Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation in World War Two
Fort Wayne, IN
1939-1949

This page updated 4-2-2022.

The short lifespan of the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation obscures the fact that its founder, Philo T. Farnsworth, dedicated his life to the invention of the television.  Since World War Two, the television has gone from a novel curiosity that started replacing radios in the home as a source of news, sports, and entertainment to large screen devices that have become ubiquitous in the modern world.  Lost in all of this is that Philo T. Farnsworth was the inventor of the television.  He is the inventor no one knows, at least to the general public.  Among television and electronic historians and enthusiasts, his story is well known.  In Fort Wayne, IN, where he lived for many years and established his first factory, he is also well known.  The Fort Wayne house in which he lived has a historical marker in front of it.

Just as the story of Mr. Farnsworth's work on the invention of the television is unknown, so is the story of what his company did during World War Two.  Some of this is because Farnsworth was doing electronic development on several products and made radios and other electronic products.  These types of products did not get much press nor historical coverage compared to the larger and more recognizable tanks, trucks, guns, aircraft, and ships that have become well-known in post-World War Two years.

A very small amount of information is available on what the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation did in World War Two.  However, the work it was doing on the products it made to help win World War Two won it seven Army-Navy "E" awards.  It must have been doing the right thing.

In 1949 Farnsworth sold his company to International Telephone and Telegraph. There were two main reasons for this.  Farnsworth took out many loans to expand electronic equipment production for the war effort.  Then the company had difficulty repaying these loans.  That problem might have been solvable, but Philo Farnsworth was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted after years of legal battles with RCA over patent infringement.  RCA was the 800 pound gorilla in the electronics industry at the time, and its chairman David Sarnoff would go to any lengths to make sure it stayed that way.

To add insult to injury, RCA purchased the Farnsworth Marion plant to make television picture tubes.

The Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation Fort Wayne, IN plant won the Army-Navy "E" Award two times during World War Two.
The Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation Marion, IN plant won the Army-Navy "E" Award five times during World War Two.

Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation World War Two Products:  BC-342 series shortwave communications receiver is the product that is most identifiable with Farnsworth during World War Two. It was the two BC-342s I found in museums that led to this webpage.  Farnsworth also built the BC-312 radio receiver for the U.S. Signal Corps.  Farnsworth was the exclusive manufacturer of this receiver during World War Two.   

However, as Tables 1 and 2 demonstrate, the BC-342 was just one of many pieces of electronic equipment Farnsworth built for both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy.  The U.S. Navy placed six orders to the company for "Sound Signal Apparatus," which was most likely sonar equipment to detect enemy submarines.  The Navy also had two orders for vacuum tubes, which is the only historical reference to the company building this type of product.   Between its two plants, Farnsworth provided $125,356,000 worth of electronic equipment needed to win World War Two.

In 1927 Philo Farnsworth invented the first electronic video camera and cathode ray tube to display the images from the video camera.  This also led to early technology for infrared detection and imaging.  During World War Two, this led to the M3 Snooperscope mounted on an M1 carbine.  Unfortunately, Farnsworth did not get the opportunity to build the Snooperscopes.  Farnsworth's company, however, receive a research contract from the National Defense Research Corporation to develop and build a supply of electron multiplier tubes for non-imaging detectors.  The tubes were for use in other research laboratories working on non-imaging infrared detectors.

I have walked by this Farnsworth-built SCR-658 Radio Direction Finder innumerable times at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  During my trip to the museum in March 2022, I stopped and took a more thorough look at the unit than I had at any time in the past.  Author's photo added 4-2-2022.

This had been hiding in plain sight for me over the several years I have researched the Farnsworth Television and Radio Company of Fort Wayne.  Every time I visit this museum, I always find something new I had previously missed.  Author's photo added 4-2-2022.

 Two items make this even more significant than just being a Farnsworth product.  Firstly, this is the only known SCR-658 known to still exist.  Secondly, this particular SCR-628 was set up by American forces in 1945 at Tempelhof airport in Berlin.  It was used to track weather balloons to provide the weather forecasters at Tempelhof with information for American pilots using the airport.  This SCR-628 was used during the Berlin Airlift and greatly aided the 24 hour operations of bringing supplies safely to the airport. Author's photo added 4-2-2022.

This Farnsworth BC-342-N is on display at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, WI.  It is serial number 1011.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

This Farnsworth BC-342-N is on display at the Indiana War Memorial in downtown Indianapolis, IN. 

The receiver is serial number 235.

This Farnsworth-built BC-312-N is on display at the Museum of the Soldier in Portland, IN.  Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

The receiver on display is serial number 420.  Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

This 1941 Farnsworth-built BC-148 is on display at the Regional Military Museum in Houma, LA.  The BC-148 had a  continuous wave transmitter/receiver with a range of five miles.  Author's photo added 4-2-2022. 

