Radiofacsimile, radiofax or HF fax is an analogue mode for transmitting grayscale images via high frequency (HF) radio waves. It was the predecessor to slow-scan television (SSTV). It was the primary method of sending photographs from remote sites (especially islands) from the 1930s to the early 1970s. It is still in limited use for transmitting weather charts and information to ships at sea.
History
Richard H. Ranger, an electrical engineer working at Radio Corporation of America (RCA), invented a method for sending photographs through radio transmissions. He called his system the wireless photoradiogram, in contrast to the fifty-year-old telefacsimile devices which used first telegraphic wires, and then later was adapted to use the newer telephone wires.
On 29 November 1924, Ranger's system was used to send a photograph from New York City to London. It was an image of President Calvin Coolidge and was the first transoceanic radio transmission of a photograph. Also that year, AT&T engineer Herbert E. Ives transmitted the first color photograph.
Charles J. Young, son of the RCA founder Owen D. Young...