International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1935)

July 1935 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST Labor should remain aloof, and let the producers and distributors slaughter the exhibitors on film rental practices in some private arena. A. T. & T. Television Plans THE Federal Communication Commission has granted A. T. & T. permission, with restrictions, to install a coaxial cable between New York and Philadelphia for experimental purposes. This news occasioned more convulsions by the picture industry induced by the fear that pictures were to be no more. Dr. A. N. Goldsmith's article on television (I. P. for May, 1935) said all there was to say on this topic of motion pictures vs. television, and not a few of the Doctor's ideas were snitched to make up the appended statement on the aforementioned coaxial cable. A. T. & T.'s Coaxial Cable 1. The coaxial cable, work on which was commenced by A. T. & T. in 1920, permits the simultaneous transmission of 200 or more telephone messages. It is really wholesale telephony. 2. The coaxial cable would permit two-way televisiontelephony (acoustic and visual communication), between two points. 3. The coaxial cable would permit the transmission of a television program from, say, a New York studio to a broadcasting station in Philadelphia, for subsequent rebroadcast through the ether in the usual way. This practice would be nothing different than the means now employed in radio broadcasting for covering wide areas. 4. It would be possible theoretically to send a television program from, say, New York to Philadelphia and thence, by means of an extension of the coaxial cable, to run lines into all manner of private homes and apartment houses, just as is now done with telephone lines. Now, then, it can be said that Points 1 to 3 aforementioned comprise legitimate and proper activities of A. T. & T. in a field in which its patent rights are complete, exclusive and absolute. Experimentation in these directions can continue until A. T. & T. is completely satisfied in every respect. Point 4, however, is something entirely different. In the first place, coaxial cable is terrifically expensive, comparatively speaking, and it would seem to be the height of folly to run such a cable through streets and country lanes, as the phone line is now run, simply to supply one picture image — on a line capable of carrying 200 telephone messages. A. T. & T. Restricted in Radio Moreover, and this is most important, A. T. & T. has no right at all to do any of these things by radio. A. T. & T. cannot even manufacture an acoustical or television transmitter, the rights to which are vested exclusively in RCA, as far as A. T. & T. is concerned. That deal is set — signed, sealed and delivered. The rental charges on the coaxial cable would be much too expensive to encourage A. T. & T. television activity in that direction. Furthermore, the tradition of free advertising has been firmly fixed in the American mind by radio activities to date, thus setting up another well-nigh insurmountable obstacle in A. T. & T's path. Television, when it comes, will be transmitted by radio, and this being so, it is apparent that RCA has the inside track. Leading Citizens Perform THE story of the Paramount reorganization is one for the book. First there are hordes of lawyers, trustees and what-have-you who have applied for a mere three million in fees for their valiant work in "guiding" the reorganization through to a glorious conclusion. Next come Sir William Wiseman, of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., and John Hertz of Yellow Taxicab fame — names to conjure with, these. Wiseman admitted that, although he held not a nickel's worth of Paramount bonds, he made considerable money while trading therein from "the inside" as a member of the bondholders' committee. Kuhn, Loeb profits during the period that a partner (Wiseman) was on the "inside" amounted to a paltrv $334,995. Mr. Hertz, another paragon, took the stand to discuss, quite informally by the way, how he had to "push Adolph Zukor around" in order to attain his economy goal. Hertz also had some uncomfortable minutes on the stand when discussing the handling of Paramount business by firms with which his relatives were connected. All nice people, these who dug deeply into the Paramount melon. During all this time, of course, Hertz was busy firing cleaning women who drew as high as $11 weekly— in the interests of economy; and Wiseman was very busy "protecting" the interests of bondholders. The lawyers were busy only with making out their own bills. Lovely people, these. *C-0 Rectifier Aging NO DEFINITE conclusions have been reached in the investigation instituted by I. P. relative to the "aging" or "breakin" period characteristic of copper-oxide rectifiers, as a result of many inquiries received from the field. As this aging proceeds it becomes necessary to readjust the transformer connections by going to the next higher set of taps. The well-known characteristic of copper-oxide rectifiers apparently has been the subject of numerous discussions since the introduction of this unit in the projection field, and it appears that considerable detrimental misinformation has been spread by those who are not so favorably inclined toward their use for projection work. In line with the policy of disseminating factual information anent the operation of equipment under actual working conditions, I. P. assigned a competent investigator to the job of reporting on the facts incident thereto. Excerpts from this special report are appended hereto: "I regret being unable to report definite conclusions arising from my investigation into the aging of copperoxide rectifiers. The fan-cooled units now being used in the projection field apparently do not follow the same curve of aging as do other types. It would seem that aging takes place at a much lower rate and to a much less extent than in other types of rectifiers. Longer Aging Period "I found that the very first units of this type, which were put into service more than eight months ago, are still running at the initial setting without any decrease in output. Ordinarily, we could expect that the aging during the first six months would be more rapid than at any other time, and I believe that the makers originally calculated that it would be necessary to readjust the transformer connections after this period of service, going to the next higher set of taps. "I have been unable to find a single case thus far where it has been necessary to make any change in the setting, even on the oldest units (that is, eight or nine months old). "It would seem, therefore, that reports from the field which you cited when assigning this work, to the effect that rapid aging was causing readjustment of the taps after comparatively 'short periods' of operation, are not based on fact but rather suggest intensive propaganda efforts by those who probably look with disfavor upon the advances made in this field by the copper-oxide rectifier. "This matter may be kept open for the time being, with a further check to be made within, say, another six months, at which time it should be possible to reach certain definite conclusions on operating characteristics." Which, for the present, is that. I. P. readers who are using this type of equipment are invited to submi^ their findings for publication.