The receiver used dry cell batteries and the transmitter required a hand cranked generator to operate.  Author's photo added 4-2-2022.

Author's photo added 4-2-2022.

The case for the BC-148 was constructed of both wood and metal.  Author's photo added 4-2-2022.

This historical photo shows the BC-148 with the LP-7 antenna loop and GN-35 hand crank generator that powered the transmitter.  It required two soldiers or a vehicle to carry the 76.5 lbs of the entire unit.  Image added 4-2-2022.

Farnsworth-built World War Two Radios:

Farnsworth-built radio receiver BC-312-N.  Image added 1-2-2022.

Farnsworth-built radio receiver BC-312-NX.  Image added 1-2-2022.

Farnsworth-built radio receiver BC-312-NX.  Image added 1-2-2022.

Farnsworth-built radio receiver BC-314-G.  Image added 1-2-2022.

Farnsworth-built radio receiver BC-344-D.  Image added 1-2-2022.

Farnsworth also did development on TV monitoring of falling bombs.  A television camera and transmitter were mounted in an empty bomb casing and a television receiver was mounted in the rear of a B-25 test aircraft.  The inert bomb with the transmitter inside and the camera in the nose was dropped after the normal bomb load.  The camera could then give a real-time view of where the bombs landed.  American strategic bombing was not nearly as accurate as its advocates proclaimed during World War Two and since that time.  In many cases, if American B-17s and B-24s were to hit the right city, let alone the factory inside it, they were lucky.  More than once, American aircraft accidently bombed Switzerland, a neutral country. 

While the Farnsworth monitoring system did not help guide the bombs to the proper target, it did attempt to monitor where they landed.  In June 1944, tests were made on the system at Tonopah Army Air Force Base in Nevada, where it was successfully able to monitor the landing locations of the bombs.  There is no evidence it was put into production.

This is a television camera and transmitter mounted to a bomb.

Inside the aft section of the B-25, an operator could monitor the falling of the bombs on this TV monitor.

A B-25 similar to this one was used to conduct the TV-monitored bombing tests during World War Two.  Author's photo.

Post-World War Two Farnsworth Television Sets:  The following Farnsworth televisions are on display at the Early Television Museum in Hilliard, OH.  The museum has an impressive collection of not only Farnsworth sets, but many other early manufacturers of televisions as well.

This is a prototype of a 10-inch television that went into production in 1946.  Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

The cabinet is original, and the electronics have been restored to working order.  Just what one needed to tune into the Howdy Doody Show!  Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

This 10-inch model 661-P was introduced in 1947 and was the first console television from Farnsworth.  Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

The 1948 651-P used the same chassis as the 661-P.  Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

This TV also had a 10-inch screen.  Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

The Philo Farnsworth House in Fort Wayne:  The house has an address of 734 East State Boulevard in Fort Wayne, IN.  In reality, it appears that the house is really on St. Joseph Boulevard. 

 This photo was taken from State Boulevard facing southwest.  There is a small porch on the north side of the house.  This is probably why it has a State Boulevard address.  There is also an entrance on the St. Joseph Boulevard side of the house.  To me, this is the front of the house, as guests need to park on St. Joseph to visit the residence.  State is a four lane road with no parking.  Author's photo added 3-7-2021.


 There is also a nice entrance on the south side of the house that leads to the driveway and the garage.  Author's photo added 3-7-2021.

 Author's photo added 3-7-2021.

The Plants:  In 1939 Philo Farnsworth moved his research operation from Philadelphia, PA to Fort Wayne, IN.  His new company, Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation, purchased the Capehart Company factory on Pontiac Street in Fort Wayne.  During World War Two, this plant was the corporate headquarters, research, and engineering center for the new company.  It also built a number of electronic products during the war.

The Case Radio plant on the southeast corner of Marion, IN was purchased in 1939, and was the main assembly plant for Farnsworth.  Farnsworth also purchased the product line and continued to make radios in the plant before and after World War Two.

In 1943 the company purchased a plant in Bluffton, IN and in 1945 purchased another one in Huntington, IN.

The Fort Wayne plant was located on Pontiac Street in Fort Wayne.  It was razed in 2010.

This Sanborn map shows the extent of the Fort Wayne plant in 1951.  It was just west of the large International Harvester truck manufacturing complex.  Image added 1-2-2021.

This is the Marion plant in the late 1930s.  In 1947 it had 260,000 square feet of floor space.  With the Bluffton plant, Farnsworth operated more conveyors for moving radios than any other factory in the United States.  The Marion plant began television production in the spring of 1947.  This plant was purchased by RCA in 1948 and eventually became the source of picture tubes for its televisions.  In 2004 Thomson, Inc., the current operator and owner of the factory, closed it down. Several fires at the former plant since its closing resulted in the loss of the historical section of the plant.

This is what is left of the former RCA/Thomson picture tube plant after the several fires.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

Author's photo.

At least half, if not more, of the structure burned.  Author's photo.