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70-632: The installation was named in honor of pioneer radio engineer and inventor Harry Diamond , who led the Ordnance Development Division during World War II . Diamond contributed greatly to the fundamental concept and design of proximity fuzes . The origins of the Harry Diamond Laboratories trace back to the development of the radio proximity fuze at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). During

140-658: A Bureau circular, but in the meantime we see no reason to modify Letter Circular 302. This is the first time that the NBS has mentioned a brand name. That statement was never made before, nor has it been since. In the same leaflet, Ritchie was permitted to rebut NBS's findings, and he brought up field tests, which sparked a nationwide issue about the National Bureau of Standards versus the "little guy" called "The AD-X2 Controversy" or "The AD-X2 Affair". It has been mentioned many times by both Dr. Randall and ourselves that it

210-406: A dilemma; in order to resolve the issue, they would either have to abandon a fundamental NBS policy about not mentioning commercial products in its publications, or remain silent and thereby give implicit approval to AD-X2. This also led to questions about the impartiality and objectivity of the NBS whether they are biased against the "little guy". The NBS decided to break their policy. NBS permitted

280-555: A letter to the NBS and told them that AD-X2 is actually beneficial and told them to test the product because Letter Circular 302 was then outdated, since it was written in 1931. Also, the company had the support of the Oakland Better Business Bureau (OBBB) in Oakland, California , since apparently his customers in the area were satisfied. In 1948, George W. Vinal, chief of the electrochemistry section of

350-431: A media blitz alleging collusion between battery manufacturers and the government led Commerce Secretary Sinclair Weeks to request NBS director Allen V. Astin ’s resignation. After subsequent Senate hearings, the NBS's position was vindicated, and Astin was reinstated. Lead is a main ingredient in lead–acid battery, which were in short supply after World War II , this led to great public demand to improve

420-594: A result, the British decided to share their research on the project with the United States in hopes that the U.S. could complete the technology. In September 1940, Sir John Cockcroft delivered all available information about the radio proximity fuze to the newly formed National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) as part of the Tizard Mission . The chairman of NDRC, Vannevar Bush , appointed Merle Tuve ,

490-707: A satellite site. Initiated in May 1970, this acquisition was a move by the Army to consolidate AMC’s nuclear weapons effects research and test activities. As a result, the U.S. Army Mobility Equipment Research and Development Command’s Electromagnetic Effects Laboratory was relocated from Fort Belvoir Engineer Proving Ground to Woodbridge in September 1971. As a satellite facility of HDL, the Woodbridge Research Facility primarily conducted investigations into

560-470: A third of the models functioned properly during the tests, the experiment demonstrated that Diamond and Hinman’s idea had potential. Diamond and his team spent the next several months working on the fuze’s electronic circuits and safety mechanisms. In May 1942, the U.S. Army made its first urgent request for a proximity fuze for the new 4.5-inch airborne rocket against the German Luftwaffe . Once

630-517: A timer set at launch. In 1939, British researchers William Butement, Edward Shire, and Amherst Thomson at the Air Defense Experimental Establishment conceived of a proximity fuze that used radio waves to sense the proximity of the target. While Butement and his team were able to construct and crudely test a prototype fuze in 1940, the high production demands of World War II ultimately stalled its development. As

700-403: Is difficult to make a really definitive laboratory test of Battery AD-X2 and that the only practical means of determining the value of the product is through field test. This controversy has now made it into the news. In December 1950, Newsweek published an article reporting the favorable military results and the satisfaction of AD-X2 customers. Ritchie's sales skyrocketed. The FTC examiner that

770-450: Is harmful. He, together with Merle Randall , changed the formula of Protecto Charge and released it under the new name "Battery AD-X2". AD-X2 was launched by the company Pioneers, Inc. on the market in 1947. They never patented the product; they have chosen to keep it a trade secret instead. In 1948, Ritchie learned about a pamphlet named Letter Circular 302 by NBS, which was being circulated among battery users. Pioneers, Inc. wrote

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840-412: Is in fact valuable, and give complete support to the claims of the manufacturer. The MIT statement was widely reported by radio and in the press. The NBS, MIT, and indeed the whole scientific community, were in an awkward situation. Two of the nation's most highly respected laboratories had apparently arrived at conflicting conclusions on what appeared to be a simple problem. The scientific method itself

