Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

13 Electronics Reports: The virtually limitless horizons of electronics — from cooking and air conditioning to interplanetary travel — were scanned briefly by TV-radio pioneer Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith in addi’ess at March 24 IRE banquet in New York. Accepting IRE Founders Award upon his retirement after 41 years as editor of Proceedings of the IRE, he speculated thus on an electronic tomorrow : “The role of electronics in industry will steadily widen. Manufacturing and production, handling, storing, retailing, accounting and billing will all draw heavily on electronics. Mass communication to the home and to vehicles will expand until tomorrow’s color TV will be only the foreshadowing of some even more comprehensive system of the future . . . Electronics will be applied to home cooking, refrigeration, air conditioning, cleaning, advanced lighting and heating. And perhaps even acoustic silencing may be based on electronics. There is also a reasonable prospect that the atomic battery will evolve into a large-scale and highly effective device both in the home and elsewhere . . . “Perhaps radio astronomy will serve ultimately as a means of interplanetary guidance and protection for the intrepid space travelers of the distant day. In a more mundane field, economic studies and other analyses of the ordered or random behavior of man will be carried out by elaborate computers, which might equally well be applied to the precise prediction of the weather , . . “It may be that the greatest triumphs of electronics in a human sense will come in the field of medicine where electron microscopy and its successors — namely, exquisitely delicate and informative instrumentation, accurate diagnostic devices and appropriate methods of electronic physiotherapy — may contribute greatly to the health, comfort and length of life of man.” « « « « Robert C. Sprague, pres, of Sprague Electric Co. and former RETMA chairman & pres., drew high praise March 25 from members of Senate Armed Services Committee after he briefed them on top-secret investigation which showed nation is following “sound” program for continental air defense. Committee last fall assigned Sprague task of probing adequacy of the program. Chairman Saltonstall (R-Mass.) termed the appraisal a “thorough and searching investigation” and other Senators told UP it was “best briefing they had ever heard.” Accompanied by Senatorial delegation, Sprague will present report to President Eisenhower March 30. Dage Electronics Corp.. Beech Grove, Ind., maker of vidicon cameras and equipment, has been purchased by Thompson Products Inc., big Cleveland manufacturer of automotive, aircraft & electronics parts — marking Thompson’s first entry into TV equipment field. Thompson entered high-fidelity field last year with acquisition of Bell Sound Systems, said then it plans to make its electronic activities “as big as any division the company has today” (Vol. 9:46). “Inditron” is name National Union gives to new tube whose filament can show numbers and letters. Tube, about 2-in. long, is designed for devices that tabulate information— such as electronic computers, adding machines, pinball machines, etc. RETMA has reprinted and is distributing text of speech on “Research and the Electronics Industry” delivered at its N. Y. electronic merchandising rally March 21 by Rear Admiral F. R. Furth, chief of Naval Research, fir.st electronics specialist to reach that high rank in the Navy. Olympic Radio has set up new subsidiary, Multia Coi p., Stamford, Conn., to develop new machine tools. IRE Miscellany: Vest-pocket radio, weighing about 5 oz., worn like hearing aid, using transistors and diodes in place of tubes and powered by 2 penlite batteries, was demonstrated by GE engineers as potential civil defense tool . . . Cathode ray tube which can be viewed in brilliant sunlight and retains image for several minutes was described by RCA engineers, who developed it for direct daylight viewing of radar displays; it can also be used for airborne facsimile systems, oscilloscopes, etc., and may have TV uses . . . Nearly 30% of tubes discarded from military electronic equipment have been found to operate satisfactorily, according to studies made by Aeronautical Radio Inc. ; report was based on examination of 80,000 discarded tubes, blamed waste on military servicing methods . . . Color x-ray photography and fluoroscopy were described as advanced tool for studying human body by U of California’s R. Stuart Mackay — with presentation by color TV seen as definite possibility as aid in diagnosing ailments . . . “Electronic ear” that can dissect sounds into 84,000 bits of information per second was displayed by Raytheon; called a “spectrum analyzer,” it can instantaneously and simultaneously recognize almost infinite variety of sound characteristics such as pitch, tone, timbre, resonance, intensity, volume, range, etc. . . . One of radio show’s most popular displays was GE’s elaborate model ti'ain setup demonstrating germanium devices in electronic control circuits; automatic system had 3 trains traveling about same track layout in opposite directions at varying speeds, without colliding. New industrial TV systems shown at IRE convention ranged from extremely simple to very elaborate — and in price from $975 to $7200 and up, all using vidicon tube. One traffic-stopper was tiny Kay Lab camera (9%x3% X 514 -in.) introduced by Kalbfell Laboratories Inc., San Diego, Cal., for studio or industrial use. Basic camera with control unit and lens sells for about $2000. Capehart-Farnsworth (IT&T) introduced new Farnsworth “Eye” TV, deluxe job with remote focusing and control, at $7200 installed. DuMont showed “completely remodeled and simplified” miniaturized Tel-Eye self-contained camei’a system at new low price of $975. Pre-recorded tapes for use as background music in hotels, restaurants, banks, offices, etc., will be distributed by Graybar under new arrangement with Magne-Tronics Inc., N.Y., which has acquired tape rights to Capitol program sei’vice and several other music libraries. MagneTronics is headed by Percy L. Deutsch, formerly of Audio & Video Products Corp. and World Broadcasting Co. (transcriptions) . Portable TV dolly-tripod, shown by DuMont at IRE convention this week, is full-sized adjustable dolly, from which superstructure can be removed and used separately as folding portable tripod, weighing less than 40 lbs. Called Porta-Dolly & Porta-Tripod, it hasn’t yet been priced. New single-lens “Telejector,” which can project 2x2 transparencies in uninterrupted sequence, automatically changing through series of 12 slides in one loading, was shown for first time at IRE convention by Gray Research & Development Co., Manchester, Conn. It’s priced at $695. Psychology of color in advertising seems to be both important and complex. March 27 Tide carries interview with Dr. Ernest Dichter, of Institute of Mass Motivation Research, who gives several examples of how people react to colors. “You can make color work for you, not again.st you,” he says, “by undei-standing your product’s emotional value and using color as the correct carrier. The wrong color can destroy not only the effectiveness of a product appeal, but actually hurt sales.”