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The Limestone Air Force Base TV station in operation. Staff Sgt. James R. Dean prepares to roll kinescope film recording as Airman Second Class Robert L. Slezak cues announcer in the studio. The Smallest TV Station in the World J_HE world's smallest television station was officially previewed on June 30 at the U. S. Air Force base at Limestone, Me., from which Uncle Sam's airmen fly the world's largest bombers. Colonel Bertram C. Harrison, Commander, 42d Bom- bardment Wing, hailed the "Tom Thumb" TV setup as a "truly significant experiment that we hope will be used as a pattern to bring television to U. S. military per- sonnel stationed at isolated bases around the world." The tiny, low-powered station has approximately one five-thousandths the wattage of the nation's largest commercial stations. With its maximum coverage range of only three miles, the Air Force station provides ten hours of major network programs daily for more than 15,000 persons living at this 10,000-acre installation only a few miles from the Canadian border. Conceived by General Curtis E. LeMay, Commander, Strategic Air Command, as an entertainment medium for personnel at isolated bases, the station was built by the Radio Corporation of America after General LeMay sought assistance from Brig. General David Sarnoft, Chairman of the Board of RCA. The tiny new television station was dedicated at ceremonies which took place at a giant "open house" at the base on the Fourth of July. It was estimated that more than 50,000 persons were on hand to inspect non- security portions of the mammoth base and to catch glimpses of the latest type planes in the nation's air defense armada. Built and Installed at Cost Equipment for the miniature 8-watt station, which transmits programs over a three mile radius, was de- signed, built and erected at cost by RCA. A grant of $34,000 from the SAC welfare fund paid for the equip- ment and its installation. "The lessons learned by our engineers in simplifying and miniaturizing television equipment to be used by our Armed Forces enabled us to design and construct this miniature station," Francis H. Engel, Assistant to the Vice-President and General Manager, Engineering Prod- ucts Division of RCA, said in describing the station. "The same principles we used in building light- weight, efficient and easy-to-operate television equipment for airplanes and other military uses were applied here. Consequently, less than three months after General LeMay proposed his idea to General Sarnoft, the station was in operation." 6 RADIO ACE