I earned mine by testing every single channel servo that Royal Products shipped for $0.10 ea. Even paying wholesale that was approx. 5000 servos tested.
