Evening Star Newspaper, April 7, 1929, Page 73

"CHAIN BROADCASTS PROFITABLE IN 1928 Made to Pay for First Time in Last Few Years. BY C. E. BUTTERFIELD, Associated Press Radio Editor. Chain broadcasting is a paying prop- osition. At least it was last season, for the first time in the few years, hectic and other- wise, that have developed two major chains, competitors even in their sleep. ‘The younger of these groups is hut two years old, while the other goes back not 80 _much further in time. Financial accountings at the earlier year enus always have been accompa- nied with statements that it cost more to broadcast by network than the cash- | der took in. This year the cashier’is bearing a | tmile productive of better business. Be- sides, the forecast for the months lhead is “bright.” Differ on Reasons. The “why” behind the spurt across the red mark in the ledger seems to be accountable to several things. Officials of neither chain agree entirely over the reasons. Said a spokesman for the N. B. C.: “We attribute the broadcasts during last Jear's political campaign as being partly responsible for a favorable financial statement this year for the first time since our organization. In addition, there has been an increase in the num- ber of our sponsored programs, which has been due to a certain extent to the opening of transcontinental wires which carry programs to Pacific Coast sta- tions. Prospects for the season ahea including the low point of the year- Summer—are very bright.” Over at C. B. S. the story was told in these words: “Politics did little, if anything, toward making our second year show a balance. ‘While our income from that source was important, broadcasts of the national conventions, acceptanee speeches and the inauguration, presen come, counterbalanced anything received imm the campaign talks, “Our success has been due to an in- | crease in our sponsored accounts, of which there are approximately 80 na- tional and local. Any surpius in our treasury is being turned back into the chain in the expansion campaign begun | with the purchase of WABC.” Patent litigation, the mountain cast up in the prograss of radio, apparently is to be blasted away without the boom of an explosion, Two Important Facters. ‘Two important factors in the removal came tumbling one after the other. First, RCA announced that it had is- | sued its first license for the manufac- ture of tubes under its patents and proc- esses. Quickly there followed a state- ment from the Radio Manufacturers’ Association that it had offered its mem- bership a cross-licensing plan of radio patents. The RCA policy of granting licenses for the making of tubes is somewhat of a change. Heretofore.it had licensed 30 set manufacturers to incorporate its patented circuits in their receivers, It had not deemed it advisable to offer tube licenses, but apparently felt that a change would bring further stabilization to the industry. This first tube licensee pointed out. would follo of the automobile and aircraft industries ‘oposed “to minimize patent Patents would be exchanged | and made available equail: facturers ndhcflnn \n tl RADIO TO AIRPLANES DECLARED SUCCESS: Voice Contact With Flyers Over Long Distances Is Developed. QAKLAND, Calif, April 6 (®.— Successful culmination of months of testing of radiotelephony and the in- tention of the Boeing companies to equip 2,000 miles of airways between the Golden Gate and Lake Michigan | ‘were announced today by W. E. Boeing, chairman of the companies. Untll recently various obstacles, now declared solved with the aid of the Bell Telephone laboratories and the R. C. A, have baffled attempts to main- tain voice contact with airplanes more than a few miles. Through the de- velopment of short wave telephflny and Tecent advances made in shielding practices, pilots will be able to hear ground operators at an altitude of 12,000 feet plainly and planes at great distance talk tb each other through apparatus which is nearly automatic in operation. Eleven ground radio stations in seven m‘:fs on thedtruuconunenul air mail, express and passenger route will be placed in service within a few months. The radiophones will be sup- plemented by directive radio beacon signals, maintained by the Department of Commerce. lon of the system would make it possible for travelers to talk to city numbers by call a ter- minal station. This will not done immediately, however, for the permit granted the companies tes that. only messages dealing wif of planes and mmucthn of life and equipment” shall be sent. The 11 ground stations completed, or either building or authorized, are at Oakland, Reno and Elko, Nev.; Salt Lake City, Rock and Cheyenne, Wyo.; North atte and Omaha, Nebr.; Des Moines and Iowa City, Jowa, and Chicago. Later stations| will be installed st Lincoln, Nebr.