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

DR. C. B. JOLLIFFE ADDRESSES THE GRADUATING CLASS OK RCA INSTITUTES IN AN N liC STUDIO IN RADIO CITY. RCA Institutes Graduates 198 In Commencement Address, Dr. JoUifJc of RCA Laboratories Points to Possible Developments in World of Electronics. WORLD-WIDE television net- works, self-powered portable television receivers, and other elec- tronic developments of the future will emerg-e from the creative imag- ination of scientists. Dr. C. B. Jol- liffe. Executive ^'ice President in Charge of RCA Laboratories, de- clared in an address to the gradu- ating class of RCA Institutes on November 29. During the commencement exer- cises, which were held in Studio 8H of NBC in Radio City, diplomas were presented to 198 students—the largest class to be graduated from the Institutes. The graduates had completed courses in radio and tele- vision servicing, operating a n d broadcasting, and advanced technol- ogy covering maintenance, opera- tion and development of circuits and equipment in radio and televi- sion. Maj. Gen. George L. Van Deusen, President of the Institutes, made the welcoming address and the in- vocation was pronounced by Rabbi Daniel L. Davis, Director of the New York Federation of Reformed Synagogues. "The future belongs to those who imagine it." Dr. -lolliffe declared. "What we have accomplished in science and industry is just about enough to provide us with a spring- hoard into the future and the won- ders it holds. Don't be afraid to speculate and dream—they are fine companions for work." He said that radio and elec- tronics, "because of their inherent capabilities and versatility, con- stantly goad us into finding or de- vising new tasks for them." Planetary Communication Possible Though it seems unlikely that we shall ever hear from another planet by radio, this is scientifically pos- sible. Dr. Jolliffe said, adding: "We have bounced radio and radar signals off the moon and ob- servations have been made of radio noise which originates in interstel- lar space. "Closer to realization but still a major problem, is how to create a world-wide television network. This is an economic as well as a technical matter, since it would be necessary to have television systems all over the globe, but scientifically we can see it pretty closely. Transoceanic planes, flying a predetermined dis- tance from each other, could serve as radio relay stations and speed video programs to and from Eng- land and Europe. "You might couple imagination and technical knowledge and try to figure out a method of producing a Ijraclical portable television receiver —providing an adequate sized pic- ture from a set weighing less than 20 pounds," he suggested. "This in- volves several problems, none of them simple, such as greatly simpli- fying the circuits, reducing the number of tubes, lowering the power requirements and developing an etlicient picture-reproducing sys- tem which can be folded up." Dr. Jolliffe pointed out that there exists a broad field for exploi-ation in closed circuit and special purpose television. "Television cries out for use in any application where observation and danger overlap," he said. "The making of explosives involves mix- ing operations of a perilous nature and there is no necessity to expose men to death when the mixing can be observed by a television camera and the process remotely controlled. "The mining of coal in dangerous areas of marginal productivity is not morally justified if we must send men under the ground to do it. But a mining machine that would find its own way with its television "eye" would be expendable." Pointing out the scarcity of fine teachers. Dr. .Jolliffe said that tele- vision in education would make it possible for hundreds or thousands of students to have "front row" seats at lectures or demonstrations given by topflight instructors. In wartime, television would be an in- valuable training aid for the same reason and because it could be used to demonstrate the use of scarce equipment to large numbers of men at widely separated points. [RADIO AGE 15]