Evening star., 1927-03-25
WIDENING OF RADIO
BANDS HELD VITAL
Bellows Sees Separation Be-
tween Broadcasting Chan
neIs Likewise important.

Two ma jor problems of radio broad
casting must be settled by the Fed
eral Radio Commission before assign
ment Of wave lengths can be made to
the 1913 United States stations and the
SO Canadian stations now operating,
Fl. A. Bellows, member of the com
mission, announced today. Declaring
hat the problem of handling the large
number of stations is not nearly as
hard as it has been pictured, Mr.. Bel
lows classed the two essential prob
lems as follows:
Widening Of the broadcasting band
from It's present limits between 200
and $50 meters.
Possibility of reducing the separa.
ton between broadcasting channels in
lieu of the 10 kilocycle separation
now in use.
Are Engineering Matters.
Both these problems, Mr.. Bellows
said, are solely and purely engineer
ing matters. although in the case of
the first a large number of amateur
radio station operators will be incon-
genienced if the wave bands between
$50 and 200 meters are opened 10
oroadcasters. He saw little possibility
Of raising the broadcasting limit be-
yond $50 meters. where it might inter
fere with sos signals from ships at
sea.
1--WE can't run the risk of endanger-
ing human life to accommodate a few
more stations" Mr.. Bellows said.
At the same time Mr.. Bellows made
ii known that few broadcasters in ad
dition to those now operating have q
chance for licenses and that in the
congested areas around New York and
Chicago new broadcasters would
hardly have a chance for license
He said all the 733 stations now ION
the air" can be licensed If they viii
agree to time division, censorship OF
power and adherence to their assigned
wave band.
Threat of Revocation.
1--WE don't care how they keep or
their wave band so long as they don't
interfere with other stations" Mr.. Bel
lows said. I'VE will keep them or
their assigned channels under threat
of license revocation
The foremost radio engineers of the
country will attend the public hearings
scheduled to open Tuesday morning
before the new commission, Mr.. Bel
lows said, in an effort to aid the com
mission in solving the vexing and mul
titudinous problems connected with
the radio situation.
New York and Chicago will not be
permitted to dominate the rest of the
country in assignment of exclusive
wave lengths, Mr.. Bellows said. but
will be viewed In the larger light OF
possible interference with other sta
tions i'm widely scattered sections OF
the United States and Canada. There
win be no attempt made to subordb
nate stations in Washington to those
in New York in the matter of power
and wave length.
Must Show Demand.
New stations will not be licensed
except where great public demand
can be proven"
The program for the public hear
ings to open at the Commerce De-
partment Tuesday morning finds the
general subject of widening the
broadcast band first on the list for
consideration. Limitation of power
will be discussed in the afternoon
Wednesday morning reduction in
the frequency separation, another of
the two major problems, will be dis
cussed together with chain broad
casting Time division will come in
for discussion Thursday, along with
consolidation Of broadcasting service
by amalgamation of stations. Fri
day the conference will turn to limi-
tation of the number of broadcasters
and will close with session devoted
to general discussion. II the at
tendance is too large for the con-
ference room of the Commerce De-
partment, where two previous radio
conferences have been held, it will
! move to the Interior Department au-
ditorlum.
Amateur kicks" Seen.
MIR. Bellows pointed out that usurpa-
ton Of the wave band between $50 and
/ 200 meters, now used by amateurs, is
! certain to meet with kicks" by the
amateurs. He said, however, that So
additional ether channels may be
| opened up for broadcasting between
these limits. Some small adjustments
| will be necessary on most of the com
mercial receiving sets sold today to
enable listeners to hear programs
| broadcast between $50 and 200 me
tiers. Present sets are almost exclu
sively constructed to receive between
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