Heinl news service (July-Nov 1950)

Helnl Radio-Television News Service 9/20/50 receivers if a better, compatible system is eventually chosen in¬ stead of the CBS system. Certainly, this is too high a price to pay. Let the people buy what they want. Do not force them to pay extra for a dual standard set. Possibly CBS color will never be broadcast from the stations they receive. "Here is a clear example of where faith in the future, pos¬ sessed by the scientific researcher, the dreamer, pointed out the way to success. It is unfortunate that there is no such guiding per¬ sonality on the Commission nor is there a single experienced televi¬ sion researcher on the FCC engineering staff. The important matter of future color standards is an Engineering problem. Where is the needed type of experience and Judgment to be found? Among engineer¬ ing personnel who have been or are with the large TV companies where extensive research laboratories are available and where color systems of the future can be worked out and tested. Of the many capable TV engineerings appearing as witnesses during the FCC hearings, a large majority were not in favor of the CBS system. Why was this? Not because they were biased but because their experience allowed them to evaluate color systems. They have testified under oath that Dot Sequential standards can produce better performance than Field Se¬ quential standards. Some have proven this in their laboratories. "Why has FCC disregarded their testimony? Why has there been a ’fight* in progress during the color hearing between the manu¬ facturers and the FCC? The FCC report has not helped restore peace. It has shown what Bureaucracy can do to Industry. Millions of TV users may be saddled with an inferior system when Bureaucracy attempts the difficult technical problem of TV transmission standards. This problem should be assigned to Industry engineers." XXXXXXXXXX STANDARDS BUREAU OFFERING NEW VHF CALIBRATION SERVICE The National Bureau of Standards is now offering a calibra¬ tion service for field-intensity meters at all radio frequencies of broadcast and commercial importance up to 3OO megacycles. Of special interest are the new standards and methods which have been developed at the Bureau for calibrating field-intensity meters in the very highfrequency region from 30 to 300 megacycles. The new standards were developed to meet a need for an improvement in theavallable accuracy of fieldintensity measurements required because of the greatly in¬ creased use of VHF bands by FM and TV stations. Prior calibration service for field-intensity meters had already accommodated meters operating in the range from 10 kilocycles to 30 megacycles. Commercial field-intensity meters are unfrequently used by broadcast engineers to determine the antenna efficiency and coverage of a radio station. The calibration of such instruments must be bas¬ ed on standards x^hich are derived from and agree precisely with the basic units of measurement. The National Bureau of Standards has taken the lead In developing new and improved standards and increas¬ ing the accuracy of those already available. The extended field-intensity-meter calibration service nec¬ essitated the development of new and accurate field-intensity stand¬ ards. The VHF standards are similar to those already employed at lower frequencies, but several special techniques, particularly in the measurement of antenna current and voltage have been developed to meet the peculiarities of work* 4