Evening star., 1928-11-30
RADIO CHIEF LAUDS
ABILITIES OF HAMS
Two U. S. Agencies Praise
Work of Amateurs in
Times of Stress.

More praise for the great army ol
radio amateurs is sung in the annual
report of William D. Terrell as radio
chief of the Department of Commerce
Issued almost coincidently, another re-
port from the Navy Department cites
amateurs for maintaining radio contact
with the dirigible Los Angeles on its
Iakehurst-t -to-Fort Worth fight and for
their excellent reports on reception OF
the recent Navy day messages on the
short waves.
To the activity of the "herls," as they
are fonc known in ra@!o parlance'
Supervisor Terrell attributes much of
the tremendous interest now manifested
i, ne use of short waves. He regards
as one of the prideful achievements OF
the American delegation at the mterna-
tional radio-telegraph conference IN
Washington last year the fact that the
worlds amateurs will have a deFned
status in international law.
The result of the radio treaty viii be
to force a "reallocation" of amateur
wave lengths not unlike the recent
broadcast reallocation. Beginning on
January /. 1929, the hams" will be
restricted to fewer and narrower bands
Of freauencies, but the prospect of
erowding them out of the ether to make
way for voracious business interests Is
now remote.
Have Six Bands.
When the amateurs begin readjusting
their short-wave apparatuS-and many
have already started experimenting in
the 10-meter band, now generally re-
garded as useless-they will have four
exclusive and two non-exclusive bands
of channels in which they can commu-
nicate with each other to their hearts
content Certain European countries
had to yield to the insistence OF the
American, Canadian, Italian, Australian
and New Zealand delegations, which
came forward boldly for their amateurs
when it seemed they might be ruled OF
the air altogether by the international
radio lawmakers.
All this is noted in the Terrell report,
which devoteS two major chapters and
part of third to favorable comment on
the Nations hams. The report and the
new edition, just out, of the official log
Of all amateur radio stations in the
United States shows that they aggre-
gated 1928 in this country at the end
of the last fiscal year. All hold licenses
from the Government. This total is an
increase Of almost exactly 1000 over
the preceding year. There are about
IS 900 in TIL whole world, most of the
others being in Canada.
( The radio chief of the Department OF
Commerce says in his report that he
once asked the American Radio Relay
haa r5rVr1o OF
Conn, to conduct a survey to deter
mine to what extent amateurs and for
rner amateurs are now engaged in the
radio industry. Leaving out the thou
sands of operators who got their train
ing as amateurs an incomplete list re-
vealed this many former "hanS" hold
ing down executive positions: Forty
five presidents, Is vice presidents, gen.
eral managers, SO managers, 81 owners,
324 engineers, 19 announcerS and II
directors.
Keep Close Contact.
Beth the Army and Navy maintain
close contacts with the amateurs. The
former has an amateur network that
covers the whole United States. It's
utility was graphically demonstrated
during the Florida hurricane and the
Mississippi and Vermont floods. The
Navy maintains many of its radio re-
servistS as amateurs and uses the anna
teurs on special occasions and in emer-
gencies. Amateurs were used for speedy
communications during the recent
Porto Rican disaster.
The commanding officer OF the dirigf-
bic Los Angeles reporting excellent
service in working Navy, Army and
amateur stations on the fight to Fort
Worth. recommended that five Young
amateurs who manned station SAWS at
Fort Worth. Tex, be commended Off
ctal'-- 'fl i. their conscientious and un-
tiring efforts during the flight and their
excellent spirit of cooperation" The
quintet are Paul Bostaph, William
zeidliB. Gordon Gail White, E. M. Frost
and Carl Kilander. The Los Angeles
also kept contact with naval reserve
station EDP, Madison, Wis, operated
by Lieut.. Comdr. Schnell, U. S. N R.
The American Radio Relay League
reported to the Navy Department that
1t has received 240 reports from anna
teurs who had picked up Secretary
Wilbur'S message on Navy day from
NAA, Arlington, and that of President
Hiram Maxim of the A. r. r. L. from
station WINK. This exceeded the re-
turns from 1927 Navy day by 100. The
10 best reports were submitted by the
following amaters, all of whom have
been sent congratulatory letters by the
Secretary of the Navy:
Frederick Best, 13 East Crescent
street, Augusta, Me; E. o. Knoch, 1928
East Sixth street. Los Angeles, Calf ;
NJ. W. BanniSter, University Station,
Tucson, Ariz.; Wilbur c. Gross, $40
East Main road, Conneaut, Ohio; Reed
r. Brunner, 1926 Minnesota avenue,
Duluth, Mimi. c. F. Butcher, 1902
Wellington street, Greenville, Tex; E.
w. Mayer, Ensenada, Porto Rico; Gerald
Lovins, 2044 Gaylord street, Denver;
Robert A. Holbrook, 166 Ponce de Leon
avenue, Atlanta, and Robert H. Reid, Y.
M. c. A.. Jacksonville. Fla
: (Ccpyright, 1928, by North American
Newspaper Alliance)