Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-22
FORECASTS GREAT
FUTURE FOR RADIO
Col. Sarnoff Sees Invaluable
Aid for u. S. Forces in
Time of War.

Radios tremendous potentiality as
an instrument of war was graphically
described by Lieut.. Col. David Sarnoff,
Army Signal Corps Reserves, vice
president and general manager of the
Radio Corporation of America, in a
recent address before the Army War
College.
The vision that Col. Sarnoff drew
before his fellow officers Of the part
radio will play in the wars of the flu
ture was not intended for popular
view for military reasons, but on ac-
count of it's great scientific pertinence
the address has now been made public
by permission of the War Department
Col. Sarnoff declared the United
States today is the center of world
communications in so far as radio is
concerned. A touch upon a key"
might vitiate our cable connections,
but not quite so easily could our radio
communication be severed, he said
To maintain mass communication with
an audience which today numbers
perhaps 25,000,000 In this country
alone, as well as the maintenance of
direct contact with our interests and
forces anywhere in the world in a
crisis, is an obvious advantage, he be-
lieves.
While Col. Sarnoff dwelt at length
with the development Of our systems
of communication and the Importance
of mass and military contact, the sig
niflcant and graphic points in his ad-
dress had to do with scientific future
in radio. Some of the Developments
he described as actual or foresaw as
possible have hitherto been mentioned
only as remote possibilities; some
never before mentioned. The fact
that he stressed the military phases
is due perhaps to the fact that he
spoke before military men. The peace
time possibilities of the radio art are
quite more important, of course.
Television Featured.
Television's advance was doubtless
the most significant portion Of the
address. 1t is confidently expected,
said Col. Sarnoff, that with model ap-
paratus now being developed in the
laboratories, photograph transmission
on high frequencies will be accom-
plshed in the remarkable time of 10
seconds. The commercial average for
a single photograph today is 20 min
utes. In the laboratories already
transmission and reproduction have
been completed in 2 minutes. The
scientists vision of television in it's
highest stage is sending and repro
ducing at the rate of 16 pictures per
second, or motion pictures Now,
what does the progress already made
with television mean to military van
tage, aside from it's obvious CONNER
cial Importance?
Sufficient progress has been made
in our industrial laboratories" said
Col. Sarnoff, ito warrant the predic-
ton that 1t will not be long before
mechanism will be available whereby
scouting airplaneS, soaring over the
enemy's lines, will be able to send
back to headquarters maps and photo
graphs of enemy positions within a
few minutes of the time that the pho
tographS were made.
1--WE may foresee the day when a
fleet of aircraft, with no human occu-
pants and loaded with bombs, may
be sent against the enemy's lines
with all controlling operations per-
formed by radio.
Automatic Picture Sending.
1--WE can imagine a fleet of scout
planes, each with photoradio trans
mitter, its lens directed to the ground,
sending automatically photoradio maps
of the territory which 1t traverses.
The fact that the aircraft would move
forward during the S or 10 seconds
of Photographic exposure should not
destroy the sharpness of the map. 1t
would simply mean that the extreme
right of the picture was made 10 sec
onds later than the extreme left. The
map, nevertheless, would be of great
military value.
at may also become possible for
the staff at military base to follow
the progress Of an air raid more or
less accurately by comparing the pho
toradio maps transmitted with photo
graphs taken Of the same ground.
Thus the progress of the fleet could
be plotted and the aircraft steered by
radio so that bombs might be dropped
when the desired position was reached.
After their work had been performed
the craft might be steered to return.
But even If driven to their destruction,
they might accomplish their purpose
by exploding their charges after they
had been brought to the ground.
| LAS the principles of remote control
| by radio already have been deter
mined, it is not impossible to conceive
| the radio-controlled tank Of the future