Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

North American Wave Parley Necessitated by Madrid Action U. S., Canada, Mexico and Cuba Agree on Plan For Regional Pact; Parley Adjourns Soon A NORTH American conference on redistribution of wave lengths and possible acquisition of certain long waves for broadcasting will be held within the next year by reason of the action of the International Radio Conference at Madrid Nov. 24 sanctioning reservations for regional agreements on the proposed widening of the broadcast band below 550 kc. This action broke the deadlock that had existed since the conference opened last September, due mainly to the opposition of American government and marine interests. The conference ended its radio work Nov. 24. Following the lead of Europe, the North American nations asked for the same privileges assumed by the former in their reservation to use certain bands between 150 and 550 kc. for broadcasting, to be decided upon at a continental conference next May. In other words, the whole project for use of the long waves for broadcasting on this continent, as in Europe, is left to a conference of the nations involved. Although hamstrung by lack of definite instructions from the State Department, the United States delegation, after overtures from Canada, Mexico and Cuba, made the motion that, in effect, reserves the right for regional consideration of use of long waves on this continent. U. S. Motion "THE NORTH American nations," the motion stated, "will probably meet during 1933 to revise, where necessary, the existing regional agreements among the nations of that continent. This regional conference will be called upon to solve problems in broadcast allocation which are as difficult as any now facing the forthcoming European conference. "The countries of North America wish to point out that they reserve to themselves the same rights and privileges as are assumed by European nations by their protocal which has been drawn up a Madrid, if it should be found necessary to use such privileges." As the way is paved for the use of long waves on this continent chances of more serious encroachment upon U. S. channels used at present are lessened. But at the forthcoming North American conference it is presumed that the opposition forces, led by Capt. S. C. Hooper, director of Naval Communications, will continue to resist any plans to widen the band for broadcasting. In a cable to Louis G. Caldwell, Washington radio attorney, who recently returned from Madrid where he was NAB representative, Raymond Braillard, chief of the technical committee of the International Broadcasting Union, explained that the final agreement reached on allocations in Europe was that the band from 160 to 225 kc. should be reserved for broadcasting, with the way open for "departures" in the band 150 to 550 kc. This action was taken over the strenuous objections of marine interests. The question of how many of the additional waves will be used for broadcasting was left to the decision of a European conference next May. The U. I. R. was asked to arrange the plan for Sponsored New Zealand Program Put On KSTP RECEPTION reports are now being received by E. P. Shurick, manager of the Minneapolis studios of KSTP, St. Paul, on the sponsored program staged on that station in October by the Germania Tea Co., Minneapolis, (herb tea) for the purpose of stimulating its export market in New Zealand. Program was staged at 1 a.m,. which is 6:30 p.m., New Zealand Time, and featured greetings by Governor Olson of Minnesota, a message from the state university and music. It was paid for at regular night card rates, the sponsoring company determining to experiment with radio, which it uses extensively in this country, to determine whether it can help boost export sales. Cooperation of the New Zealand DX-Club and announcements in the newspapers were enlisted to insure audience. this conference, and Mr. Braillard, strong protagonist of long wave broadcasting, will figure prominently in it. 150 to 550 kc. Open THE NORTH American nations accepted the treaty but reserved the right to decide at a regional conference the extent to which long waves between 150 and 550 kc. should be used on this continent. Australia, New Zealand, British India and British South Africa followed suit. Russia, which favored a complete reallocation of services, probably will use channels from 150 to 285 kc. and 340 to 420 kc. in addition to the regular band. In some quarters the view was expressed that at the North American conference, neighboring nations will insist that the United States accept certain long waves in exchange for equivalent channels in the present band. WIDENING LAUDED Proposed L0113 Wave Extension Held Sound by Jansky BASED ON quantitative data procured during the last year on the relative effectiveness of different bro a d c a s t frequenc i e s, C. M. Jansky, Jr., consulting radio engineer of Mr. Jansky Washington, declared in an address before the NAB convention in St. Louis Nov. 14 