Radio Broadcast (Nov 1926-Apr 1927)

FEBRUARY, 1927 RADIO VERSUS CABLE COMMUNICATION 359 would be a valuable service to the industry if a comparison test of the performance of radio equipment could be made by a government body for a fee covering the cost. How They Solve Interference Problems Abroad EUROPE has improved its broadcasting conditions by adopting a uniform plan of frequency assignment with the result that long distance hunting has been attacked with renewed interest. Although there were less than thirty broadcasting stations operating in Great Britain, the conferees had the foresight to reduce the number of stations in order to give Europe interference-free reception. At once there was increased demand for sensitive receivers and also for better and easier means of identifying distant stations. A correspondent of Wireless World suggests that every station should be identified by a number transmitted in Morse. This suggests the basis for a most intriguing proposal. Supposing all our broadcastingstationswere required to transmit license numbers beginning with Number 1 at the high frequency end and ending with 610 or 950, whatever the number is by the time this gets into print. It would be a wonderful game to begin with Number 1 and work all the way to the top of the scale. Bringing Classical Music to the People THE day of the concert stage is passing rapidly," says Madame Fritz Kreisler, urging musical artists to forego the concert stage in favor of soloist work at one of the prominent movie palaces. "People are no longer willing to sit through long programs. They want their music in tabloid form." Radio has contributed a valuable demonstration of the possibility of popularizing classical music by abandoning the hackneyed, impersonal and formal concert hall style of presentation. A worthy ambition, if commercial broadcasting continues to develop, will be fame as a radio star, involving as it does a technique as specialized as that necessary for successful concert or opera performance and a service infinitely more exclusive. Radio Fills Empty Church Pews IN VIEW of the complaints of some of the clergy against the inroads of radio, it is illuminating to have confirmed by a questionnaire, circulated by the Sears Roebuck Agricultural Foundation, that the broadcasting of services by twenty-seven churches has increased their attendance, while it decreased attendance of only two. One rector wrote, "Since we have been broadcasting our service, our attendance has grown so rapidly that it is a problem to know how to take care of the crowds." Another wrote that forty persons had recently joined his church as a result of broadcasting, while a third stated that the gallery pews in his church had been opened up, and dusted for the first time in twenty years, as a result of the increased attendance attributed to broadcasting. How the Cable Companies Look On Radio WHILE Marconi announces reduced costs in trans-oceanic communication by reason of short wave beam transmitters and the British Post Office and the A. T. & T. discuss charges for transatlantic telephony, Newcomb Carlton, President of the Western Union Telegraph Company, indulges in some belittling: "Every few months, an improvement in radio is announced. Each one is revolutionary and each is good for at least a column in any newspaper. Static, of course, was overcome several years ago and has been overcome regularly ever since. However, after allowing for all improvements, including the beam transfer method, I think it would be safe to say that, in respect to international communication, the radio retains a position on the left hind leg." Twelve days later, substantial reductions in cable rates were announced. Bureaucratic Meddling with Broadcasting THE State Athletic Commission of New York State has taken upon itself the privilege of assigning radio announcers to local ring battles. Having heard a few of those in the favor of the Commission assigned to the task of announcing, one gathers that the qualifications of articulation and familiarity with the English language are not considered THE RADIO EQUIPMENT OF A LIGHTHOUSE Automatic radio fog signals are sent out from many lighthouses. The large view shows the transmitting and automatic control apparatus in use at the San Pedro breakwater light, located just outside the breakwater that forms the outer harbor of Los Angeles. Radio beacon signals are sent out on 299.8 kc. (1000 meters). The insert shows one of the light keepers