Radio Broadcast (May 1928-Apr 1929)

NOVEMBER, 1928 RADIO IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 19 AN ELECTRODYNAMIC SPEAKER OF DE LUXE DESIGN Three dynamic units arc used in the loud speaker shown above. The baffle on which the units are mounted is of box construction and measures 45 by 55 feet. The designer of the speaker, Mr. Mampe, of Palisade, N . J ., is shown in the picture eludes nearby reception. For example, the Greater Rockford, which made an amazing landing somewhere between Newfoundland and Greenland, was heard successfully in Wisconsin. But none of the shore stations in Canada or Greenland could hear its signals because of skipdistance effect. Had it been possible to take compass readings in Greenland or Canada, the whereabouts of the place would have been much better known and the rescue would have been accomplished very much sooner. \TEW YORK STATE plans an aviation weather service and is establishing twenty weather bureau stations which will make reports to Gustav Lundgren, meteorologist, at Albany. The data will be compiled and telegraphed to every airport in the state, as well as broadcast twice daily through N. B. C. stations. A DIRECT, high-power service between San Francisco and Tokio, the first Occident to orient service to be directly connected by modern, high-speed telegraphy, was announced by the R. C. A. Messages to Japan heretofore have been relayed through Hawaii. HpHE Federal Radio Commission authorized * the R. C. A. to establish direct communication with Liberia, although a channel for that purpose already has been allocated the Firestone Company which, by the way, did not oppose the R. C. A.'s application. If the Commission is holding to its promulgated principle, a single radio link is not sufficient to handle all the traffic between Liberia and the United States and the duplicate services are warranted by the amount of message traffic to be handled. A NOTHER pair of licenses granted for services of doubtful value are the permits issued to the Universal Wireless Communication Company for two 10,000-watt stations, one for New York and one for Chicago, to operate an overland radio-telegraph service. Filling channels with unnecessary services means later denials to essential services. HpHE International Telephone and Telegraph * Company has made an agreement with the Spanish and General Corporation to build a radiotelegraph station in the Azores for transatlantic communication. This will distribute North and REAR VIEW OF GIANT SPEAKER South-American traffic to European countries where the Mackay Companies have no direct communication through their agreement with Eastern Cables, Ltd. HpHE call letters of the ship and planes of the ^ Byrd Expedition are wfbt, wfa, wfd, wfe, kfk and, for the planes, wfc, wfb and wff. The wavelengths in meters of the channels to be used will be 91.3, 68.1, 53.1, 45.6, 34.06, 26.5, 22.8, 17.95, ar)d '3-72 Eavesdropping upon the affairs of the expedition will be possible all over the United States. The expedition will carry 20 transmitters and 26 receiving sets and a most comprehensive line of accessories and parts to keep the installations in operation for two years. Radio in Foreign Countries AT THE Berlin Radio Show, there were 350 exhibitors, including the Army and Navy, ^ Lufthansa and the German Postal Administration. The most interesting television device demonstrated was the invention of one Mihaly, which gave the shadowy outline of the person spoken to on the telephone. 'THE Department of Commerce report for *■ June shows a marked increase in United States exports of radio equipment. The greatest growth was in transmitting sets and parts, which, compared with June, 1927, exports of $5,806, rose to just short of $50,000. Receiving sets rose from $174,433 to $228,983. Radio imports were more than $5000. 'THE Radio Corporation has made an agree*■ ment for interchange of patent rights and for the sale of radio equipment with the State Electrical Trust of Leningrad. A PUBLICITY statement from Russia reports that there are 67 broadcasting stations now in operation in that country, serving 250,000 listeners. Because of the great area involved, Russia will naturally require many broadcasting stations, although the number of receivers in use is still discouragingly small. Increasing public interest promises considerable growth in the future. THE British Radio Union, a £30,000,000 con * cern, will acquire all the ordinary shares of the Eastern, Eastern Extension, and Western Telegraph Companies and all the ordinary and preference shares and debentures, if any, of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company. This is the practical consummation of the British cable merger plan. HT HE British Board of Trade has passed a law, * compelling Class 2 ships, freighters with more than fifty in the crew, to carry automatic distress-signal alarms. Class 3 ships, with less than fifty in the crew, are unaffected, while Class I ships, passenger liners and other vessels with more than 200 persons on board are permitted to displace one wireless operator with the automatic alarm. pvR. McINTYRE of the Ministry of Health of the British Board of Trade and Drs. H. C. Case and Philip Morton are experimenting, aboard the S. S. Mauritania, to develop an international medical chest, making possible a code, directing medical treatment at sea, which will be understandable in any language. This promises to be an aid to smaller ships which have no physician aboard. "THE National Electrical Manufacturers' Association estimates that, by cutting the total number of its meetings in half and holding the annual meeting in the fall instead of in the spring, it will save its members, through reduced time, traveling and other expenses, approximately $300,000. Attendance at some trade association meetings of the radio industry really makes it doubtful whether such expenses should be charged to personal amusements or as a legitimate business expense. The radio industry might employ an accountant to determine the financial loss it suffers by supporting two trade organizations and then follow the wise example of nema and reduce the number to one. — E. H. F.