910-532: The Arena Stage in Washington DC. Diamond died on June 21, 1948, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on June 22. AD-X2 AD-X2 was an additive purported to extend lead–acid automotive battery life, marketed by California bulldozer operator Jess M. Ritchie in the late 1940s and early 1950s. After it was declared a fraud by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS),

980-426: The 1930s, British military researchers investigated the feasibility of a proximity fuze, a device that would detonate an explosive charge only when it approached the immediate vicinity of its target. At the time, conventional artillery and antiaircraft shells very rarely hit their target, especially a moving one, because their detonation either required direct contact or relied on accurate predictions with an altimeter or

1050-634: The 1960s, the U.S. Army made plans to relocate HDL after a joint Army and Navy study group recommended that the laboratory be moved to a 137-acre site adjacent to the U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory in Adelphi, Maryland . Consisting mostly of undeveloped farmland, the site was acquired by the U.S. Army in 1969, and construction of HDL’s new facilities began shortly afterwards. In July 1971, HDL also acquired AMC’s Woodbridge Research Facility along with roughly 642 acres of land in Woodbridge, Virginia to use as

1120-476: The AD-X2 affair and all its other operations. But Astin never saw Weeks. Weeks had placed the whole matter in the hands of Sheaffer. Astin later tried again to see Weeks, with the same result. As a result of his assistant secretary investigations, Sheaffer came to the conclusion that there were sufficient grounds to question the reliability of the NBS tests, and on March 24, 1953, Weeks asked Astin to resign. Although

1190-1500: The Aurora Simulator had conducted a total of 287 numbered tests. HDL also operated the Army’s largest facility for designing, fabricating, and testing integrated circuits. HDL consisted of four specialized laboratories, each headed by its own director: the Advanced Research Laboratory, the Systems Research Laboratory, the Research and Development Laboratory, and the Components Research Laboratory. The Advanced Research Laboratory specialized in exploratory systems, special components, optical systems , and physical research. The Systems Research Laboratory specialized in radio systems, nuclear vulnerability and countermeasures, microwave components, systems feasibility, fluid amplifiers , applied physics , and computation and analysis. The Research and Development Laboratory specialized in projectile fuzes, missile fuzes, and heavy artillery fuzes as well as limited warfare weapons, electronic timers, safety devices, parachute opening devices , fluid systems, large radar systems, telemetry , air defense , and missile trajectory measuring systems. Lastly,

1260-636: The Bureau established the Ordnance Development Division in December 1942. The new division initially consisted of 200 people working on proximity fuzes for rockets and bombs with Diamond acting as the division chief. By the end of the war, the size of the division had doubled. After the war, a large laboratory complex designed to house the Bureau’s Ordnance Development Division, Ordnance Electronics Division, and Electromechanical Division

1330-554: The Carnegie Institution, which later moved to the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in 1942, took on the development of the radio proximity fuze for rotating projectiles. Meanwhile, the development of the radio proximity fuze for non-rotating projectiles was assigned to Harry Diamond and Wilford Hinman Jr. at the NBS and overseen by Alexander Ellett of NDRC. Diamond, who

1400-418: The Components Research Laboratory specialized in materials and techniques, microminiaturization , tubes, and power supplies. The technologies developed by these laboratories, if applicable, would be prepared for mass production by HDL’s Engineering Division, which was responsible for quality assurance, test engineering, value analysis, and industrial support. As an early authority on electronic fuze technology,

1470-696: The Department of Defense. As part of the transition, the majority of the Harry Diamond Ordnance Laboratory was transferred to the U.S. Army in September 1953 and renamed the Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratory (DOFL). Despite the change in command, however, the laboratory’s operations remained at the original building complex in Washington, D.C. Hinman Jr., who had succeeded Diamond as the head of

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1540-617: The Director of the National Bureau of Standards serves at the pleasure of the President, it is a post in which the incumbent is traditionally not replaced at the change of administration, but Astin, apparently feeling that this action was part of Weeks’ general housecleaning and not personal, resigned. On March 31, 1953, his letter of resignation was at the White House. It was found out that the reason why AD-X2 has positive testimonials

1610-524: The Electricity Division at NBS, who learned the thing about battery additives over and over again, put the letter written by Pioneers, Inc., aside. The NBBB, which has written about Facts About Battery Dopes , put pressure on Vinal to issue an up-to-date revision of Letter Circular 302. Meanwhile, the OBBB, which is where Pioneers, Inc. was based, put pressure on Vinal to test AD-X2. Also in

