Radio Broadcast (Nov 1926-Apr 1927)

358 RADIO BROADCAST FEBRUARY, 1927 mentioning the names of persons and companies engaged in profitable pursuits. Reader interest will of course be greatly enhanced because these readers fall for puzzles so enthusiastically! Why not cut out the radio programs algether? Nobody would miss the presentday conundrums anyway. The Courts Aid in the Radio Tangle VARIOUS court decisions, recently granted and about to be granted uphold the priority rights to wavelengths. Chicago, where every conceivable broadcasting shortsightedness has been permitted, on an extensive scale, is also in consequence, the most fruitful source of experience and precedents, wjaz, which precipitated the present broadcasting tangle almost singlehanded, by upsetting the Department of Commerce's regulatory power and which also was the first to disregard the gentleman's agreement with Canada, is a Chicago station, wgn, a Chicago station, won the first court decision against wges, establishing legally the priority to an established wavelength. Although won in a court of limited jurisdiction, it establishes a most acceptable precedent. When this decision was announced, whn retained John F. Hylan, who, it may be remembered, was once mayor of New York, to hail wrny into court for planting a steady whistle on its programs. By the time this appears in print, there will probably be many other broadcasting suits under way. Chicago has the doubtful distinction of having the largest number of broadcasting stations of any area, as any long distance fan will testify who almost invariably finds as many Chicago stations operating at a late hour as in the rest of the country put together. A manifestation of intelligence in Chicago broadcasting circles is both a surprise and a relief. The merger of webh and wjjd in the presentation of programs under the direction of the Chicago Herald and Examiner may lead to the elimination of one of these two duplicate equipments, a move which will be distinctive in that it is one in the right direction. Constructive Work by the Bureau of Standards IN HIS annual report to the Secretary of Commerce, George K. Burgess, Director of the Bureau of Standards, briefly summarizes the comprehensive 5 AO THE LOOKOUT TOWER ON SHEET IRON MOUNTAIN, CALIFORNIA The life of a forest preserve lookout is lonely by the very nature of things and this post of Clifford York in the California National Forest, Glenn County, California, is at least isolated. During June to October, the season of greatest fire hazard, York is on watch ten and a half hours a day and his radio receiver does much to break the monotony. Note the glassed-in cabin below CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE STATION, POND'S INLET This station, in northern Baffinland, is one of the "farthest north" radio stations. The call letters are c-5 AO, 7596 kc. (40 meters), and the outfit is operated by Constable Tinsbury, R.C.M.P. The sending set was designed by Robert Foster, former operator aboard the Canadian C. G. S. Arctic and the receiver was presented by George C. Wendt of Montreal. Pond's Inlet is five degrees above the Arctic Circle and enjoys four months of perpetual darkness. Those who hear this station should report the fact to Mr. Wendt, P. O. Box 390, Montreal, P. Q. activities of the Bureau. In the field of radio, marked progress was made in frequency standards and in the development of instruments for holding broadcasting stations exactly on their assigned frequencies. We wonder if the Bureau is not too late in this discovery. In the broad sense, holding to assigned frequencies has gone quite out of fashion. Several contributions were made to the knowledge of the vagaries of radio wave propagation and the subject is being studied with the cooperation of twenty scattered laboratories. Direction finders of various types were developed for the Coast Guard, the Navy and the Signal Corps and several studies were made into the frequency range of accurate direction finding. The Bureau is frequently asked to test radio apparatus for manufacturers, but its staff and funds do not permit of such investigation. It