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

Aboard the U.S.S. Edisto, Hartigan films the Antarctic shoreline and himself, as he narrates commentary for NBC telecast. might never return. He recalled that earlier on the same hike, the other two had slipped into an ice crevasse and only his own solidly-placed pick-axe had saved them all. A Second Brush with Death Hartigan was rescued, but long afterward he had another brush with the hazards of the Antarctic. When nine Navy men were stranded on Ridley Beach, he boarded a helicopter sent out to pick them up. But the rescue plane itself became hopelessly bogged down when it landed, stranding Hartigan and the pilot with the others. All eleven were rescued only after a long and perilous struggle through the surf on a life raft. The objective of the present Antarctic expedition is to select sites for bases, air strips and supply depots which will be used for exploration in the International Geophysical Year, which begins officially in July, 1957. Davidson Taylor, NBC Vice-President in charge of Public Affairs, has declared that the network will keep abreast of future developments of the I.G.Y. and report on them as they occur. "The I.G.Y. is a cooperative effort of the private scientific societies of all the major nations of the world," Mr. Taylor said, "including the U.S.S.R. and Red China, as well as the U. S. and the other great nations of the free world." "There are some scientists who believe that the results of these investigations may constitute the most important contribution to human knowledge ever to result from a single scientific project. "Evaluations and other ramifications of the Inter- national Geophysical Year will continue for several years beyond 1958. "It is our determination here at NBC that we shall continue to report on the network all significant devel- opments, as they occur and for as long as they continue to occur." Encouraging UHF Television {Continued jro?n page 18) interest. The stature of television today has been built upon the twelve VHF channels and only a partial use of the 70 UHF channels. Television needs more than twelve VHF channels in order to fulfill its promise. The UHF channels were provided to meet this need. We must work, therefore, toward solutions of the UHF growth problems which have appeared in order that television may come to fulfillment." Earlier, a major technical achievement bearing on the improvement of UHF-TV broadcast equipment and techniques was announced at the Lancaster, Pa., plant of the RCA Tube Division. On February 16, an electron tube constructed of machined metal and ceramics, with the general size and shape of two flat-brimmed straw hats placed brim-to-brim, enabled RCA engineers to set an all-time record in UHF transmission. The developmental super-power tube was combined in an experiment with an RCA super-power antenna to radiate 4,500,000 watts of continuous wave energy at a frequency of 537 megacycles-—more than four times the output of the most powerful existing UHF-TV stations. Success of the test, according to W. W. Watts, Executive Vice-President, RCA Electronic Components, makes possible extended and improved TV broadcast service throughout the present so-called fringe or weak areas. The 4,500,000 watts of radiated power produced at Lancaster were obtained by feeding approximately 100,000 watts, generated by the electron tube, into the antenna, which had a gain of nearly 50. Appearing before the same Committee on March 28, Joseph V. Heffernan, Financial Vice-President of NBC, testified on allocation considerations as related to broadcasting: "If our generation fails to lay a broad foundation for UHF service in the 70 channels reserved for that purpose," said Mr. Heffernan, "then other communica- tion services will move in and make use of that part of the spectrum. If this happens, this spectrum space will forever be lost to broadcasting and no other band of frequencies anywhere near as well suited for tele- vision is available. The issue, simply stated, is shall the 70 UHF channels continue to be available to broad- casting or shall they be lost to other radio services?" RADIO AGE 25