Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-11-01
CRUDE BOARD GIVES
ALLEGATION PLAN
Homemade Apparatus Used
to Work Out DestinieS
of Radio.

| Unknown to the millions of radio
| listeners and even to the entire group
i of broadcasters are the scenes that
were enacted behind the closed doors
of The Federal Radio Commission in
working out the reallocation of broad
casting facilities to become effective
November IL.
A crude homemade board, blocked
off in pencil, represented the broadcast
spectrum, and upon it the master game
of chess, involving the destinies OF the
$50 hroadcasting stations With capt.
tai investment of hundreds OF millions,
was played.
The task of reallocating and realign-
| ino-all to give the listener the long
awaited good radio'-which began six
months ago, has been concluded only
this week by radio engineers. But there
likely will be more shutting and reshuf-
fling. although only Of minor nature.
Utmost secrecy and rigid regulation
marked the working out of the alloca-
ton, which affects the assignments OF
all but a score of the broadcasting sta
| lions of the country.
Hill Makes Changes.
Capt. Guy Hill, veteran Army radio
technician, who is the commissions en-
gineer in charge of broadcasting, alone
| was permitted to make the changes on
the board and then only upon author
| ity of the full commission. This was
because of the magnitude of the real
| location, where one displacement on
| the board might have meant the coll
lapse of good radio in large surround
ing area and shattered the plan of pre-
else separations between stations so
that least interference would be en-
tailed.
Under the first draft of the allo-
cation which was publicly announced
about two weeks ago, none other than
the official engineering personnel and
| the commissioners themselves were al
lowed within the "holy of holies" as
the ALLEGATION room came to be known
| The board, about eight feet by three
| feet, is suspended from the ceiling OF
| the ALLEGATION room. 1t is marked of
into SO channels. depicting the entire
| broadcast spectrum, with each channel
set off by metal hooks. Upon these
hooks In proper order, are small card
board tags, each tag representing a
station. These tags were handled with
extreme care and after the many
months of elaboration by the commits
sion and it's engineers were so arrang-
ed as to provide the best possible radio
for the country as a whole, and at the
same time meet the stringent equaliza-
ton provisions of the Davis amendment
to the radio act.
Personnel of Board.
The Nations foremost radio engi-
neers, including John v. L. Hogan OF
New York and President G. M. Jansky,
| IT,, of the University Of Minnesota, as
well as DR.. ]. H. Dellinger the commits
Sion's chief engineer, elaborated in
working out the plan.
A printed notice is plainly discern
ible above the board, signed by the
| full commission, setting out that none
but Capt. Hill may change the position
of the tags, and then only upon off,
cial commission order. The board prob
ably will remain for use by the commits
sion until the new ALLEGATION has been
| tried and tested. There Is a project
among the commissions staff to con-
| sign It to the National Museum as an
object of interest to posterity, because
| of It's role In working out the radio
| iestinies of the Nation.
| Commissioner Caldwell, himself an
| engineer, has working miniature Of
| the ALLEGATION board in his private Of
fice. He rugged out the replica himself
and has worked out problems of the
reallocation together with Commission.
err Sam Pickard, the other member
Of the subcommittee on broadcasting
during the arduous days--and nights
Of the reallocation.
ACopygiaht, 1928, by Consolidated Press.l