Radio Broadcast (May 1928-Apr 1929)

132 RADIO BROADCAST JULY, 1928 Senate, together with his confreres, Caldwell, LaFount and Pickard, on March 31. What the Commission most needs is one or two commissioners who have some understanding of radio. Much time is lost in familiarizing men unacquainted with the allocation problem with its technical aspects, and each appointment hampers and delays the Commission's progress. The wisdom of appointing experts in their respective lines to regulatory bodies such as the Federal Reserve Board and the Interstate Commerce Commission has been recognized, but radio's engineering problems have been turned over largely to lawyers for solution. The Commission Eliminates Its First Station FOR the first time since the Government has controlled radio, the Federal Radio Commission has taken the decisive step of ordering a station off the air. The station in question is wnba of Forest Park, Illinois, one of scores which has caused continuous complaints about frequent wabbling. It would have been fairer to apply this elimination process to all stations equally guilty with wnba. But, being warned by this instance, it is likely that many of the radio mosquitoes will get busy and make a belated effort to comply with the Commission's regulations and thereby another means of station elimination, which does not involve the threat of court action of any serious consequences, is lost to the muddled Commission. The Engineers' Plan of Allocation THE engineers' plan of broadcast allocation, which has been described as being too drastic, actually represents the least possible hardship upon the broadcasting station owner. The plan provides for 10 stations of 10,000 watts power or more on full time in each zone, 9 of 500 watts on full time, 18 of 500 watts power on half time, 40 of 250 watts on half time, 60 of 250 watts power on one third time. This totals 137 stations for each zone, or a grand total of 685 for the five zones. The High-Frequency Spectrum THE report to the Federal Radio Commission, relative to the assignment of shortwave channels, rendered by Commander S. C. Hooper, who was assisted in its preparation by Dr. J. H. Dellinger of the radio laboratory of the Bureau of Standards, Dr. C. B. Jolliffe, and W. E. Downing, suggests that, until further progress in frequency stabilization is made, stations be assigned only to alternate channels in the short-wave spectrum. By gradually increasing the stability required over a period of years, it is hoped that room for additional stations will be found as they are required in commercial service. On a basis of one tenth of one per cent, channel separation, the report states, there are 398 channels in the "mobile" bands. Of the 190 channels between 1500 and 4000 kilocycles, 89 are in use and 101 are available to all the countries of the world. The United States will lay claim to ten of these channels. In the band between 4000 and 23,000 kilocycles, the number of "mobile" channels is 208, of which a hundred are now in use. That leaves 108 immediately available to all the nations of the world, of which the United States plans to utilize twenty. In the "fixed service" bands, using alternate channels, there are 710 channels. Between 1500 and 4000 kc. are 130 fixed service channels, of which 42 are in use and 88 available. Ambitious short-wave applicants in the United States have made application for 128 channels in this band. Between 4000 and 23,000 kc. there are 508 channels of which 370 are being used. The United States is at present occupying 260 of these. For the 210 channels remaining immediately available for assignment to all the nations of the world, there are 292 American applications. Considering that fully half the applications for short-wave channels are made by companies totally unacquainted with short-wave transmission which hope to save some money on their telegraph bills thereby, and the other half are made by communication companies which are, one suspects, bluffing in order to prevent the channels falling into the hands of their competitors, the Commission is up against another hopeless problem, totally unsuited to its uncertain and hesitant temperament. RECENT RADIO EVENTS THE Federal Radio Commission has granted nineteen permits to the Boeing Air Transport Company of Seattle in order that they may erect radio stations at as many landing fields, scattered from Chicago to the Pacific Coast. THE Radio Corporation of America has applied for license to construct 65 short-wave transmitters in order to establish an overland short-wave system and to counterbalance, apparently, the applications of the Mackay interests for channels for similar purposes. THE Radio Committee of the American Railway Association has asked for a band 144 kc. wide between 2250 and 2750 kc. for train communication. They claim that the range of train equipment is limited to about five miles and that the interference