Radio Broadcast (May-Oct 1925)

What Edison Thinks of Radio 489 possibly Mr. Edison does not understand all the intricacies of radio. Does Radio Need a High Commissioner? THE idea of a unified control of baseball by Judge Landis, voluntarily vesting in him autocratic power in regulating all disputes which may arise, is a good example of an ingenious American plan to regulate and control a very difficult situation. The movie industry voluntarily put itself under the same kind of control. But of all the things requiring control of this kind, radio certainly stands foremost. In no field that we can think of is there more cause for disputes which will react to the detriment of the listener. To be sure, Herbert Hoover has shown great tact and diplomatic skill in arranging the past three international radio conferences, successfully bringing into line various conflicting opinions, both national and international, but his authority is by no means as powerful as that of the baseball Commissioner. But our high commissioner idea has been so well thought of in Europe that radio there has just adopted it and all radio conflicts hereafter will be settled by one man who holds his position at the request of the various radio interests. Sitting in Geneva, where so many international movements seem to centralize, Mr. Arthur Burrows, an Englishman, will adjudicate all radio conflicts which originate in Europe. This new international radio bureau, which Mr. Burrows heads, aims "to establish an effective link between the various European broadcasting stations, keeping in view the possibility of activities being extended to other continents; to defend all policies and measures affecting stations' interests; to centralize the study of all questions arising from the rapid development of wireless telephony and to initiate and further all efforts towards the improvement of broadcasting generally for the benefit of all nations both individually and collectively." From this statement it will be seen that head of the bureau automatically becomes the Landis of radio. The bureau intends at once to interest itself in the question of radio relaying, a problem of ever increasing importance. More and more, as we see it, the tendency will be to do away with the talent of Main Street. We shall send out instead the most artistic performances obtainable. This accomplish ROBERT M. FOSTER Of Montreal, Canada, the radio operator aboard the Canadian Coast Guard ship Arctic which sailed for Etah, Greenland the latter part of June. He will experiment on 20, 40, and 80 meters, using the call vdm. Short wave experiments with Canadian and American amateurs and kdka, East Pittsburgh were very successful during the 1924 expedition and more extensive tests are planned this year. The two ships of Donald MacMillan's Arctic expedition will also be in the same waters at about the same time. The MacMillan vessels are equipped with short wave telegraph transmitters also ment of course is possible only by some scheme of relaying. The European bureau intends to be itself a direct channel for the interchange of programs, ideas, and regulation of all matters directly affecting radio broadcasting. Radio Broadcast's Phonograph Receiver THE two great centers of home entertainment are without question the radio and the phonograph. For the past four years, the radio set has probably usurped the domestic center of attention and the phonograph has had to take second place. But now that radio constructors are a little less eager to build every new circuit — being attracted to it simply because it is "new" — the attention of every radio user has naturally centered on the appearance of his receiver. It is assumed that he has found a type of set which satisfies his daily radio wants. It has been the aim of Radio Broadcast to produce a radio receiver for home construe