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

gatmii aiiil Jupiter may stay in a critical relation to each other for as much as two years, in whicli event the inner planets, as they circle the sun more rapidly, have an opportunity to create adilitiunal critical relationships, which aiid to the effects of the Saturn-Jupiter team. In preparing his evidence, Mr. Nelson relied heavily on the hun- dreds of tiaiiy propagation reports (fathered for him by RCA techni- cians at Riverhead. L. I., and by overseas technicians associated with Radio France and the Tele- graph Administration in Sweden. Assistance also was rendered by his brother Carl W. Nelson, ati amateur astronomer and meteor- olojrist in Massachusetts, who aided in plottinjr the planetary confijrura- tions and in ascertaining the angles of least disturbance. Sunspot Size Not Critical Prior to planetary studies that have made possible his long-ranjre predictions. Mr. Nelson achieved considerable success in forecasts based solely upon his observations 3f sunspots. In 19-4.^. he and his associates caused comment in as- tronomical circles by a report in kvhich they said their investigations showed the size of sunspots to be "a meaningless criterion" in pre- dicting disruption caused to radio circuits. The type of the sunspots. :heir age and activity, and their josition on the face of the sun, were leclared to be the determining fac- ;ors of disruptive bombardment. Moreover. Mr. Nelson and his issociates established at that time ;he e.xistence of a "critical zone" )n the face of the sun—an area ibout 26° in radius from the opti- ;al center of the sun, on its east- ;rn hemisphere. It was discovered ;hat the position of the sunspots ,n relation to this critical zone was )f utmost importance. Damaging 'ffects were noted when new active (pots were within this zone. Subsequent investigations by Mr. Melson have shown this critical !one to be expanding as the sunspot rycle approaches its next low point )f activity, which is expected to )ccur at approximately the end of 1954. This zone remains a valuable isset to Mr. Nelson in making his iaily forecasts of magnetic weather. WITH SLIDE-RULE AND GLOBE, NELSON TABULATES I.NKORMATKIN WHICH PER.MITS ENCINEEaJS TO PLAN STATIC-FREE COMMUNICA- TIONS CIRCUITS FAR IN ADVANCE OF THE COS.MIC DISTURBANCES THAT HERETOFORE HAVE BAFFLED EXPERTS. Assressive Promotion Will Meet TV Sales •do Situation, Says H. G. Baker The same old-fashioned, aggres- sive advertising and merchandis- ing efforts, and the promotional in- genuity which the industry in the past has demonstrated that it com- mands, should be successful in meeting the current television sales situation. This was the encourag- ing statement issued by H. G. Baker, Vice President and General Manager of the RCA Victor Home Instrument Department, in response to queries from the press when tele- vision set sales showed a slight de- cline in late March. Admitting that the situation is a "challenging" one, Mr. Baker said: "Television business begins to fall off every year around this time. There should be no cause for con- cern in a situation the radio and television industry has experienced in the past. From our own stand- point^ RCA Victor's current tele- vision sales are considerably higher than they were during the like period last year. "We in the television industry must face the fact that we cannot expect forever that the customer will beat a path to the teleinsion dealer's door," he added. "There must be a return to aggressive, competitive retail operation. And if that time has already arrived, then certainly this industry, by employing its established talent for sales promotion, can go a long way toward taking up the slack in the current sales decline, without fall- ing back on pricing measures." Emphasizing that the sales ini- tiative is in the hands of the indus- try, Mr. Baker pointed out that RCA Victor is currently pushing the greatest concentration of tele- vision advertising in the company's history, built around full-page and half-page insertions in 137 major newspapers in 108 cities. "This campaign is a hard-hitting effort to carry our television sales stor.v to every major television mar- ket in the country," he said. "And it represents a major reason why RCA Victor television sales today, despite the seasonal decline, are considerably higher than they were this time last vear." [RADIO AGE 5]