Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-06

oppose trust OFOup.
| Another argument that has been
raised, especially in Congress. is that
| the high-power stations invariably be-
/ long to the so-called trust group"
| This is true, but it is true also that
| they were the first to apply for and
obtain high power and tn demonstrate
| its utility. Moreover, hardly a station
in the country would not gladly add TO
| its power input, but the commissions
| policy in recent months has been To ef~
| feet no changes I'm the status quo Of
| broadcasting until the reallocation plan
/ Is ready
| Among the applicants for higher
| power are WLW, Cincinnati. WENT
| Chicago. and XII. Los Angeles. All
want to go to $4,000 watts, WLW hav-
| ing even gone To the length Of absorb
| ing the well known WSAI in the ex-
peetation that the commission would
see At TO grant that power Station
WGY experimental last Winter with
| 100 600 watts under special authority
| from the commission, and was 50 sue
ceSsfui that it has applied for an ex-
perimental license for past midnight
broadcasts Of an hour or two with
| 10000 watts.
Supported BY radio engineers. Com
missioner Caldwell cites radio wave
phenomena 10 show that the same ef-
fects are caused by 5000 watts of
power as by $4,000 watts. in SO far as
wave length utilization IS concerned.
that Is. Tie carrier wave emanating from
a 5000 watt tranamiiter viii shoot over
the length and breadth Of the land ana
| cause heterodynlng II any ether sta
ton is placed on the same wave length
IF, therefore. a 5,000-watt station
requires an exclusive channel for in
reference free utilization why not
| place unlimited power on that channel,
SO that the stronger and clearer pro-
gram signals can he received by rural
/ and remote listeners as we'll?
| That is Caldwells thesis. and he pro-
| poses To fight 10 the finish for even
| more high-power stations that will rem
der national programs. Lafount is in
| agreement, and pickard, Kansas agri-
| cultural college man. has frequently
| said he favored power sufficient 10
reach farm listeners, which means high
| power
| The New York commissioner in dis
| cussing the power question has an in
| teresting proposal with regard 10 AN
| improved method Of expressing broad
| casting powers" In view of recent
| discussions of tremendous powers" of
certain stations. he suggests rating
| them by horsepower" That would
show how very little even $4,000 watts
OF power really Is
For example. one horsepower requires
| TAG watts. With this ratio, electrical
terms may readily be translated TO the
more familiar mechanical terms. Thus
a 50-kilowatt station, like KDKA, would
| become a "65 ~horsep0Wer station" and
15-kiloWatt station, like WGN, a
horsepower station"
Now. 10 show how little this Wattage
really In IL IL pointed out that seven
passenger automobile radiates about the
| same amount Of power as so kilowatts,
and the ordinary domestic electric
| range and water heater consumes about
is kilowatts, OF course, most C. this
power is dissipated In ether and the
| electrical energy that actuates re-
cejVer antenna Is often less than an
almost inconceivabiy minute one bill
iionth Of watt The more energy re-
ceived the clearer the signal another
argument for high power
The only drawback 10 this nomen~
clAIIre seen by Mr. Caldwell is the
possibility of some wag referring In
| SPLENDID 750-watt stations rs "one-
horse Literally, of course. they would
pe Just that. for their power IN almost
exactly one electrical horsepower
fCopyfight 1921