Evening star., 1924-11-30
RADIO GOSSIP AND NEWS

The Naval Communication Service
which is virtually all radio. is Dig
factor in governmental economies
these DAYS Adding what it actually
earns by handling Commerclal ac-
counts and what it saves on trans
ntting official messages. the total
approaches million dollars year
nurfne the mast fiscal year the naval
stations collected $4,000 for COM
1mercial messages sent. compared with
earnings Of s26o.73S In 1923 and 81
o95.S42 in 1920. Naturally the Navy
does not compete with commercial
radio stations. only operating where
and when commercial stations are not
available or able to handle traffic.
An estimate of the saving to the
Government in 1924 on official mes
sa ges sent by radio. compared with
the cost if the messages had been
sent at Government rates by CONNER
ciaI stations. approXimates half NIL
lion dollars The check on messages
handled and on rates is not compa-
rable to commercial systems. however
due to laclc of naval necessity ana
personnel. OF course. the saving IS
'on paper" Actual official trafhc han
died for the Navy and other govern
mental departments in the past hscai
year, nevertheless, shows a grand
teen million words We're sent and re-
ceived by the Alaskan division the
great volume being due partly to the
failure of the Government cable dur
ing that time. The Washington Of
fee. known as RADIO Central, ham
died II. 900. 600 words during the same
time other districts making up the
grand total Messages Sent and re-
ceived between two stations are
cd
rion counts the traffic handled.
Primarily the Naval Communication
Service is maintained to provide a
means of communication between the
seat of Government and the various
naval units. as well as between these
units. both in time of peace and war
The handling of other Government bust
ness is incidental. and the transmission
of commercial traffic is only under spe-
cific conditions defined by law. Today
the naval radio net includes 3 primary
stations, with ranges between $500 and
5000 miles: o3 intermediate stations
varying in range from one to two thou
sand miles: - coastal stations reaching
about a. thousand miles and 80 radio
compass stations. Besides these there
is "A radio station on every ship and air
craft and three experimental stations
such az the Naval Research Laboratory
inSular possessions the Navy also oper
ates 4 station in Peking. China; Mana
qua, Nicaragua : Port au Prince. Haiti,
where Marine Corps detachmentS are
loca ted.
Both the Naval Bureau of Engineer
ing and the Naval Communication Serv-
ice have extended congratulations to
the Marine Corps personnel which oper-
ates the naval radio station at Peking,
Hl,-Y1 .,ff -fnst Jc.tlp tod 70
in the service. over 100000 words of
traffic were handled without Interrupt
ton last year.
Naval Radio Developments.
Radio developments of the Naval Re
search Laboratory in the past fiscal year
have proven direct monetary saving to
the Government far in excess of the
money expended in radio research prob
lenls, and have resulted in a marked
increase in naval communication ef-
ficiency both afloat and ashore.
In his annual report to the Secretary
of the Navy DIR. A. II. Taylor of the
radio research section states, in part, as
follows:
The laboratory makes a monthly
check of shore station transmitting fire.
quencies. thus assuring their working
on designated wave lengths. Apparatus
las been developed to give a ready
means of frequency celebration for all
vessels af1oat, and this will not only
speed up communication between any
Two stations. but with improved appara-
tus, will make available more communi-
cation channels in the range of fire.
quency bands assigned for naval use.
Incident to the phenomenal growth
of broadcasting, it has been found
that some of the naval high-power
rra
ence in reception of radio programs
in their immediate vicinity. An ex-
tended study OF such rference is
being made to find means for remov-
ing this Objectionable feature with
out excessive cost to the Govern
ment.
Aircraft radio transmitters have
been designed with master oscillator
to insure a constant wave length.
This transmitter makes possible an
increase in the number of planes
which can be used for spotting pur-
poses. A simple audio frequency trap
has been developed which permits in
creased number of communication
channels without increase in number
of transmitters and receivers. sAs
this unit can be built at about one
tenth the cost OF present CONNER
cially available equipment, and rep
set where over 1000 receiving sets
are involved, it's value to the Gov
ernment is apparent.
"As a result of the operations OF
the Shenandoah there was created a
need for reliable radio communica-
ton. The work involved was rem
dered difficult by the fact that no
previous dssa regarding operating
conditions on such ship was avail
able. The laboratory developed and
built a high h-power tube transmitter
weighing only 450 pounds, exclusive
of power plant, capable of putting
> kilowatts in the antenna, and OPP
Grating on a range of zoo to SOC
kilocycles. 1t also built a small high
frequency set, continuous wave and
telephony, for which power Is sup
piled by storage battery. For re-
ception, three receivers, covering
ranges from IL to 5000 kilocycles
were designed and built. Weight be.
ing Of prime consideration. this fac.
tor introduced many novel features
in design. The apparatus has giver
excellent results. The receivers de-