Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-02-05

y NE iluIlUlNU tituSdtll AdNiS
engineers of all degrees OF
technical knowledge and de-
~ velopment are doing more 10
unScyamhle the highly involv-
e,i radio broadcaSting situation than all
ihr legislators and executives in the
United States
This is the view Of the Federal Radio
Commission. temporarily halted III its
work Of wedding the good eggs from the
had cut Of the basket of broadcaStlnG
stations that convert the ether lanes
nightly into either sweet paths OF
music or hideous channels Of whistles
sHa cToanS In other words the COM
mission. after nearly year Of wreSt-
ling with an executive problem that
only noW appears likely Of solution and
ihcn only after the life of the commits
son has been extended for another
yea~, believes the true solution of the
ConeeSted broadcasting problem lies in
the research work Of the recognized
radio engineers and the one hundred
thousand or SO amateurs who are strug-
cIlne day by day III new fields and 50
improving the technical devices which
go 10 make up modern radio that some
cay not far distant the Job of placinc
more than 600 broaocaStcrS III q mar
row band between zoo and $50 meters
NAV be successfully solved
Executive administration Of radio has
not failed, III any sense OF the word.
the commission holds rather the art
has not vet developed to the point
where II IS physically possible TO place
eco broaocaSters on the air at the same
time. The art is developing SO fast,
however. that some morning the world
ma wake up 10 find that the Utopia
has al last been discovered and that by
some magic means of electrical! alchemy
'the solution has been reached Mean
while administration Of the ether lanes
by law must &C along IN orderly FASH
Ion. the commission holds. or revert to
the chaos Of 1925. after Government
control had completely broken down.
Laboratories Arc Busy.
Many methods are now being worked
out IN hundreds Of technical laborato-
res and thousands Of impromptu home
laboratories all over the land. the sum
OF which may solve the problem when
the commission realizes cannot be Solv-
coed wholly By administrative means
The radio industry Itself is naturally
the foremost and leading factor in this
development but the amateurs and
Seml-professionals have PLAYED no small
part IN the advance OF the art and out
OF their "t!nkering" may come revolu-
t,cnary principles that Will transform
The entire system OF broadcasting and
radio reception.
Quite recently there has been consid-
cradle agitation toward a means of
oToaocastIng chain programs on a sim
gle wave length from the studios Of the
red and blue networks and upward of
SO or IS stations throughout the coun-
try.
II sounds fine and as a laboratory ex-
pertinent is feasible from the engineer
ing standpoint. But there is a fIv in
the ointment of considerable size. Con-
sider II this way: A Chicago station. for
example. broaocastS. in COMPANY with
many other stations. a chain program
from New York. They all send the pro-
gram out al different frequencies at the
same time. but at O'Clock, for ey-
ample. some prominent local subject is
10 De discussed by a leading citizen If
the station were broadcasting on a
wave common 10 the others on the chain.
The prominent citizens well-tfoueht-
out speech would go unsaid for that
evening because il takes a half dav TO
Change the frequency Of a broadcastine
station That Is the trouble with singie-
wave oroaGcaSting Of chain programs
~ present. But uno is 70 saw the engi-
reers viii not find some way TO simply
throw a pole switch and transfer fire.