| and Cedar Rapids, Towa. The total weight of the radiophone equipment is 100 pounds, placed in the ship’s tail or center. An 8-foot dural antenna mounted vertically on the top wing and streamlined to re- duce its resistance to wind is used. Power is to be taken from the double voitage generator on the engine. SOLOIST IS DIRECTOR. without in- | B URING the last year or two I have cast & great many college athletic events md have come to know many undcr- graduates, some of mm quit sntlma!eg In this manner boelmo interested in the tendency on the part of the public to idolize college athletes. Radio, naturally, has its part in work- ing up national enlhuslum over per- sons or events, and I bfl:lme rofes- sionally interested in the problem of dramatizing a great athletic contest and yet stopping somewhere short of the distortion which comes from too much unrestrained hullaballoo, The fact is that two great college athletes, one of them picked for the all- American team, have suggested that I | write something about a sensible public | attitude toward college athletes. I hesi- tated to do so, as I am a radio an- nouncer and not a s rt critic or a cheer leader, but, as it is newspapers and radio mzether which ran up this hero worship, I suppose I may legiti- mately pipe up for a moment as orie small, and occasionally still, voice in } the radio corner. Riegels Gave New Slant. I began to get & new slant on all ‘thls after Riegels, the California cen- ter, ran the wrong way in the Pasa- dena game last Fall. Newspapers all over the country began to moan about | this boy having ruined himself. One { would have thought he was plastered with some terrible disgrace. The boy, himself, took it rather sensibly and seemed to understand that it was a foot ball game and not a major en- gagement in a world war which he i had lost. The pow-wow which the papers made over this incident lit up the gen- erally warped public feeling about col- lege athletics. Personally, I will go all the way with anybody who wants to get excited over a foot ball game, but in talking to a great many college boys and watching the show for a few years | T am convinced that the picture is get- ting somewhat out of focus. Most of the Lads Sensible. ! Here and there I know an athlete { who was pegged in high school by some | college foot ball scout and who is mov- ing on up through college and into a bond office. with a cold eye on the main chance and who wants all the notoriety and advertising he can get out of his foot ball career. This boy, however, is the exception, and the general run of college athletes—and I have checked pretty closely on this—are sensible lads, who are doing the best they can for | their college and who are actually em- | barrassed by the extremes of foolish adulation to which they are subjected. When one of the boys to whom I have referred asked me to write about this I suggested that he write me, stating {his own views. He is a modest chap, | wishing to remain anonymous, but I {have his permission to reproduce his letter, in part, as follows: “I played foot ball in high school, but I was not scouted by any college, and went to college to get an education. My parents are not rich and are making sacrifices to send me to school. I am: taking my electives in engineering work and am geing to be an engineer. For this reason. I don’t care much about all THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, the udrertmnx which you get in foot ball. I have some courses, with lots of mthzm-uu. and I need all the time I can get for my college work. Notoriety Is Heavy Load. “Last year, I happened to get two or three good breaks in big games And since then it has seemed to me that I had the whole world on my shoulders. To be frank, I liked all this notoriety at first, but it's too much of a load to arry if a man expects to do any decent work in his classes. I felt awfully foolish when a girl reporter in- terviewed me. and asked me questions about all sorts of things I didn’t know anything about and had no business to be talking about. I stalled as best I could, and it left me with the Xeel that it was all wrong to be this upre over boys who, whntever else they , are school boys and not generals fighting wars or diplomats ltlrunu them, or grand opera anything like that. "l talked with our graduate manager about it, suggesting that it was bad for a oo)legr to be pulled too much into all this. He explained to me how we had sold bonds on our stadium and had to pay them off, and how foot ball carried all the other l rts