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

©KfiWSiu Drive-ins From Massachusetts to Wisconsin, drive-in movie viewers will be seeing bright pictures on the screen with the help of RCA. Under a contract signed recently with the Phil Smith Manage- ment Corp., of Boston, one of the nation's largest chains of outdoor the- aters, RCA Wide-Arc screen lamps are being installed in 14 drive-in theaters located in eight states. The RCA lamp, for wide-screen, 3-D and drive-in use, is designed to provide the brilliance needed to light oversize, wide-film out- door theater screens. Long jump One of the longest single microwave radio hops ever placed in service — a span of 81.5 miles — forms part of a new 230-mile microwave radio relay system just completed by RCA's Engi- neering Products Division for the Colorado Interstate Gas Company at Colorado Springs. The system links the company's headquarters with its pipeline compressor stations and gas- producing fields in Kansas and Okla- homa. The unique 81.5-mile stretch without intermediate relay points lies between repeater stations located atop Cheyenne Mountain and at Todd Point, both in Colorado. Safety First The RCA Service Company has re- ceived the National Safety Council's highest award—the "Award of Honor" —in recognition of an outstanding safety record during the past twelve months. The presentation was made in October by Walter L. Matthews, of the Council, to Edward C. Cahill, Presi- dent of the RCA Service Company. The award covered activities of some 5,000 employees at more than 150 business locations in the United States and overseas. Welcome to Prescott Visitors approaching Prescott, On- tario, home of the television manu- facturing plant of RCA Victor Com- pany, Ltd., are now greeted by new signs in the design of an open book and labelled "Welcome to Historic Prescott, Home of RCA Victor Radio & Television Plant." The company de- signed the signs in cooperation with the Prescott Chamber of Commerce and installed them at its own expense on land donated by the town. Nomenclature The specialized language of micro- wave and mobile radio communica- tions has received formal recognition in what is believed to be the first published compilation of its words and definitions, published by RCA's Engi- neering Products Division. The glos- sary, compiled for the industry, adds up to 39 pages of definitions ranging from "Absorption Cofficient" to "Zero- Bias" and includes a list of technical and non-technical organizations of in- terest to communications engineers as well as abbreviations of most widely used technical terms. Along with its text are sketches, diagrams and charts that help to define the esoteric terms which describe the theory, nature and operation of radio communications equipment. The glossary is available on request from Dept. P-368, Engi- neering Products Division, RCA, Camden, N. J. Eye for Parking Something new in parking cars has turned up in Oakland, Calif., where the Downtown Merchants Parking As- sociation has found still another use for RCA's versatile TV Eye. The DMPA lot has been equipped with a TV Eye camera mounted on a light standard high above the lot, providing a picture of the parked cars on a standard 21-inch TV receiver located in the lot attendant's booth. With two remote control switches near the re- ceiver, the attendant can scan the lot and locate the handiest vacant parking space for each customer as he drives up to the booth for his entrance ticket. Housed in a weatherproof casing for outdoor protection, the camera has superseded an earlier man- ual observation system and cut down operating expenses of the lot by an estimated $3500 per year. 32 RADIO AGE