In the late 1920’s, Dr. Gerhard Fisher, a German
immigrant who studied electronics at the University
of Dresden, obtained the first patent ever issued on
aircraft radio direction finders. He was working as
a Research Engineer in Los Angeles, California at the
time and his work attracted the interest of Dr. Albert
Einstein. After a demonstration of Dr. Fisher’s
equipment, Einstein enthusiastically and correctly predicted
the world-wide use of radio direction finders in the
air, on land and at sea.
When using such direction finders during those early
years, aircraft pilots found that errors would occur
in their bearings when metal objects came between the
transmitter and receiver, or whenever they passed over
certain areas. Different pilots flying different planes
always observed the same errors over the same places.
When Dr. Fisher investigated this phenomenon, he found
these errors to be the result of highly conductive,
mineralized areas. Dr. Fisher concluded that a portable
electronic prospecting instrument could be developed
that used the same principle to detect the presence
of small buried objects and ore deposits.
He continued his research into this phenomenon, and
in 1931 he founded Fisher Research Laboratory in a garage
behind his home at 1505 Byron St. in Palo Alto, California.
He and four employees began producing the "Metallascope,"
starting each unit as a new order came in. The "Metallascope"
was a rugged, easy-to-use metal detector. By today’s
standards, it was perhaps an ungainly device: two large,
flat wooden boxes containing simple copper coils, five
vacuum tubes, and a few assorted components. It soon
captivated the imagination of the country, and within
a short time, the world.
USS MACON CRITICAL TOOL FOR DR. FISHER Around 1933,
the U.S. Navy hired Dr. Fisher to install a radio direction
finder aboard the dirigible, the USS Macon. It was aboard
the Macon that Dr. Fisher discovered that large metal
buildings and mineralized mountains cancelled out the
instrument’s direction finding capabilties leading
him to the discovery of the first metal detector. Dirigibles
served the U.S. Navy as floating bases for scout planes
during the 1930’s, but the program was eventually
abandoned. It became obvious that the highly touted
U.S. Navy lighter-than-air program had a fatal flaw:
dirigibles had a tendency to crash during severe weather.
By 1936, sales had increased to the point where the
garage was no longer large enough. Fisher Research Laboratory
moved to a small building at 745 Emerson St. in Palo
Alto. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Fisher was granted a patent
for his "Metallascope." The "Metallascope"
was soon nicknamed the M-Scope, and as such, became
an accepted standard for all types of electronic metal
detection: geologists located ore, treasure hunters
found treasure, utility companies located buried pipes,
lumber mills located metal inclusions in sawn logs,
and law enforcement agencies used it to locate abandoned
or hidden weapons.
In 1939, just prior to World War II, Fisher moved to
an even larger building at 1961 University Ave. in Palo
Alto. During World War II and the subsequent Korean
Conflict, the company was called upon to contribute
its technical competence to the war effort, but the
M-Scope business was never neglected. With the increasing
popularity of the M-Scope, and with Fisher’s patent
rights expiring, numerous competitors began producing
similar equipment. Due to relentless efforts to incorporate
every available technical advancement - and in particular,
by keeping close contact with countless users to utilize
their vast fund of field experience in the design of
new models - Fisher maintained its position of solid
leadership. Over the years, Fisher has designed and
produced such sophisticated products as geiger counters,
radio communication systems, voltage detectors and cable
fault locators.
In 1961, Fisher moved to an even larger production facility
in Belmont, California. In 1967, Dr. Fisher retired,
having firmly established his name in the annals of
electronic history. The company continued to grow, and
in 1974, Fisher Research Laboratory moved 90 miles southeast
to Los Banos, California. In 1990, Fisher built a spacious,
modern manufacturing plant in the Los Banos Industrial
Park, where the world's oldest metal detector business
resided until it was acquired by First Texas Products
in 2006.