in college and that we needed all the p\lhllclty we could get if we were going to the crowds and pay out. No Cheers in Mathematics. “I suj that's true, but the fact is mn"ml as if I were somehow honey when I get all this run-around Tn the papers and invitations to talk to Rotary Clubs, etc., just because I've got a good pair of 1e(s Last week I worked my way through a rather tough special problem in calculus. The prof said it was unusual for an undergrad- uate to get away with this one, and I felt prouder over it than I have over anything else for years. But I didn't hear nny cheers from anybody except the “Ipdon't know whether I can make myself clear, but my idea is that col- lege boys start in college figuring they ‘ill get a big hand if they work hard at their studies and learn to do some- thing useful, and therl they see that nobody gets a hand unless he's an athlete. Of course, I am not trying to smear college athleties. We ought to have crowds and the excitement, but the public ought to remember that we are college boys and not professional us, and not to holler for our blood when we pull a boner once in a ‘mk- the "ay poor Riegels did at Pasadena.” Urges Sense of Proposition. Like my young friend I am not try- ing to “smear” college athletics, I am | merely suggesting that both newspa- | pers and radio may have in min | sense of proportion which, while pre- serving the dramatics, will also put for- ward real rather than merely sensational values. The English, I think, manage these rather nicely. They get tremendous crowds out to their foot ball and cricket matches, frequently larger than our greatest crowds, but they never lose sight of the fact that this is an encounter between teams and not stars. (Copyright, 1929.) PROSPECTS FAR . FOR TELEVISION Trying to Overcome Obstacles. NEW YORK, April 6 )—Tele- vision in 1929 may or may net make another bid for the popularity that it strived to gain last season. Yet a glance into the laboratories seems to| indicate that the stress shculd be on the “may” rather than the “may not.” Every place where invest being made into the improving the present systems of llght transmission by radio scientists is hard at work endeavoring to overcome the obstacles to satisfactery television. They admit that their problems are many, but are enthusiastic over their accomplishments to date. Most of the television activity on the air has settled into the short wave | bands not far below the broadcast channels. In the vicinity of 150 meters, 22 transmitters have been given as- signments which they intend to use for light impulses. In the broadcast band an occasional station has obtained per- mission for television between the hours | of 1 and 6 am, the only time light can be sent in the 200 to 550 channels. Betterment of System. A big share of the recent efforts has been bent toward bettering the system by which mo pictures a film cn be sent. is method is more reliable and not quite so complicated as _reproducing by radio “movies” of a person sitting before a television camera. Better results have been ob- tained from films, and pictures have beem sharper than by the direct method. There is no question that television continues in the experimental stage, but its possibilities are so great that the incentive to' push the riments toward success has not wani One of the biggest drawbacks is_the fact that a wide band of uends& something on the order of kflo~ cycles, is required to get aumclent plb- ture detail, compared with only I sound . broadcasts. While it is blz to transmit on a narrower channel, more and more detail is lost as the| width of the band used is decreased. Tests on Short Waves. Largely because of this fact most of the experimentation is being confined to the short waves, where greater space is available per wave length. In addi- tion the radio commission has decided that the entertainment hours in the broadeast channels can better be uti- lized for music and other things aural “b‘::}ll television is better able to see for Reception of light signals, either Experimenters Hard at Work | Chicago Police Try Broadcasting to Pick Up Criminals CHICAGO #).