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A Cold War Weapon for 50 Cents A NEW weapon in the Cold War — an inexpensive, hand-operated phonograph designed to deliver recorded messages from the free world by air-dropping behind the Iron Curtain or direct distribution in critical areas — has been developed by RCA and is being field-tested in the Near and Far East and in Africa. The seven-ounce, unbreakable device was demon- strated publicly for the first time on November 10 by Brig. General David Sarnoff, who displayed it at the Overseas Press Club of America in New York and emphasized that it could reach millions of persons living in areas without electric power and, unlike radio com- munications, its messages could not be "jammed." According to General Sarnoff, the phonograph can be manufactured for 50 cents or less, so that "millions could be delivered gratis." He pointed out that it con- sists of four parts — a metal handle, and a base, turn- table and tone arm of unbreakable plastic — and is so simply designed that it can be assembled and operated by anyone. He said that both the phonograph and the seven-inch records designed for it could be "dropped from the sky like leaflets." Plans Offered Gratis to Government During a question and answer period, General Sarnoff revealed that RCA had offered the design and plans for the phonograph gratis to the government, and that a few hundred of the machines produced by RCA would be field-tested by the United States Information Agency. The phonograph was developed by Arthur Van Dyck, Staff Assistant to the Vice-President and Technical Director of RCA. At the demonstration, Mr. Van Dyck placed a special record on the turntable, held the in- strument by its base, inserted the small metal handle into the turntable spindle, and cranked slowly. The output was a message on the meaning of American freedom, clearly audible to everyone in the audience. The record was one of a type developed by the RCA Victor Record Division, using a low cost vinylite material and holding three minutes of sound on each side. Spe- cial foreign language discs of this type have been pre- pared for use in Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and elsewhere. The record is turned at 78 revolutions per minute — or as close to it as the operator can come. Mr. Van Dyck explained that this speed was selected as the most common throughout the world, and because it is easier to maintain manually than slower speeds. He pointed out to the correspondents that the ma- chine is an adaptation of early phonographs, which were cranked by hand and used direct connection be- tween the needle and the amplifier. Packed for distri- bution, the instrument fits into a cardboard carton approximately eight inches square and four inches deep. The new RCA hand-operated phonograph is demon- strated by General Sarnoff to Louis Lochner, head of the Overseas Press Club of America, as Arthur Van Dyck, its developer, looks on at the right. 78 RADIO AGE