that the proposal for extension of the broadcast band into the long waves is sound. All other things being equal, Prof. Jansky said his researches indicated that a station of given power at a given location performs better service on a lower frequency. The information was regarded as timely in view of the current discussion at Madrid for widening of the broadcast band and the likelihood that, should it be approved, a number of long waves below 550 kc. will be available to this continent for broadcasting. In minute detail Prof. Jansky outlined to the convention the various factors that must be considered in arriving at such a deduction. He pointed out that stations on the higher frequencies are not necessarily limited in their service as compared with those on lower frequencies. "It is only when all other factors are equal, as they rarely are in our present system, that the superiority of the lower frequencies is axiomatic," he asserted. DON E. GILMAN, vice president and Pacific division manager of NBC, expects to spend a total of $1,000,000 on sustaining talent during 1933, and a $500,000 on artists for sponsored periods. NAB Representative Presents the Case for Long Wave Broadcasting Mr. Caldwell A TREATY providing for enlargement of the broadcast band on a basis that will be only partly satisfactory to m[ the United States . _ I was predicted by Louis G. Caldwell, Washington radio attorney, in an address at the NAB convention in St. Louis Nov. 15. Mr. Caldwell was the NAB representative at the International Radio Conference held at Madrid, where the matter of treaty revision is being discussed, and had returned to this country only a week before he delivered the address. In reviewing the international broadcasting problem, Mr. Caldwell built a strong technical case for widening of the band into the long waves as a means of alleviating congestion on the North American continent. While the Madrid conference has been in virtual deadlock on the allocation question since it began its sessions Sept. 3, he said that recent cable reports indicate that some kind of a treaty will emerge. Even after such a treaty is signed and sealed, he asserted, there will be a fight on the North American problem of allocations. Sees Chaos Looming FAILURE to effect a treaty, Mr. Caldwell declared, might precipitate a radio "war" which would bring chaos into the ether far worse than the "nightmare period in the United States in the fall of 1928, just before the Radio Act was enacted." The specific issue on allocations, he said, is how much, if any, increase shall be made in frequencies allocated to broadcasting the world over, particularly below 550 kc. Thrown into the controversy are fixed services, ship services, aircraft services, military services and broadcasting. Broadcast enlargement is still a much more serious and difficult problem in Europe than elsewhere in the world, he said, but recent events have demonstrated that it is also a North American issue, with Canada, Mexico and Cuba openly espousing it. Lack of instructions from the State Department prevented the American delegation from joining the movement, although individually the delegates approved the proposal. Citing European experience in using long waves for broadcasting, Mr. Caldwell said that frequencies below 550 kc. are better for broadcasting than frequencies above, and that the higher the frequency the less useful it is for broadcasting. A given amount of power will provide far greater coverage on a lower frequency than on a higher wave, he said. Statistical Examples AS A SPECIFIC example, Mr. Caldwell declared that 50 kw. on 1,500 kc. will furnish a signal of one millivolt about 42 miles from the transmitter in the daytime. The same power on 150 kc. will send the same signal strength about 558 miles from the transmitter during daytime. He asserted that the lower frequency is about 13 times as good as the higher in this case. Frequencies between the two extremes vary as might be expected, gradually increasing from the 42-mile average to the 558-mile coverage. Regarding night coverage, Mr. Caldwell said that fresh coverage at greater distances is possible due to the sky wave. Even assuming that the sky wave on 150 kc. reaches as great a distance as the sky wave on 1500 kc, which he said is by no means true, the attorney declared the sky wave service is erratic and marred by fading. More important, however, is the fact that fading occurs only a few miles from the transmitter on 1500 kc, whereas the fading wall is something like 300 miles or more from the transmitter on 150 kc. Furthermore, he declared, fading is much more rapid and annoying on the higher frequencies. Ground Wave Importance "IT IS unnecessary for me to tell you that, at least in the present state of the art, a broadcasting station must rely mainly on its ground wave for coverage," Mr. Caldwell continued. "It cannot sell very much freak distance coverage or very many fading areas (Continued on page 28) December 1, 1932 • BROADCASTING Page 13