International photographer (Jan-Dec 1941)

A COMPLETE MEANS OF INSTANTANEOUS PARTICIPATION IN SIGHT AND SOUND T € L £ V For years leading radio inventors of many lands have matched their wits to conquer the problem of static and other unwanted noises that mar radio reception. Among these men was Major Armstrong, who tackled the problem back in 1915 and who today gives us one of his greatest inventions— Frequency Modulation. But just what is Frequency Modulation? To answer as simply and briefly as possible, it is a new system of radio broadcasting. Radio signals are carried by waves which have the properties of amplitude, the height of the wave, and frequency, which is the length of the wave. The conventional type of broadcasting changes the amplitude or height of the wave, whereas Frequency Modulation alters the frequency, leaving the height alone. Since static, including both man-made and natural, affects only the amplitude or height of the radio wave, not its frequency, such static is absent in Frequency Modulation. But there is another great advantage! Imagine, if you will, that you are listening to a Frequency Modulation program. An orchestra is playing. Each note comes across the miles as if you were sitting in the very studio with the orchestra. The upper ranges of the violins are clear. Each tone reaches your ear with startling realism. A musician taps the triangle; its "ting" comes through with startling clarity. Between selections the station is so quiet that you hardly can believe your set is turned on. Voices and music ring against this silent background with a new warmth and richness. The announcer whispers, and you start at his nearness. A match strikes; you can hear it crackle. You can even hear the in BLITZKREIG IN RADIO! By R. P. Daugherty take of breath as a cigarette is lit. In fact, Frequency Modulation is so life-like you feel you can almost reach out and shake hands with the announcer. Also, if you live in a small town away from the main centers of population, you probably know what happens when evening comes. Distant stations begin to creep in on your dial, bringing with them crosstalk and other forms of interference that at times becomes almost unbearable. Here again, Frequency Modulation is the solution. This new form of radio transmission has the characteristic whereby the stronger of two radio signals predominates. You hear one or the other, but not both. For instance, so sharp is the distinction between the two F M stations that you can drive from one town to another with an F M receiver in your car and at one definite location you will magically stop hearing one station, only to have it replaced by the other, without even retuning the receiver! Frequency Modulation therefore makes possible the use of hundreds of new broadcasting stations. Many small towns can have their own broadcasting studios, offering programs of superb fidelity and of local interest, and unbothered by other stations. Numerous stations are already operating with this new form of transmission, more are authorized for construction — and an increasing number of applications are being received. In fact, many existing radio stations are seeking permits to use this new broadcasting medium. Newspapers, too, are entering the field. The new applicants come from virtually all sections of the country. At this writing, forty-three stations have already been authorized for commercial F M operation. Since Frequency Modulation programs cannot be received on present radio models this new system promises a great amount of activity ahead in the radio industry. While naturally the change-over into Frequency Modulation could not be made over night, in view of the some thirty-odd million radio receivers in this country — there is, however, already a surprising amount of activity in the production end. A number of manufacturers already have Frequency Modulation receivers on the market, and it is estimated there are several thousand receivers already in use. The prices of the sets range from $60.00 for small table models to several hundred for the larger high-fidelity combination models. As more sets are sold, this price range will of course be reduced. To avoid any possibilty of undue obsolescence, it is said that a number of the new receivers will be designed to receive both the conventional tvpe of radio broadcasts and Frequency Modulation. Whatever further developments occur in the immediate years ahead, one thing is certain! Frequency Modulation is here to stay. It is Electronics' new Blitzkrieg. It is out to add a brilliant new chapter of opportunities to the history of radio industry, with many possibilities for properly trained men. To any of our readers interested in entering the field of radio or television the writer of the above article will be glad to supply information if you address him, care of International Photographer. • Recently Miss Catharine Sibley in our pages issued a challenge to open up the new frontier of Television. She pointed out the necessity of developing a new technique for Television, and of setting up a course of program experimentation for Television alone. She reports her invitation to trail blaze, far from going unheeded, has had surprising and heartening response. Among those attending her recently inaugurated course on the New Technique of Television Production and Acting, given under the auspices of the University of California Extension Division, were: Mr. Paul Kerby, composer and one-time conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Symphony orchestra and musical advisor to the Salzurg Festival; Miss Emily Barrye, 24 former assistant director with Cecil De Mi lie, and now associated with Harold Lamb, the historical novelist; Mr. Denison Clift, who has directed motion pictures in this country and England, and his wife, a writer of note; Mr. Norman Lapworth, scientist and authority on acoustics, who was associated with the University of California's famed World's Fair Exhibit in San Francisco last year; Miss Mona Hofmann, mural painter and assistant to Diego Rivera on his now famous mural on PanAmerican Unity; Mrs. Lucie Chapman, who with her husband has made a national reputation for herself as lecturer and photographer of wild animals in America. This group with its trained talents in varied professions constitutes the nucleus of Miss Sibley's production staff for Tele vision program experimentation over Don Lee's station W6XAO during the coming months. Survey of Motion Picture Equipment in Colleges and Schools • A survey of motion picture equipment in colleges and high schools in the United States and its possessions, compiled by Nathan D. Golden, Chief of Motion Picture Division, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, may be secured from the Educational Department, RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc., Camden, N. J. The price is $3.00. The survey includes name and location of 17,500 colleges and high schools having motion picture and slide film facilities.