Radio age (Jan-Dec 1925)

32 RADIO AGE for June, 1925 What the Broadcasters are Doing, this series of dashes into lands where white men have not before been privileged to go are the fol lowing: Donald B. MacMil Ian, Commander in the navy and leader of the expedition. Commander MacMillan is a scientist, explorer, author, navigator, lecturer. Eugene F. McDonald, Jr., President of the National Association of Broadcasters and President of the Zenith Radio Corporation, Chicago. Commander McDonald, himself a n experienced navigator and hunter, was responsible for the installation of radio equipment on the little schooner "Bowdoin" when it carried Dr. MacMillan to the Arctics in 1923. This was the first demonstration of the value of radio in Arctic explorations. Communication was established with the "Bowdoin" after it went into "Winter quarters" within thirteen degrees of the North Pole and was maintained for months. U. J. Herrmann, showman, sportsman, founder of the two great annual national radio expositions in Chicago and New York and one of the owners of the new station, WHT, on the Wrigley Building tower, Chicago. John L. Reinartz, famous radio inventor, designer of the Reinartz circuit, official of the American Radio Relay League, pioneer in short wave development. Lieut. Reinartz will be official broadcaster for the MacMillan expedition and will conduct tests with short wave transmission, which will engage the attention of the entire radio world. He has been employed permanently by the Zenith Radio Corporation, 332 South Michigan avenue, Chicago and will devote much of his time before the expedition sets off in assisting amaterus in the United States and Canada to learn the construction of short wave transmitters and receivers, which will be of votal importance in getting messages to and from the MacMillan expedition. The Zenith Corporation will build these receivers and transmitters only for its own use, both on the MacMillan ship and in its own transmitting stations in Chicago. But it will assist all who wish to build the instruments with free in The upper photograph shows Commander MacMillan greeting Eugene F. McDonald, one of the sponsors of the 1925 trip and a seasoned navigator himself, as well as one of radio's leading pioneers. In the circle is U. J. ("Sport") Herrmann, widely known sportsman and showman, who will accompany the expedition. formation on application by _mail to Lieut. Reinartz. The Zenith Corporation says it hopes to have 1,000 amateurs equipped with short wave transmitters before the MacMillan expedition sails. Information as to the volunteer naval aviation personnel which will be a part of the expedition will be given RADIO AGE readers in a later issue. Short Waves Are "Coming" POMMANDER McDonald predicted ^* to the writer more than a year ago that the radio world would soon be paying more serious attention to the use of short waves as an effective means of radio communications. His plans for the equipment of the artic expedition prove that he has more faith than ever in this employment of high frequencies under the most difficult conditions. He submitted the following facts in a recent interview: Will Carry Transmitters "The Expedition is to have four transmitters, 20, 40, 80, and 180 meter wavelengths. We will be in twentyfour hour daylight after we pass 66°30' north latitude. The 20 meter transmitter will be used when we are communicating during the period of the day when this part of the globe is in daylight; 40 meters when this part of the globe is in darkness. The 80 meter transmitter is merely to be used to get us wider ci rculation among the amateurs that will be able to reach down to that point, and not down to 20 meters. The 180 meter transmitter is taken along merely for the purpose of proving that it will not work in these high latitudes, and twenty-four hour day"ight. "I have employed Reinartz at the highest salary ever paid any radio operator, $1,000.00 a month, and this is not stage money. I secured him because I believed him to be the short wave wizard of the United States, and money is no object. We must get these messages back from the Arctic even though we are going into the most difficult section of the globe for radio transmission. One hundred meter signals have never been heard in Smith Sound between 55o n.l. and 75° n.l. You will recall the MacMillan signals came back only after they had passed 75°. His port from which he sent most of the communications last year was from 78:30. Planes Will Transmit "We are equipping the airplanes with a new type of transmitter using 40 meters. The reason we cannot use 20 meters on the airplanes is that 20 meters are not audible at distances under 2500 miles. Forty meters, however, are audible at all short distances. Lieut. Reinartz pointed out an interesting phenomenon the other day when he told me that while it was necessary to be 500 miles away to hear 20 meter signals in the daytime, it was necessary to be 3,000 miles or over to hear them at night. "The transmitters for the airplanes will weigh under 100 lbs., and be operated by dry batteries only. The Government radio equipment today for airplanes is operated by a generator propelled by an aeroplane propeller, and therefore will function only while the airplane is in