Evening star., 1926-02-21
NEED BRINGS GREAT
PROGRESS IN RADIO.
Increasing Power of Stations
Results in More SeIeCtive
Type of Receiver.
By CARL III. BCTMAN.

The time-worn maxim that necessity
is the mother of invention is being
found TO hold in the radio industry
to an even greater degree than IN
many of the older and more estab-
lished businesses. The rule has been:
The more trouble the better sets.
With the development of broadcast
ing and the advent of high power.
came increased interference between
stations. accompanied by the diff
Cultes of local listeners to separate
stations. Some programs overlapped.
as a result of the increased ranges of
these higher-powered transmitters.
The growing number of stations on
the air and the consequent use of
wave channels much closer together
tended to make it more ard more
difficult for fans TO get the station de
sired, or to separate two or three sta
tons on adjoining waves. But the
result has heen better receivers.
In practically every city where pow
er was increased from 100 to 500
watts or from 500 TO 900 or 5000
watts came complaints to the De
partment of Commerce against these
monsters of the air. which hlanketed
local reception. That high-power sta
tions, say. over 900 watts, should not
he allowed. was the purport of most
of the indignant letters and tele
grams which threaten to swamp the
desk OF the chief radio supervisor.
But did the department close these
stations? No, the radio officials were
too far-Sighted to do this and inter
fere with radio development: they
permitted the increase in power. un-
der certain restrictions and in loCali.
ties where congestion was not too
great. The policy was eSta hliShed
that advance in radio must go on.
This required improvement in the re-
ceivers. It was better than limiting
the strength and range of the trans
mitterS TO suit receivers. Improve
ment of many receiving sets in use
followed and the design of new sets
benefited by the troubles encountered.
Sets Greatly Improved.
If we only had 50-watt transmitters
there would be little need for any
thing but crystal and one-tube sets
W hen the complaints of fans against
the first 5-kilowatt stations were at
their height. Chief Supervisor Terrell
pointed out that sets must be made
more seleCtive and less sensitive. This
has been accomplished; the fans who
did not want to or could not afford TO
improve their receivers. had to be sat
lSted with what they could get on
their old sets, but those more interest
ed made adjustments or put in wave
traps so that their reception improved.
Today we are certainly further ad.
vanced in broadcast reception, and bet
ter off than we could have been if
broadcasting had been limited to a
maximum wattage of 500
The latest instance of similar gita-
tlon mas just petered out; 1t was the
flood of complaints from upper New
Jersey against the blanketing of the
netghborhOod by the new transmitter
OF Station WIZ of the Radio Corpora.
ton. 1t was first designated as 2%AR
the experimental 50-kilowatt station
Representative and Senators were at
hrst indignant at the injustice done
their constituents by the corporate
which moved its transmitter from
New York to a peaceful and ideal
radio location. where, with the
great power of 40 to so kilo-
watts 1t was preventing the recep-
tlon by local listeners of practically
all other stations in the country. In
vestigators reported that agents of the
corporation had even tried to sell
wave traps and other paraphernalia
to dtsgruntled fans, so that WIS
radlatlons could be suppressed or at
least confined to a smaller portion of
the d1als on their nearby sets.
Radical opponents even accused the
IN order to benefit by the sa lie of
the remedy" This charge is now
generally conceded to have been I'm.
just and merely the natural activity
OF local radio agents in meeting the
demandS for auxiliary equipment to
ana In reducing interference Prac-
tlcaily all the congressman and most
or their constituents are now an
peased with the efforts of the cor.
poration to reduce interference bv
cooperating with the owners of sets
affected
Opposition DwindIes.
In order to have n showdown"
the department called hearing. to
which the compla inants and the cor
poration officials were invited AT
this meeting in Washington com.
plants against the use of super
power by WIZ were shown to be fast
disappearing. Secretary Hoover was
told that within about three months
the engineers of VIZ expected 10
satisfy all listeners. except perhaps
the owners of single-circuit and
crystal sets. To date 400 out of
l,3o0 fans living within radius of
10 miles OF WIZ. from which com.
plants have been received. have been
visited by representatives of the cor
poratlons, with the result that all
but II owners have been satisfied.
due Chiefly to improvements made or
adjustments suggested.
SO the status quo of the WIZ
remains the same. The corporation
is to continue its experimental broad
casting with 10000 watts and also
its efforts 10 cooperate with listen
ers whose sets fail to function ade-
quately in the shadow of VIZ This
has proven the maxim. necessity
brought improvements"
Improves BrOadcasting.
High power is making for better
broadcast service, having a tendency
TO override static and increase the
range of stations. but its use has been
haralded with local complaints wher-
ever it has been tried. To be sure u
certain space on the dias is blanketed
by every nearby station, buL many
other stations on other wave bands
always are available. To limit q sta
tons power by the ability of receiving
sets to pick it or other stations up
would he putting the cart before the
horse. 1t would be equivalent to pre-
venting new automobiles from using
the streets because they were higher
powered and capable of greater speed
than the lowpowered cars in use.
Another defendant of the radio de-
velopment of high power likens the
situation to requiring our highways to
be of standard grades so that all
motor cars could make the hills. Limit
ing the power of stations upon the Sc
lectivity of receivers would be as bad
from pulling the highest hills which
less nowprfII automobiles poiybt NOT