1680-608: The Electronics Division. The National Bureau of Standards was brought into the program, and he was given responsibility for this phase of the Bureau’s work. Within about four months of the start of the program, Diamond’s group established feasibility of the radio proximity fuze through conclusive tests in bombs dropped at the Naval Proving Ground at Dahlgren, Va. Throughout World War II, this group acted as

1750-561: The FTC made a formal request for a test to be conducted at NBS. Since the NBS requirement of requiring another agency of the Government to request for the test has been fulfilled, NBS has conducted its first official test on AD-X2. Tests were conducted, the results of the previous tests Vinal had made were incorporated, and the NBS reported to the FTC on May 11, 1950, that these tests had failed to demonstrate any significant beneficial effect on

1820-535: The FTC, responding to the pressure from Ritchie and from the Senate, and feeling that it needed more tests to uphold its position against Pioneers, Inc., asked NBS to conduct more tests. In early March, the Post Office Department notified Ritchie that it was accusing him of “conducting an unlawful enterprise through the mails” and scheduled a hearing for April 26, which it subsequently delayed, awaiting

1890-522: The Harry Diamond Laboratories contributed to the development of not only the proximity fuze but many other fuze systems including the following: HDL also designed and developed fuzes for the following missiles: HDL either led or was involved in the development of numerous technologies, including the following: 39°01′40″N 76°57′50″W  /  39.027860°N 76.963809°W  / 39.027860; -76.963809 Harry Diamond (engineer) Harry Diamond (12 February 1900 – 21 June 1948)

1960-475: The NBBB about the validity of its battery additive publication Facts About Battery Dopes , and it further pressed Vinal for a revision of Letter Circular 302. Since a new revision takes some time, and in view of the pressing interest in AD-X2 and other additives, NBS reissued Letter Circular 302 with a letter signed by Edward U. Condon which summarized Letter Circular 302. Neither AD-X2 nor any other battery additive

2030-536: The NBBB to publish in August 1950 a leaflet entitled Battery Compounds and Solutions containing a long statement in which NBS referred specifically to AD-X2: In view of the tests made here and in competent laboratories elsewhere, it is our belief that AD-X2 is not essentially different from other preparations containing magnesium sulfate and sodium sulfate, and that as a class these materials are not beneficial. The results of recent tests are being prepared for issuance as

2100-603: The NBS issued a mimeographed leaflet which stated that the results in Circular 504 were unambiguous: Battery additives were worthless. Allen V. Astin, as an acting director of the NBS, were affected by this heated controversy. He was immediately involved with the AD-X2 problem and attempted to bring it under control. He entered into correspondence with Ritchie. Ritchie went to the Senate Select Committee on Small Business to demonstrate AD-X2. In February 1952,

2170-468: The NBS, did carry out a limited test of AD-X2 along with other tests he performed for the FTC. The results showed that AD-X2 was a simple mixture of sodium and magnesium sulfate, and it showed no beneficial effect on the battery. Vinal did not disclose these results. In 1949, five military installations tested AD-X2; three found it without any effect, but two, using methods that Vinal considered not rigorous , reported positive results. This led to concerns from

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2240-413: The NBS. In August 1951, Ritchie urged his distributors to write to Congress, with the aim of causing a congressional investigation of NBS. His position was that he, a small businessman, was being unfairly harassed and persecuted by an agency of the Government. Congress was flooded by mail. Senators and members of Congress wrote to NBS several times. The volume of mail became so great that in the fall of 1951,

2310-667: The National Bureau of Standards to the Army in 1953, was named the Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories in honor of Mr. Diamond. It has since been renamed the Harry Diamond Laboratories . The War Department later described inventor Harry Diamond's proximity fuze as " one of the outstanding scientific developments of World War II ... second only to the atomic bomb " in military importance. Diamond's daughter Zelda Fichandler along with her husband Thomas C. Fichandler in 1950 co-founded

2380-574: The Senate Small Business Committee caused the suspension of the halted mail a few days later. Weeks ordered his assistant secretary Craig R. Sheaffer to investigate the AD-X2 affair. In January 1953, Astin wrote a memorandum to Weeks containing a proposal that was to prove crucial for the future of the NBS. He proposed that the National Academy of Sciences be enlisted to evaluate the NBS with respect to both

