Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

The magnitude of the production task, it was stressed, "is only real- ized when we consider the tremen- dous demands of war in eciiiippiiij.' an Army of more than 7.(H)(),0()() men, a great two-ocean Navy, and an ever-expanding Air (^orps of thousands of planes." There has been a demand on the radio indus- try for "millions" of electron tubes of all sizes, and great numbers of transmitters, receivers, antennas and other vital instruments aiul equipment. "RCA has handled a vast amount of research and engineering for the armed forces," General Harbord reported. "This fact is illustrated by the number of new devices—in- cluding more than 150 new electron tubes and appro.ximately 300 differ- ent types of apparatus—built since the beginning of the war but not previously manufactured by any one." Refunds to Governtuent Military secrecy prohibits dis- closure of the nature of these de- vices. He declared that RCA was proud of the opportunity to share with American industi-y the gigantic undertaking of supplying the fight- ing fronts. Volume of products and services of RCA manufacturing plants was revealed to have in- creased to $222,000,000 in 1943, or 73 per cent over 1942, and unfilled orders total a backlog of appro.xi- mately $300,000,000, he reported. "It is the basic policy of the Company in its war effort," he added, "to reduce the prices of manufactured equipment as fast as designs are final and lower costs in manufacturing are possible. As a result, voluntary price reductions and refunds to the Government apart from renegotiation proceed- ings, totaled upwards of $22,000,- 000 in 1943." In the field of broadcasting. Gen- eral Harbord told the stockholders, the "war needs of the Nation and the public interest are our guiding factors in our activities." He re- called that within the last two months the National Broadcasting Company has announced its policy regarding the future of television and FM, recognizing television as the capstone of the i-adio structure. He said NBC proposes to "contrib- ute the utmost to the earliest i)os- sible development of television as ;i national service and industry. In (irder to establish anchor points of a television system NBC has filed applications with the Fed- eral Communications Commission for construction permits for sta- tions in Cleveland, Chicago, Den- ver, San Francisco, and Los An- geles, it was reported. NBC plans to operate these stations as it now does WNBT, its pioneer television station in New York. Applications have been filed for permits for F1\I stations in cities where the networii maintains studios. Describing RCA's world - wide circuits as "vital arteries of com- munication," General Harbord dis- closed that RCA's automatic trans- mitters and receivers now are able to handle 6.50 words a minute com- pared with the rate of 30 to 40 words a minute handled by w'ire- less during World War I. With the cooperation of the War Depart- ment, RCA has built and is operat- ing in Italy the first all-American commercial radio station on the Continent of Europe. Marine radio activities, con- ducted by the Radiomarine Corpo- ration of America, since the out- break of the war have been devoted to the design, production, installa- tion and servicing of marine radio apparatus for the armed services, the Maritime Commission and the War Shipping Administration, General Harbord reported. New Products Planned In conclusion. General Harbord said: "Alert to its post-war respon- sibilities and opportunities, RCA looks ahead without slackening its effort to win the war. National conversion to peace will be a stu- pendous task. It cannot he accom- plished overnight. Therefore, it must be planned with foresight for the benefit of the Nation, the Amer- ican economic system, and the maintenance of employment. New products, new efficiencies in pro- duction and in merchandising are being planned by RCA. We are de- termined to do our utmost to keep .America in the forefront of indus- trial progress and particularly in the art of radio and television. "When this conflict is over, much of the radio we knew at the time of Pearl Harbor will be old and obso- lete. The trumpets which signal 'Cease Firing' at the end of this war will sound the reveille for the .Age of Television. "Our Corporation will answer the ei)och-making challenges of peace with efficiency and speed. RCA re- search and pioneering—the spear- heads of progress — \vill open the future to new inventions and serv- ices for the benefit of a better world." Laboratories Win Star In recognition of continued achievement and meritorious serv- ice in the United States war effort, a second star has been added to the Army-Navy "E" Flag won in 1943 by RCA Laboratories, Princeton, N. .1.. a letter from the Navy De- partment announced -lune 21. Writing to 0. S. Schairer, Vice President in Charge of RCA Lab- oratories, Admiral C. C. Bloch, USN (Ret.), Chairman of the Navy Board for Production Awards, said: "The men and women of your plant have continued to maintain the high standard they set for themselves when they were orig- inally awarded the Army-Navy "E". They may well be proud of their achievement." The new star repi-esents six months of continued achievement and is the symbol of appreciation of the armed forces. RCA Labora- tories—one of the world's foremost centers of radio and electronic re- search—received the first star on .lanuary 15, six months after win- ning the flag. Retailers See Television A practical demonstration of the possibilities of postwar television in the field of retail store merchan- dising was staged May 25 in Radio City by NBC and RCA for 22 rep- resentatives of retail organizations comprising the Associated Mer- chandising Corporation. RADIO AGE 3 1]