—“We now will hear the studio orchestra in—No —just & minute—Squad car No. 38! The Cozy Theater in West Madison was held up by two men who escaped west in a green tour- ing car, bearing an Indiana If- cense number—Now the orches- — And that's what occurs daily during WGN . WGN sends its warning to all the city’s 42 squad cars. Recelving sets in the cars pick up the police news. John 8 deputy commissioner of police, sald several footpads | |.and robbers have been arrested because of the quick pursuit made | possible by the radio warning. WGN is ‘bearing the expense of the test. originating from a film or coming from a direct object, remes ractically the | same equipment, ndfic & suitable audio amplifier to pass a wide band, & neon lamp and a scanning disc turned by a motor, in addition to a suitable tuner. Indications predicated upon the lab- ;orawry activity seem to point to & | number of important television ad- vancements this season. Whether they will mean as much as some experi- menters hope cannot be foretold. | TIME FINELY MEASURED. | Radio Divides Into One Part in 100,000,000. ; NEW YORK (#).—Radio TS have been able to measure time with an accuracy to within one part in a hun- | dred million. How this has been accomplished was explained in a series of papers read be- fore the Institute of Radio Engineers in & symposium on' frequency and time measurement. The methods were ape- plied to the control of broadeast and other frequencies. mlphngm Reduces Distonion. > Study- of the causes of distortion in cone speakers by enginecrs has evolved a diaphragm whose are forms Thepdll)lhngm they say, has reduced distortion considerably. d (hvu Geography Lemn. Dr. W. R. McCotmel of Miami Uni- versity is conducting a lesson in geogra- |phy over WLW each Thursday after- noon. Glee Club to Be on Air. | “The Johns Hopkins University Musi- cal Club will be heard over the CBS| chain Wednesday night, April 10. Boy Tenor Has Charge of Singing at KSTP. 8T. PAUL (#).—Tommy Coates, boy soloist with the Paulist Ancdholrw“ Chi- Cago a few Vyears ago T & S0- Joist with WGN, Chicago, is the sing- mx_d!recmr of KSTP here | or Thomas Pamnn Coates, 24, won a following as a boy soprano with the Paulist choir, and he inereased it as a radio tenor. He also served 8s an announcer at WGN. Helen Jepson to Sing. NEW YORK w—flehn Jepson, George Washington George Washington University stu- installed transmitting equipment. Oper- ation of the club radio station will begin immediately after the . Easter recc;s, rano, is to the lis: g“z:m ;E::he CBS ch:illxz‘. 'l'dmi.-hye e‘v':fi R is that o(.':: mfiafl of Music by a coast-to-coast network. - - ° i Cull Letter Ghnnl. that vlth n change of ownmhlp m call letters will %fl! « Titusville Has lluv Song. !‘lcusvflle ‘WOR's 'l‘uudny niglh. has & new {Navy, it is hoped the station, by the icensed operators ,.mam ranks to take over sibilities of dents have organized a radio club and| - munications 1y but phone work just Government as amateur radia Students Organize Amateur Radio Station With Call W3ACY to instruct new members in the interna- tional radio code, the essentials of ra fo and to aid in “"troable Not the least of its many actions will be the relaying of intercollegiate con- tests, for which n;:m it intends m link the various and the land wires and bK o t. com«. the cast band will be carried on experi- ‘mentally, o&u ity broadcast listeners to -ln on the Arrangements ha' with ‘Central _and uexmhy hflh \stations for such e ts, . ‘The club g;tendn wteg:—om B, muu partment work_on hi measurements. Thi mu'“?:“m Hiram Colver McNell, l' Other officers are nasium transmitf athletes and not get too crazy about| te with | DEVELOPS NEW WAY OF COMMUNICATION Simultaneous Transmission of Hundreds of Messages Possible, Designer Says. BOSTON (#).—Development of a new communle-uon system, designed to make possible the transmission of hundreds of different messages simul- taneously on one radio waveband, is lnnouneed by Albert B. Clark, Boston. pplications for patent rights on mu flevice and for a r-unt on & syn- chronizing device emp which also is applicable to have been made by Mr. Cllrk. Best Principles Used. “The best principles in radio prac- tice are made use of and the invention may be used with modifications in con- necflnn with existing radio apparatus arranged for , radiophone or broad- cast_transmission, » Mr. Clark Says. “The results are made possible by the employment of timed or synchronous npp-nuu capable of acting at great This arrangement is made to serve the double purpose of consecutive= \y breaking up a large number of indi- properly segregating these components: whence they are built up by special electrical persistence devices into stron, signals of the original. characters, an then employed to actuate any desired lmtru!menu such as typewriters, print- ers, etc.” Similar Systems Developed. ‘Two similar systems, based upon one | basic _principle have been develo Mr, Clark sets forth. One of ti makes use of the tremeéndous elec- trical speed of photo-electric cells and the neon lamp, such as is used in tele- vislon. The other employs mechanical means for the chopping up and reas- sembling of the signals. He says this