2450-402: The battery. Ritchie had continued his advertising claims that the NBBB and NBS statements did not apply to AD-X2 because it had not been tested, and told that NBBB and NBS have a bias against the "little guy" and are conspiring with the big battery companies. This brought intense pressure to Vinal, who saw that identifying AD-X2 by name as the only way of resolving the issue. The NBS was now in

2520-503: The central laboratory of Division 4 of the National Defense Research Committee , where Diamond was the central figure of the group. Much of the basic proximity fuze technology was developed under his direction. Later, as Chief of the Ordnance Development Division, he was assigned the task of supervising the development of proximity fuzes for nonrotating projectiles such as bombs, rockets, and mortars. It

2590-453: The course, and each airplane only had to carry a receiving set, with no other special equipment whatsoever. The pilot would obtain the necessary information pertaining to amplitude of course deviations hands-free and without requiring earphones. This was accomplished by the development of vibrating-reed indicators alerting the pilot to an off-course condition. Harry Diamond became the Chief of

2660-453: The dead wood". Weeks' mail was flooded by letters from Ritchie and his supporters claiming that Pioneers, Inc., was being unfairly persecuted by an antagonistic bureaucracy. Ritchie's case was strengthened when on February 24, 1953, the Post Office Department, in spite of the MIT tests, halted Ritchie's mail because of fraudulent advertising. Political pressure on the Post Office Department from

2730-495: The dimensions for the fuze were decided, Diamond’s team completed the fuze design in 2 days. After testing was conducted in June 1942, NBS constructed more than a thousand fuzes based on this design using the small-scale production lines in its model shops. The U.S. Army later produced almost 400,000 of NBS’s fuzes in 1943 and an additional 400,000 were made before the end of the war. Due to the expansion of fuze-related activities at NBS,

2800-576: The director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Science , to lead the U.S. research on proximity fuzes. By November 1940, Tuve recognized that two types of radio proximity fuzes were needed: one for rotating projectiles and one for non-rotating projectiles. The former was sought by the U.S. Navy for anti-aircraft guns, while the latter was best suited for U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force weapons such as bombs, rockets, and mortars. The team headed by Tuve at

2870-408: The discussions. The Senate Small Business Committee ignored the results and issued a press release stating that the MIT results completely supported AD-X2 claims. Keith J. Laidler , an expert on chemical kinetics, then issued a statement: The MIT tests … constitute by far the most thorough scientific tests of the effectiveness of AD-X2. They demonstrate without reasonable doubt that this material

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2940-657: The fall of 1975. In 1980, the Army acquired the Blossom Point Field Test Facility in Charles County, Maryland , and assigned it to HDL as its second satellite installation. Consisting of 20 buildings, the Blossom Point facility was used by HDL to conduct field tests on HDL-developed fuzes, explosive and pyrotechnic devices, and electronic telemetry systems. Construction of HDL’s Adelphi complex reached completion in 1983, by which point

3010-427: The late 1948, Senator William Knowland from Oakland, also requested tests to Vinal. The NBS has two policies, stating that it should not conduct commercial testing of materials unless requested by another agency of the Government, and never mention commercial products in its publications, this is why Vinal did not conduct testing of the said additive. Nevertheless, Vinal, on his own initiative separate from its work on

3080-763: The life span of automotive batteries. Jess M. Ritchie saw that there was a possibility of making a business out of this. Since World War I , NBS has tested numerous battery additives, also known as "battery dopes". Those tests had been done for the Post Office Department and for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), since they are concerned about protecting consumers against fraudulent advertising claims. None of those battery additives were found to be beneficial, which led to NBS publishing Letter Circular 302: Battery Compounds and Solutions in 1931, laying out its findings and warning

3150-628: The major causes of this organizational change was a congressional report by the Kelly Committee following the AD-X2 battery additive controversy during the early 1950s. The Kelly Committee, which was formed by the NBS Visiting Committee and the National Academy of Sciences at the request of Commerce Secretary Charles Sinclair Weeks , advised NBS to return to non-military research and testing and transfer its weapons programs to

3220-525: The newly constructed research complex in Adelphi, Maryland. HDL employees were moved to Adelphi as part of a three-phase relocation program as different sections of the facility underwent construction. In November 1973, about 500 of the total employees were moved to the H-shaped Adelphi complex. The second phase took place in 1974 with about 400 employees, and the remaining 500 workers were moved in