range is but ten miles. These frequencies for which they ask are wisely selected from a standpoint of creating minimum interference. THE new 10,000 watt station kstp, National Battery Company of St. Paul, Minn., went into operation early in April. This is now one of the most powerful stations west of Chicago. RADIO EQUIPMENT AT THE RUGBY STATION THE frontispiece illustration of Radio Broadcast for February, 1928, showed a view of the interior at one of the transmitter buildings of the Rugby radio station of the British Postoffice. The caption under the illustration suggested that it was built by the British Marconi Company for the Government. We are informed by the International Telephone and Telegraph Company that the radio telephone transmitting equipment at Rugby was provided by Standard Telephones and Cables, Ltd., one of the manufacturing companies associated with the I. T. & T. The radiophone equipment was constructed with the advice of the American Bell Telephone Laboratories who were responsible for the design of the American end of the transatlantic telephone circuit equipment now in daily use at Rocky Point, New York. The radio telegraph equipment at Rugby was designed by British Postoffice engineers and was supplied by a number of different makers. Readers who are interested will find complete descriptions of this installation in the British Post Office Engineers' Journal (January, 1927, E. H. Shaughnessey), and (April, 1927, Lt. Col. A. G. Lee and R. V. Hansford). TO REVISE THE PATENT LAW" CENATOR KING is endeavoring to bring ^ about an investigation of the present patent procedure. He points out that there are 95,000 patent applications awaiting action in the Patent Office, many from six to eight months, and it requires from two to seven years after an application is made to secure actual protection. Congress might well investigate the patent situation because our present industrial structure requires a new and different patent law, with compulsory licensing at reasonable royalties. The present patent monopoly is no longer a protection to the public because patents are grouped by such large and powerful interests that, in many fields, the independent inventor cannot profit from his discoveries unless he turns them over to existing combinations. This applies particularly in the radio industry. RAPID WIRE PICTURE TRANSMISSION T^HE Bell System broke all records for rapid * transmission of a moving-picture film from Chicago to New York. The method employed was to take a moving picture of a well-known film actress, Vilma Banky, in Chicago, and to transmit the negative by wire to New York, where it was received, three sections of strip in tandem, as a regular still photograph. The film was then re-mounted in strip form in New York and reproduced within a few hours after it had been originally made in Chicago. It required two hours of transmission to send ten feet of film as still picture. This is really the first successful transmission of high-grade television. It is an illustration of how still picture photography may .prove the gateway to television. THE Canadian Government has refused to renew the broadcasting license of the International Bible Students' Association in Toronto and elsewhere. It announces that these licenses are cancelled at the request of thousands of listeners. The same group of religious propagandists is asking for one or two channels for 50,000 watt stations in the United States. Proponents of sectarian religious groups urge that, since jazz and commercial broadcasting have all the channels they want, religious stations should not be refused the opportunity of going on the air. The only fallacy of their argument is that jazz and commercial programs tend to be universal in their appeal, while any particular religious station serves only a minority of listeners within its area. It is difficult, however, to apply the principles of justice to the assignment of channels for religious interests because each sect firmly believes that, if discrimination is shown and its privileges curtailed, the Federal Radio Commission and the Government are instruments of the devil. A well-conducted broadcasting station is a profitable enterprise for any religious organization. TP HE R. C. A., G. E., and Westinghouse com * panies have formed a new subsidiary to be known as R. C. A. Photophone, Inc. The company will market a home talking movie machine. David Sarnoff is President of the new company, Elmer Bucher, Vice-President, and Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, Vice-President in Charge of Technical Matters. The apparatus is especially adapted for use in schools and churches. It uses standard films without synchronized speech as well as the talking film. CEDERAL-BRANDES, Inc., is changing its * name to the Roister Radio Corporation and is applying for the listing of its securities on the New York Stock Exchange. — E. H. F.