principle also is appli- cable to wire transmission. Either in radio or over wires, the messages may be relayed by means of any. present vidual signals into components, and of | transmitting ratus. Are Unlimited. communleations system, Mr. chrk says “There are unlimited the invention such as for press serv AN A High compression with any gas—The dome-shaped ‘cylinder head and oliding sleeves of the patented Knight engine com- bine to form a perfectly sealed 1 combustion chamber — assur- ed{ ing high uniform compression --lhpmnd-ni‘-'v’gu. 4 COACH | v v F o tHuab Goupe 310457 Sedan $1145; Touring $7045; Roadser $r045. Winn wheh included. Prices £, 0. b. Tolads, Obio, and epacip- aruoms mbjeet 1o chamge wizhont werie. Bywipment, other than andard, extra, In discussing the possible uses of his| .” C, APRID 7, 1929—PART 2’ International License for Amateurs ToBe Consldered at Prague Radio P rley PRAGUE l’l-—A wwhu'n;\u oon- sidered at the.Buropean: conference here in, which the muua States is particularly interested, is: the proposed ‘adoption of a uniformi inter- national license for amateur.’ radio openm e ‘proposals are to be: IIIW the wnhnnoe by the Netlierlands gov- ernment, Under theu amateur. sta- tions would be ai to operate exclusively 'mnn t.he limits of these bands: 20.8 to 21.4 meters, 41 to 428 meters and 75 to 85 meters. anodic tension of the emitting tube or tubes which transmit the energy to the antenna without the insertion of other tubes.” An in in the transmit- ting power could place only upon RADIO MANUFACTURERS URGE CROSS-LICENSING Idea Similar to Patent Pool - of Automotive Industries Sub- mitted to Group. NEW YORK (P).—A . campaign to effect an mt,erchunga or cross-licensing of 1adio patents has been started among its members by the Radlo Manu- facturers’ Associatiol Under the d!recunn of the associa- tion's patent committee, the cross- licensing plan is being submitted to all members for adoption. The idea fol- lows somewhat the patent pool of the automobile and aircraft industries, the nncipu object, an announcement said, “being to minimize radio patent litiga- tion and to make available the widest possible use of the lowest cost of modern radio and future developments. Under the plan, radio patents would be ex- changed and made available equally to all manufacturers adhennl Great Majority Tube Sets. An estimate has been made that more than 95 per cent of the receivers now owned in the United States are tube_sets, ibilities lor | devised photo-radio systems as early as serv- | | 1923, expresses the belief that his new xces in which radio now plays a hr:e system is greatly superior to the photo- | fihlmollhammmmm hmnhu Qdofeuh lm fi"‘,fi have l.t u- times. pu&ed at least three transmissions the call rwduvem un-lt:h. assigned may 3 voltmeter to determine thé :inlu wng‘&“m‘«""’.‘.féi’o % The e mlun: of t.nln md a recelving set of whieh he is '11.\. f dam - Munu‘;\uu owlven p::d"t’h‘:' Mmpo‘ direct current m?ho( tin- filtered current would FRIENDSHIP CLUB HAS 5,000 MEMBERS | 1o"nes's Dues' to KMOX Consist of One Letter Each Month. 8T. LOUIS (#).—Thousands of boys and girls, and grown folks in many in- stances, look forward to the greeting that comes from KMOX each Friday evening at 6:30 o'clock. It is: “Hello, youngsters! This is Jack, Margie and Uncle Emmet of the Friendship Club.” They stay on the | air for 30 minutes, with songs and stories. In three months the club, with the slogan, “Be a friend to some one every | day,” has grown to more-than 5,000 active members, who must write one letter a month. The letters are “dues.” There is no age limit, and boys and | " WERTHER CHART GUIDE: RECEPTION Meteorolomeal Expert Finds ''Elements Play Part When " . Seeking Distance. BY M. L. DOBLER. That there are certain well defined yules in relation to various types of ‘weather which are conducive to excel- Flent results for the distance-hunting fan, seems now to be a f When Radio Fails To Find Husband Wife Gets Decree also were employed but with & lack of success. The court granted Mrs. Edgett ® decree nisi of divorce on grounds of desertion. this | found, are singularly free of all static, weather Just what, %, offer. Weather elements that play lwly! into such ‘s night may comprise-of at- | pressure, whether -high or | as low, and their location in United States and Canada, temperature to a certain extent, mainfall, fog, snow, wind to a relative degree only, and cloudiness also hu n certain part to play. Now. as to of year, Fall and Spring are tdnl Winter is good, but Summer is poor for the long- to-coast hunter, due to presence of intense heat and many scat- | tered local - heat congestions and line- squ:ll