3290-506: The physical sciences. By the 1980s, the Harry Diamond Laboratories was the largest electronics R&D laboratory in the U.S. Army and represented the Army’s lead laboratory for the study of nuclear effects. Since 1971, the facility housed and operated the Aurora Pulsed Radiation Simulator , which was the world’s largest gamma radiation simulator at the time. Before it was decommissioned and disassembled in 1996,

3360-552: The program after Diamond’s death, became DOFL’s first technical director after it moved to the Army. As an element of the Army’s Ordnance Corps, DOFL focused its research and development efforts on proximity fuzes and other related items. Areas that received attention included printed circuits , microminiaturization , casting resins , flow and temperature measuring systems, reserve power supplies, high-resolution radar, air navigation systems, and telemetering equipment. DOFL

3430-608: The public against the use of battery additives. This also led to the National Better Business Bureau (NBBB) in New York publishing Facts About Battery Dopes , which uses the findings of Letter Circular 302, condemning battery additives. Jess M. Ritchie was an entrepreneur who came from rags. In 1947, he brought a partnership to the company Pioneers, Inc., which is making a battery additive named Protecto Charge. Ritchie found out that Protecto Charge

3500-509: The research and development work of the Commerce Department’s newly organized Bureau of Air Commerce. Within two years he developed radio beacon system that permitted the first "blind" aircraft landing. Diamond and his team made the first visual-type radiobeacon system that enabled a pilot to keep on course and to know his approximate position at all times while in flight. Direction service could be given to any number of planes flying

3570-458: The results of NBS tests. The tests conducted by the NBS were extensive, and as expected, they also showed AD-X2 to be useless. But the results were immediately attacked by Ritchie as being technically flawed because the charging procedure was inappropriate, despite the fact that it was the same one used by Randall. Astin decided to resolve the situation by performing a public test using a procedure that would be agreed to by all parties. A procedure

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3640-419: The results of new laboratory tests, with the same results as previously: no battery additive was found to be useful. No battery additives were identified by name. These results were published in the trade press, which refused to publish Ritchie's side of the story, and in many cases, refused to accept his advertising. Ritchie's sales plummeted. Knowing that Pioneers, Inc. sales plummeted, Ritchie began to attack

3710-497: The results of the MIT tests were delivered to the committee. The report did find differences attributable to the introduction of AD-X2, but the differences are minuscule and they refrained from concluding whether such differences were practical real-world significance. In fact, it turned out later that these differences were only observable when using an electrolyte that was so dilute that it has no relationship to actual use conditions. Astin went to MIT to discuss this, but nothing came of

3780-472: The simulated effects of electromagnetic pulses generated by nuclear detonation on electronic systems. Following the cessation of nuclear detonation testing, the simulations produced by the facility enabled the Army to test the vulnerability of tactical systems to the effects of nuclear attack and gather data for the development of hardening techniques. In 1973, operations at HDL were officially moved from Washington, D.C. at Connecticut Ave. and Van Ness St. to

3850-548: The site housed a total of 22 structures. In 1992, HDL was among the seven Army laboratories that were consolidated to form the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) following the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission in 1991. In addition, the Adelphi research complex was renamed the Adelphi Laboratory Center and became the headquarters for ARL. While HDL’s Blossom Point satellite facility

3920-436: The technician to leave the room, and he personally affixed numbers to all the cells. Only Astin knew which numbers corresponded to the treated cells. The tests were run by the laboratory personnel over the next few weeks. On July 15, 1952, the NBS reported its results. AD-X2 showed no beneficial effects. Ritchie also said that the tests were not properly done, he had never agreed to the permitted increase in specific gravity, and

3990-476: The tests were flawed in ten other ways. It was now clear to Astin, who believed that he had obtained Ritchie's agreement on the conduct of the tests, that any tests conducted by the NBS, were not acceptable to Ritchie. The Senate Small Business Committee took Ritchie's side on the validity of the tests. On September 29, at a meeting in Astin's office, it was agreed that further tests were necessary, but no decision

4060-436: Was agreed upon in writing, except for one point, which turned out to be crucial. This concerned the specific gravity of the electrolyte. Ritchie had wanted to add water if, during charging, the specific gravity rose above 1.280; the NBS did not want to add water at all. Astin finally thought he had a compromise in which the specific gravity would not be allowed to rise above 1.325, and the tests were performed in June 1952. Astin

