Television digest with AM-FM reports (Jan-Dec 1951)

8 us this week. He conceded that many big manufacturers have new super-conservation circuits and designs on the testing bench, and added: “Planning, designing and testing major changes takes 6 months to a year or more. The day may come when an ’ultra-conservation' model may be a lif e-or-death matter. How's the time to begin working on those 'impossible' jobs. It's better to have one ready and not have to use it than face the choice of shutdown or putting an untested hurry-up model on the market." Obviously, major companies are constantly readying standby models as a sort of "insurance" ; a real TV set shortage could spur these into production. Looming large in their designing plans are these facts about critical metals: Aluminum and steel will be seriously short for at least another year. But copper will remain desperately tight for 2-5 years, and will pose tough shortage problem as far ahead as anyone can now foresee. * * * t Industry's big challenge is to lessen substantially its heavy dependence on copper — permanently. No magically interchangeable material has been discovered, but aluminum holds most promise of relieving some drain on nation's copper supply. Said DPA-NPA boss Manly Fleischmann: "If I were a manufacturer using great amounts of copper, I'd have my design people looking into aluminum." And that's what electronics design people are doing. Transformer engineers are working with success to improve wartime German technique of using square aluminum wire for windings. Aluminum hook-up wire is being tested. Biggest obstacles; aluminum wire has 50% more resistance than copper, is more brittle in some forms, is hard to solder. But these problems are all being overcome. A few other measures now being used or planned by electronics industry to save copper and other strategic materials : Power transformers can practically be eliminated by use of selenium rectifiers in voltage-doubler circuits. Unfortunately, selenium is scarce, too, but NPA is planning to put it under 100% allocation, reserving some for TV-radio industry. Every pound of selenium used in TV manufacture saves average of 185 lbs. of silicon steel (transformer core), 35 lbs. of copper (winding). Power transformers that operate at higher temperatures are being developed. They're smaller, use less copper, less steel. Power cords made from copper-clad steel are in the works, would save up to two-thirds the copper formerly used for this purpose. One problem here, as in some other copper-saving plans, is getting Underwriters Laboratory to approve changes. :jt :(! * Conservation clearing house for electronics industry is the NPA Electronics Division's conservation section, headed by E.W. Glacy. Section wants to hear manufacturers' materials problems. Aside from supplying a shoulder to cry on, Glacy's section gives advice on conservation, substitutes, design problems. These NPA experts are equipped to supply answer to this chicken-or-the-egg question about substitution: If I switch to a substitute material, is the substitute likely to become short in a few months and leave me worse off than before? Section wants information from manufacturers on their conservation measures. It will be^kept confidential if requested, but NPA would rather pass it on to others who may benefit from it. NPA keeps track of major conservation moves by checking manufacturers' controlled materials^equirements as stated in their quarterly CMP applications. If a manufacturer's stated requirements for a certain material take sudden unexplained drop from one quarter to next. Electronics Div. engineer hops on phone, asks him; "How did you do it?" Manufacturer is usually glad to reveal technique, and NPA people pass the good word along to others. Likewise, if a manufacturer's requirements for any material are way out of line with rest of industry, NPA suggests substitutes or conservation techniques with this clincher; "We know it can be done, because XYZ Corp. does it."