types of storms. As to etric pressure, it may be | stated that California has been heard on sets in the East with greater fidelity And decide accurately particular night may when we were in center of a rather ac-| tive low barometer area moving East| to sea and followed in the West or in lower Lake region by a high barometer | |area from the Canadian Northwest| provinces or the Hudson Bay region. So if you expect to hear KOA, Den- | | ver, or KFI, Los Angeles, some night |any season except Midsummer, watch | and the best California reception has | always been on a night with dense fog. Fog and low pressure usually prevail at the same time. Snowfall, once it started and became heavy, seemingly has same effect on reception conditions dense fog, and the radio listeners mun bear in mind that noises of “grinding static” presaging the com- ing of a heavy snow, generally a north- are not continuous by any means. These “grindings of static” generally cease as the snowfall in- creases. As to temperature, it is hard to de- termine. The writer well remembers a night last Spring, when the average of 8 o'clock temperature on a wild night. with mostly cloudy and rainy weather across the entire continent, was around 55 to 60 degrees, stations in all direc- tions and from the Coast registered with strong signal stren, this line passed a widespread precipitation belt, always conducive to good reception. So we are down to wind element, not so important, except that we in New York, Baltimore and the East gener- ally cad vouch on momure-pmduclnl winds veering from northeast, east to girls writing in for membership receive ! m- weather map or the weather sum- | southeast, as being the quietest, so far a card and the by-laws. After two a7 | ditional letters they get a gold.and b.. enamel pin. Each numeral “3,” the meaning of which is| disclosed only to active members. After April 28 Uncle Emmet and his | co-workers will move their program to Saturday evenings. Sunset Gives More Time. WICC, Bridgeport, Conn., which is a| daytime station only, has increased its ry in your local paper for that day | | and” see if barometer is quite low in | Lakes. That night is ideal for distance. ! |1t we should be near a low pressure area or rather close to center of one. | preferably the low barometer center | should be to the south of the observer rather than to the north, as southern low areas are rarely accompanied by thunder squalls and severe static, while | Lake region lows during Spring and | Summer generally are marring almost compietely any vestige of long distance radio principle for message tnmmh-iume on the air, due to the fact that| hopes. Mr Clark, who asserts that he hldislon NEW STYLE 1711 14th St. N.W. Champlain St. at "‘"83 MOTOR CO. o co. 'W»'&‘-‘-’ £ "ml»“mfl -om co. ShraGe sunset is a little later now. z%}zy Dmu foggy nights, the writer has Alotor mastery Style Se Srace of finish distingu as freedom of static is concerned, and usually the steadiest, strongest signals The northwest wind, especially if cloudy to clearing conditions are pre. vailing immediately behind & heavy rain q'r’ ;no!l'h‘l‘l h\;‘l']n:n moisture con- ent of the air is high, may augur well ‘or a night of excellent d’l.fllnc! It is well to know which type of cather is paramount for the fan vho prides himself in bringing in the Far West or Southwest by grasping it literally out of the air. Indeed, the thrill of radio in its real sense is jong- distance hunting. pin bears the | East and high in Ohio Valley or Great ' from any direction are noticed. In the new LOW-PRICED WILLYS-ENIGHT “7-B” ish the new Willys-Knight “70-B” as the creation of modern style specialists. It is also the largest and most powerful Knight-engined car ever offered at so little cost. Its big motor is the pasented double sleeve-valve engme, 0 notable for smoothness, silence, economical operation and in- creasi A heavy seven-bearing crankshaft re- duces vibration to & minimum, while the improved frame con- struction gives extra rigidity and -hm“ndmg g Only quantity and volume sales possible the low-price on so lmsucllly de- signed and scientifically engi- neered a car as the new style Willys-Knight *70-B.” “FINGER-TIP CONTROL” One button in center of steering wheel controls starter, lights and born. Simple design, easyoperation. No wires in steer- ing post. You can keep your footon brake when starting or re-starting on & hill, WILLYS-OVERLAND, ING TOLEDO, OHIO STERRETT & FLEMING Inc. Home of Gold Seal Used Cars Kalorama Rd. Associate Dealers Sty gopsecx Columbia- 5050 Bruasoine, M. CATLETT, MOTOR ¢t Display Room 1711 14th St. N.W. HUNT THERS Capitel s, Md. WA \lDNEI‘EIDI. LLEGE PARK ACTO PLACE