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

was unloaded in Rotterdam and transported by tram through France and Germany to West Berlin. When the RCA representatives arrived in Berlin, they learned that, due to the Communist Youth Festival the western sectors of the city were on an "alert," and consequently, all trucks needed to transport the equip- ment, and all passenger cars scheduled for use by the staff, were confined to a motor pool where they would be handy to cope with any emergency. Only ten days stood between the crew and the open- ing date of August 13, yet for sfven of those days they had to sit around waiting for transportation to become available. When the trucks and cars finally appeared, the men had 85 hours to build a complete system. Transmitters and Studios Probably never before in the history of the industry did a technical crew face a comparable problem. The 35 tons of delicate electronic equipment had undergone an eight day trip over water, had been slung on and off ship, trucked through a couple of cities, car- ried many miles on a German military train, and finally loaded and unloaded three times in Berlin. As might be expected, it suffered considerable damage. One trans- former had to be rebuilt, and two micro-wave relays and one television camera required complete overhauling. The five-story Schoenberg Rathaus (City Hall), one of the highest points in the city, was selected as the site of the transmitter and a bat-wing antenna. After a thorough study of facilities it was decided to locate an outdoor studio in Schoenberg-Stadt Park about a block from the City Hall, and an indoor studio in the Titania Palace, West Berlin's biggest theatre. The outdoor stage, from which the programs were to originate, had to be built before the demonstration could begin. But nature refused to cooperate. During the first week the crew spent in Berlin, a constant, driv- ing rain stopped all work. Finally, with clearing skies on August 11, the men began setting up equipment. The stage was completed shortly before time for the opening program. In fact, while the floor manager was giving the alert sign to the performers on the first "live" program, the German carpenters were gathering up their tools, before departing. By American standards, the Park studio was anything but elaborate. It consisted of a stage about 40 feet by 75 feet with a canvas roof and drapes on three sides. Control equipment occupied a curtained-off room at one side. Both live and film programs originated from this site, the signals traveling to the transmitter over cable. At the indoor studio, one camera was stationed in the balcony, another on the stage. The control room was set up in a wing of the balcony, and signals reached the transmitter by micro-wave relay. Russians Throw a "Party" Although construction of the studios and transmittet constituted the biggest part of the job, the installation of the receivers was no small undertaking. The 110 home- type sets were distributed throughout West Berlin, in the windows of large and small stores, and in meeting halls, parks, squares, and other public places, some of them 10 miles from the transmitter. Many of the buildings where the receivers were lo- cated were war-damaged six and eight-story structures of which only the first or second floors had been repaired. During the first telecast, the crowd around the out- door studio numbered about 25.000. The 16 home-type receivers operating at the park were nowhere near ade- Curious crowds gathered to watch RCA technicians erect a 15- by 20-foot theatre television screen in the ruins of Potsdomer Strasse. RCA home-type television receivers, set up in Schoene- berg Stadt Park, attracted up to 25,000 German resi- dents nightly during the demonstrations.