NBC Transmitter (Jan-Dec 1938)

14 NBC TRANSMITTER NBC SAN FRANCISCO by Louise Landis Gilman Speaks San Francisco’s Commercial Club turned out en masse to greet its former president and long-time member when Mr. Gilman attended a luncheon recently as guest of honor. Almost a thousand persons filled the club’s enormous dining hall to hear him talk on “Behind the Scenes in Broadcasting”. Speaking, as he always does, extemporaneously, Mr. Gilman talked casually, informally and pleasantly, as unmindful of the microphone which was carrying his words out on the air as if it were not there. One of the highlights of his talk was his description of the music lover of a few years ago, as “a man who stood in a box office line several hours in order to buy opera tickets, then hurried home to don tails and eat a hurried dinner, and in cab or whatever conveyance he used, to get to the opera house, make his way through the crush to his seat, listen to the opera and then spend perhaps several hours getting home again.” “This he did twice or at best several times a year,” the NBC western chieftain said. “Now that same man goes home at night, puts on his slippers, turns the dial of his radio and writes us an indignant letter if he doesn’t get at least the Metropolitan Opera!” Audience Mail’s Friend Wanda Woodward, sparkling-eyed head of Audience Mail (“The Duchess” to us old-timers) corresponds cheerfully with folks in all walks of life. One of her most regular writers is a prisoner at San Quentin. He is a former singer on vaudeville stages who is called upon frequently for entertainment of his fellow inmates. With the prison “grapevine” his only source of information about late songs, he writes to Wanda for aid in unravelling some of the names of titles and publishers. Kind-hearted Wanda, of course, usually commandeers copies of the songs he wants from NBC musicians. Here are some of San Quentin’s recent requestnumbers: “Sing-Song in Sing Sing”, “The Joint Is Jumpin’ ”, “Lord and Lady Whoozis” and “Mrs. Lowborough, Goodbye”, by Cole Porter. Flood Heroes Not all the heroes of the Los Angeles flood disaster were found in Southern California. NBC is lucky to have a large assoftment of “hams” on its engineering staff, and it was largely due to their efforts in conjunction with the army of amateurs in the Los Angeles area that, when all other means of communication were washed away by the flood, the big sponsored shows went on uninterrupted. Glenn Dolberc, new program manager of NBC San Francisco, has had wide experience in many fields of radio, in the Northwest, in Southern California, and in San Francisco. The San Francisco emergency corps which stood by for 48 hours included George McElwain, Ed Parkhurst, Bill, McAuley, Dick Parks, Jimmy Ball and A1 Aldridge. Company business, word cues for programs and numerous other details were sent and received by the amateurs who used their own sets and gave their own spare time to the job. One of the freaks of the flood situation was the message Freeman Gosden (Amos) got through to his family in Los Angeles although he was marooned in Palm Springs. He got a telegram through to Denver, which telephoned it to NBC, San Francisco, where KGO Transmitter Engineer Dick Parks relayed it on his own short-wave set to a Los Angeles ham who telephoned the Gosden home, got a return message and sent it back to San Francisco which sent it to Denver which telegraphed it to Amos! The message traveled 6,000 miles to cover a distance of less than 100 miles. Named Musical Director Walter Kelsey, violinist and conductor on the NBC staff for several years, has been named Musical Director in San Francisco. New Announcers Three new announcers on Dick Ellers’ staff. Euel Labhard, formerly of KFBK, Sacramento; Emerson Smith, formerly of Denver, and John Grover, who enters the announcing field after having had experience as an actor on the NBC staff here. Wedding Bells and Denials Those wedding bells will ring this summer for one of the handsomest bachelors left in the Engineering Department — Buddy Sugg (oh, all right, Control Supervisor P. A. Sugg, if you want to be technical). The lucky girl is a lovely peninsula socialite, Betty Ross Taylor. Wedding bells will NOT chime, she announces firmly, for Ruth Chapel (Press Department) and she is NOT on her way to Honolulu despite all those stories in the ship news columns of local papers. Ruth, who is the kind of subject ship cameramen will walk a deck-mile for, any day, was busily engaged seeing a friend off to Honolulu the other day on the Titibu Maru, when one of the other members in the farewell party got a bright idea. He told the ship news men confidentially that Ruth was a passenger on the ship and that she and the departing guest of honor, George L. Meyers, were to be married in the Islands. Ruth unsuspectingly posed for pictures, and now she’s still sending out denials. Personnel Changes Promotions and changes are still coming thick and fast. Stanley Smith and Robert Sandstrom, formerly of the office staff, have joined the ranks of receptionists. Stan relieves Jane Burns and Ruth Miller on the studio reception desk at night, and Bob presides over the second floor desk in the daytime. Elinor McFadden has left the hostess staff for the Production Department where she is now secretary for Cameron Prud’homme. More Newcomers More new faces of 1938: In the Sales Department, C. L. Blonsness, handling network sales, and hailing from KGW, Portland. In Audience Mail, Dorothy McGaha, and on the office staff Calvin Edgerton and David McNutt. KPO Improvements Joe Baker, in charge of the K.PO transmitter, is a busy man these days, for KPO is undergoing face-lifting and streamlining operations. Lester A. Looney, a member of the NBC Radio Facilities Division, is supervising the addition of technical equipment and other improvements which will mean higher quality transmission and an increased signal strength at Belmont. Included is an RCA limiting amplifier which will allow programs to be transmitted at a higher level of volume with even greater fidelity. By the ingenious method of feeding background noise back into the transmitter, out of phase, such noise will be virtually eliminated. San Francisco Manager Lloyd E. Yoder and Curtis Peck, Engineer in charge of the San Francisco studios, point out that the modifications being made are part of a series of such changes designed to keep KPO up to date. Delectable Gadget June Shaw of Press wears the world’s most delectable gadget which is eyed with envy by every other NBCette . . . It’s a tiny clip of green leather from which hang two tiny green sandals which would fit a foot about half an inch long. iii Have you tried the Exchange Comer? It bring* results — and it's tree.