4130-428: Was also responsible for determining the susceptibility of ordnance electronics materiel to nuclear radiation and investigating methods of radiation hardening . When the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) was established during the 1962 Army reorganization, DOFL was assigned directly to AMC as a corporate laboratory. The following year, DOFL had its name officially changed to the Harry Diamond Laboratories (HDL). During

4200-648: Was an American radio pioneer and inventor, and namesake for Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories , which later became part of the Army Research Laboratory . Diamond, the son of a Jewish tailor in Minsk , was born on February 12, 1900. In 1908 his family immigrated to the United States, and he grew up in Quincy, Massachusetts . Diamond enlisted in the United States Army on October 14, 1918 and

4270-516: Was being called into question, as were the motivations and objectivity of the NBS scientists. The NBS itself was at the lowest point in its history. In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected as the 34th president of the United States, vowed to "clean up the mess in Washington". He then appointed Sinclair Weeks, a businessman from Boston , as the Secretary of Commerce and promised to "cut out

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4340-400: Was calculated that a fuze which would explode a projectile near a plane or at some height above a target on the surface would increase lethality. Diamond, through his vast knowledge in the field of electronics, contributed greatly to the fundamental concept and design of proximity fuzes. He held 16 patents for electronics-related inventions. The Ordnance Development Division, upon transfer from

4410-426: Was established in 1946. Meanwhile, Diamond continued to lead the Ordnance Development Division until his death in 1948. In honor of his work, the laboratory complex was renamed to the Harry Diamond Ordnance Laboratory in 1949. NBS underwent significant restructuring and downsizing in the years following World War II. During this time period, several wartime programs managed by the Bureau were relocated elsewhere. One of

4480-587: Was honorably discharged on December 9, 1918. He graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1922. Diamond worked for the General Electric company for 18 months. He completed his master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1925 and worked as an Electrical Engineering instructor for 4 years at Lehigh University . He joined the National Bureau of Standards in 1927. Diamond headed up

4550-725: Was made about who was to conduct the tests. Blake O’Connor, one of the staff members of the Senate Select Committee on Small Business, asked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to carry out the tests. MIT, contrary to their policy, agreed to do the tests. Astin decided that because of Ritchie's attitude toward the NBS, it would be better if MIT carried out their tests independently. Harold C. Weber, professor of chemical engineering at MIT, started their test in October 1952. On December 17, 1952,

4620-422: Was mentioned by name. The NBBB, having the reissued Letter Circular 302 from NBS, asked FTC to take action against Pioneers, Inc. on the grounds that its advertising claims for AD-X2 were false, and notified Vinal that it was doing so. This led to the FTC to send an examiner to Oakland, and they found out that there is a wide satisfaction among AD-X2 users, including the military. Because of this, on March 22, 1950,

4690-500: Was now fully in charge of the public testing of AD-X2. Some battery cells were treated and some are controls . But which cells were which was not known to the personnel conducting the tests, only Astin knows. The NBS statisticians developed a random sampling scheme . Astin and a technician assistant went alone into the laboratory. Consulting a chart prepared by the statisticians, Astin told the technician which cells were to have AD-X2 added and which were not. During this procedure, he asked

4760-471: Was sent to Oakland, feeling the NBS report was not definitive because of the lack of field tests and because of the satisfactory experience of users in the area, recommended that the FTC drop its case against Pioneers, Inc. The FTC did not accept the recommendation and pushed the case forward against Pioneers, Inc. On January 10, 1951, NBS issued its revision of Letter Circular 302, entitled NBS Circular 504 on Battery Additives . It showed in considerable detail

4830-563: Was the chief of NBS’s radio and photoelectric fuze groups, determined that utilizing the Doppler effect would provide the best results for a proximity fuze in a non-rotating projectile. Diamond and Hinman subsequently developed a diode detector system that activated when the amplitude of the reflected radio waves exceeded a predetermined value. In April and May 1941, Diamond’s group tested a series of crude box models based on this principle in successful bomb drops against water targets. While only

4900-550: Was transferred under ARL, the Woodbridge satellite facility was ultimately closed. At its inception, the Harry Diamond Ordnance Laboratory was originally established to further advance U.S. research and development in electronic fuzing for rockets, mortars, artillery, and missiles. Over time, the laboratory’s principal activities expanded significantly to include other ordnance specialties such as radar technology, integrated circuits , nuclear survivability, and basic research in

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