Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1952)

10 Mobilization Notes: Unexpected windfall of steel will go to TV-radio and other consumer goods manufacturers in second quai'ter. NPA has found it can ration to them about 10% more steel than it originally anticipated. Therefore, most manufacturers of civilian goods will receive in second quarter 50% of the amount of steel they used during average quarter in first-half 1950 — the same amount they received for current first quarter 1952 — rather than 45% as originally planned (Vol. 8:2). Final determinations of other controlled materials foxconsumer goods industi-ies panned out as we predicted last week (Vol. 8:2): brass mill products 30% of base pex-iod use (vs. 35% in first quarter); wire mill products 35% (vs. 30%); copper foundry 30% (vs. 35%); aluminum 30% (vs. 35%). There’s more good news for some electronics manufacturers in sux-plus of chrome-bearing stainless steel. NPA Electronics Div. is notifying manufactui-ers that wherever they can show that use of chrome-beai’ing stainless will save metals that are more critical — especially brass, aluminum or nickel — they may be allotted extra ration of stainless. For example: Glass TV picture tubes have nickel alloy “button” for high-voltage lead. Metal-cone tubes don’t use nickel for this purpose. Therefoi-e, NPA has offered to allot stainless steel in order to conserve the extx-a nickel required in the glass tubes. NPA estimates 12,000 lbs. of the stainless would be required to make 1000 metal-cone pictux-e tubes, and result in saving of just 1.75 lbs. of precious nickel per 1000 tubes. Another use for the chrome-bearing stainless will be as substitute for brass in auto x-adio antennas. ^ s*c ❖ * Largest certificate of necessity for govt, tax aid in expansion of electronic and related productive capacity granted Dec. 3-Dec. 21 went to Westinghouse for electronic tube plant at Bath, N. Y., to cost $6,850,000, of which 65% is to be written off in 5 years for tax purposes. Sperry Corp. received 6 certificates for electronic production, totaling $7,099,865, amortized at 65%. Its projects are at Gx-eat Neck, Long Island City and Nassau, N. Y., and DPA listed them for electronic equipment, ordnance and scientific precision instruments. GE received 5 certificates covering $3,763,438 in expansion of tube plant at Owensboro, Ky., tube machinery at Rotterdam, N. Y., ordnance at Schenectady, transformers at Danville, 111., research & development in Syracuse, all amortized at 65%. Other cei’tifieates issued by DPA for expansion of electronic and related plants: Hoffman Radio, El Monte, Cal., $2,400,000 (45% amortization); Allen-Bradley Co., Milwaukee, $634,767 (65%); Sylvania, tubes at Montoursville, Pa. & Seneca, N. Y. and ordnance at Warren, Pa., $558,456 (65%); Hickok Electrical Instrument Co., Cleveland, $345,834 (65%); Standard Transformer Co., Chicago, $339,948 (65%); Stupakoff Ceramic Co., Latrobe, Pa., $286,836 (65%); Bomac Labs Inc., Beverly, Mass., $250,000 (65%); Western Electric, Winston-Salem, N. C., $191,242 (70%); Tektronix Inc., Portland, Ore., $180,000 (35%); A. B. Dick Co., Chicago, $176,736 (65%); Edo Corp., College Point, N. Y., $175,534 (70%); W. K. Reisner Mfg. Co., Hagerstown, Md., aircraft electronic equipment, $141,319 (70%); Sonotone Corp., Elmsfox-d, Mass., tubes, $130,060 (65%); Boonton Radio Corp., Parsippany, N. J., $110,014 (70%); Davis Tool & Engineering Co., Detroit, $102,885 (70%); Amei-ican Phenolic, Chicago, $102,758 (65%); Bendix, Towson, Md., $97,910 (65%); Mepco Inc., Morristown, N. J., $60,000 (65%); Diamond Mfg. Co., Wakefield, Mass., $22,566 (75%); Daystrom Electric Corp., Poughkeepsie, N. Y., $17,925 (75%); Massa Labs., Hingham, Mass., $8573 (80%). Microwave Associates Inc., 22 Cummington St., Boston, has sold 50% of its common stock to United Paramount Theatres Inc., plans to expand research, development and maixufacture of microwave tubes, components and systems. Fix-m holds Signal Corps contract for pilot run of magnetrons, plans to develop transistors and special crystals for new uhf TV fx-equencies, improved pickup tubes for TV camex-as, components for microwave links, etc. New px'esident is Dana W. Atchley Jr., UPT technical research coordinator, with these other officers: Vessarios Chigas, v.p. & treas.; Richard M. Walker, equipment engineering v.p.; Louis W. Roberts, reseax-ch v.p. Latter 3 are ex-Sylvania. Dix-ectors include UPT president Leonard H. Goldenson, v.p. Robert H. O’Brien, Simon B. Siegel, Jason Rabinovitz. Defense Dept, ordered $43 billion wox-th of hard goods in the 17 months from Korean outbx-eak to Dec. 1, 1951. Rough estimate is that approximately $4.3 billion of this was obligated for electronics-communications equipment. In first 5 months of fiscal yeax— July through November, 1951 — militax-y placed ordex-s for $13 billion for hard goods, or about $1.3 billion for electronics-communications. E “The greatest future for TV,” said Hoffman Radio pi’esident H. Leslie Hoffman at distributors meeting in Pasadena last week, “is in the West. For the smallest pex-centage of families are covex-ed by TV in this part of the country. Such states as Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Nevada do not have any TV at all, and only portions of Utah, Arizona, Washington and New Mexico are reached by TV signals today. We in the TV business, therefore, have more to look fox-ward to in this market than anywhere else in the U. S.” Mort Farr, Upper Darby, Pa., elected to second term as president of National Appliance & Radio Dealers Assn.; Victor Joerndt, Appliance TV Center, Kenosha, Wis., named secy., replacing Marty E. Brunderman, Bx-undernxan Appliance Co., Chicago, who remains on board. All other officers were reelected, and new board members are Gross Williams, Shrevepox-t, La., and Jack Westley, Milwaukee. November picture tube sales by RTMA members totaled 460,566, up slightly from October’s 455,636, bringing figure for 11 months of 1951 to 4,062,375. Value of sales for November was $9,696,247, for 11 months $97,937,583. Sizes 20-in. aixd up accounted for 35% of Nov. units. Trade Personals: Henry C. Roemer, IT&T director and executive v.p. of subsidiary Federal Telephoxxe & Radio Co., named president of Federal . . . Albert Caumont, exelectronics sales mgr., International GE, named RTMA service mgr., succeeding E. W. Merriam . . . Ferdinand W. Schor, ex-Hallicrafters, naixied Motorola chief engineer in charge of military engineex-ing . . . Nicholas DeFalco promoted to manager of DuMont receiver quality control dept. . . . Ivor M. Leslie promoted to v.p. and director of Cx-osley Radio & Television Ltd., Toronto . . . Harold E. Tyler named gen. mgr., Setchell-Carlson Inc. . . . Walter H. Ferneaux, ex-gen. mgr., Aerovox Canada, also chief of electronic branch, Canadian Dept, of Defense, appointed manufactux-ing v.p., Aex-ovox Cox-p., New Bedford, Mass. . . . Kenneth A. Hoagland promoted to asst, engineer, DuMont CR tube div., under Alfred Y. Bentley . . . King P. Ray, ex-Daystronx Corp., named field sales mgr., StewartWarner Electric . . . Harold F. Dietz, presideixt of EnxersonMidstate Inc., succeeds Martin L. Scher, x-esigned, as gen. mgr. of Emerson-New York Inc. . . . Murray Baird, exZenith, named mgr. of electronics div., Crosley Distributing Corp., New York, succeeding Paul Hilton, x-esigned . . . Louis E. Rose promoted from district mgr. to gen. mgr., Fada of New Jersey Inc.