Radio Digest (July 1924-Apr 1925)

tugust 16, 1924 RADIO DIGES T— Illustrated lECIDED CHANGES IN RADIO REGULATIONS lMATEUR'S benefit more THAN COMMERCIAL cc ar 5 •"our New Channels of Operation Added to Develop Various Short Wave Lengths WASHINGTON, D. C. — The more than 15,000 amateur Radio operators of the country will no doubt be pleased at the mended regulations which have just been ssued by the Radio section of the depart ent of commerce. This is tlae first time that there have been any changes in the amateur Radio regulations since the last conference. The high point in the new regulations is the fact that four new channels of operation have been added and the amateurs will be given an opportunity to develop the practical use of the short wave lengths. The new regulations as sent to the Radio supervisors is as follows: "Effective this date you are authorized to issue general and restricted amateur Radio station licenses to permit the use of any one or all of the '"following bands of short wave lengths: 75 to 80 meters, 40 to 43 meters, 20 to 22 meters, 4 to 5 meters, in addition to the band 150 to 200 meters, provided application is made by the owner of the station, which station must be prepared to use the wave length, or wave lengths, requested. "The use of continuous wave telegraphy only will be permitted on wave lengths other than 150 to 200 meters and the antenna circuit must not be directly coupled to the transmitting circuit. "Silent hours will not be required of amateurs while using the wave lengths within the above bands below 80 meters except where the transmitting station is so situated as to produce objectionable interference with other services. "Hereafter special amateur stations will not use wave lengths above 200 meters. They may be authorized to use the band of wave length from 105 to 110 meters in addition to wave lengths within the bands authorized for general restricted amateur use, where the special amateurs are engaged in conducting tests with government or commercial stations. "General, restricted and special amateur stations will be permitted to use the entire band of wave lengths from 150 to 200 meters employing pure CW, spark and modulated forms of transmission. "It should be made clear to the amateurs that the authority granted above is necessary tentative because of the rapid development taking place in Radio communication and the bands of wave lengths^ authorized may be changed whenever in* the opinion of the secretary of commerce such change is necessary." WDAR Treats Fans to 18>Hole Golf Match Followed Players from Hole to Hole With Microphone PHILADELPHIA — Radiocasting an entire golf match recently was accomplished from Station WDAR, located here, and proved to be quite a novelty. The match was between Max Marston, amateur golf champion 1924, and Jesse Sweester, amateur golf champion 1923, who paired off against Walter Hagen, British open champion and Joseph Kirkwood, professional and trick shot champion. Frank McCracken, the well-known sports writer followed the contestants over the course with a microphone, de-. scribing, in his breezy style, each shot and play as it was made. To accomplish this new feat in Radioeasting, the entire course over the Overbrook Golf club, where the match' was played, was wired from one hole to the next. At each hole the microphone on the end of a loose extension was plugged into the circuit which led into the Green Hill Farms hotel at the end of the course. OPERA TOO LONG, SO "JAZZ" IS RADIOCAST PARIS. — Radio-Paris got behind schedule on two days recently and was forced to cut out the finales of both Faust and Tannhauser. A storm of protest was raised in the French press, although the action has its defendants also. The reason for the cut was that the operas began to overlap on the regular schedule for the "jazz" concert. And the French like to hear jazz. PORTABLE SETS TOO PORTABLE; IS CLAIM PARIS. — The advantages of a portable set have long been harped upon. Now the one great disadvantage of its portability is being discussed by French fans as a result of an incident at the Radio show here. A salesman who had been advertising his portable set left it under his desk one day while he walked out for a moment. Upon his return the set was gone. WHEN BEAUTY LISTENS IN Miss Jane Winton, one of the Follies' most beautiful girls, recently was captured by a large movie concern, who signed her up for five years. This is probably the first; time in the history of motion pictures that a beginner has received a contract for such a long term. Miss Winton is an ardent Radiophan, and always likes to listen in when not on the stage. K. & H. Photo Station WHAZ Using Mostly Home Talent All Artists and Students Perform Without Compensation TROT, N. Y. — The question, "Who is to Radiocast when the commercial returns wane?" — which is paramount to any such unpractical suggestion as "Who is to pay for Radiocasting?" — apparently has but one answer: College and public institutions, service, municipal and educational, including the newspapers. One notable example of college Radio service, entertaining as well as instruc tive, and incidentally the first in the field of 500-watt stations, is the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y., whose Radiocasts from Station WHAZ have spanned the country and frequently far beyond for two years without any expectation of financial return. Its very complete Radio equipment was the gift of the Roeblings, the famous bridge builders; its operation for the benefit of the public, beside its very necessary uses in connection with the electrical engineering course, is maintained by this pioneer college of engineering, which will celebrate its centennial in October, and its entertainers, professional and amateur artists and students, contribute their talents for the pleasure and education of the Radio audience without compensation. STATION WLAG ENDS LONG CAREER ON AIR IN HANDS OF RECEIVER; TO BE PUT ON MARKET No Offers to Take It Over Have Been Received at the Present Time MINNEAPOLIS.— Station WLAG, located in this city, is no more. Due to financial troubles, this station known as the Twin Cities Radio central, was forced to suspend operations recently. The station which is the property of the Cutting & Washington Radio corporation, now in receivership, will be placed on the market by the receiver. Efforts to have some syndicate take over the station and operate it by popular subscription have failed, thereby necessitating this course. Whether the station will be taken over and opened later by a new organization, or whether it will be dismantled, has not been determined as yet. WLAG was opened September 4, 1922, and supported by Minneapolis firms. Its slogan, "The Call of the North," became nationally known. Later a reorganization was effected by which "it became a Twin Cities station, supported by people in both this city and St. Paul. It established a number of enviable long distance records, and was one of the best known and best liked stations in the United States. Radiophans in this neighborhood regret the passing of the station, and are looking forward to it opening again some time soon. Presents Old Greek Play Without Change First Time on Air; Written 2,500 Years Ago GLASGOW. — When Sophocles wrote his famous Greek dramas nearly 2,500 years ago, he had no idea that they would be heard by anyone except the small world of Greek-speaking people. Yet he produced classics that the entire world is still reading with pleasure and studying for dramatic and literary ideas. First his works went to the Romans because an improved method of warfare made these hardy people conquerors over the Greeks. Then the great Greek plays came westward to France, to Spain and England and north to Germany. In the course of centuries they floated across the great Atlantic with the early settlers of a new and unexplored country. Today, in less than a second, they could circle the globe. In fact they have started to do that very thing, for the Radiocasting station at Glasgow has brought these famous dramas into the Radio world. The first play of Sophocles to appear through the microphone was "Antigone." Save for the choruses, which were especially written, not a line of the original was changed, save as necessitated by translation. The Radiocast was received warmly by the British Radio public and is expected to point the way toward a wide interest in the old Greek classics and their wider distribution over the Radio. Whistling Unique Feature; Public Asked for Criticism NEW YORK. — Station WHN, recently put across a novel feature from their studio on the Loew's State theater building. It was Charles L. Ragot, who has developed the faculty of controlling the voice and whistling simultaneously, enabling him to render duets by himself with two distinct melodies at the same time. This unique feature on the part of Mr. Ragot, who is not a professional, invited students and scientists to investigate how it was done. No one could offer any explanation for this mysterious performance. THE ANTENNA BROTHERS Spir L. and Lew P. One Strike — Out