Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-31
RADIO ALLEGATION
ISSUE UNSOLVEO
Commission. Holding 0iverg-
ent Views. Takes Recess
for Two Weeks.
Rx MARTIN C0nEL~

IN TAfAN \ IN AN&FA&A@f
Five weeks Of intensive work on
plans for reallocaCinS radio BROADCAST
:nv have come 10 nsusht, and the Fed
eral Radio Commission has recessed for
tvz, weeks. Before deciding upon the
rs,ess members Of tho commission set
acids their DIVERGENT individual views
long enough "a agree upon the appoint
y,,enf NJ T1r. j II Dcllinger radio chiet
81 the Rureau Of Standards. as cniei
engineer Of the commission.
n Dei;lueer one Of radios outStano-
g,~ e1cinecvs and past president OF
the institute n radio engineers. mas &C
rcoie3 INC post for a space OF only three
r. nrhs. He accepted It as pubic
Sery}cs purely. for the place carries WIN
= tbs relatively small salary ~ >tooa
> wear He Viu return 70 the Bureau a
Standards November ].
Task for nr. Dellin@"r.
The ALLEGATION problem viii II D..
T4ilInsers chief ask. He viii Be called
r~on IL soniy scientific principles to
t!,e -eas sixrnasntS Of va lengths and
eou,ers nsCeSsltated by ths Davis eouah-
Il ION amendment 70 the radio act. He
told the commission f,'7inlv before
agreeing 70 accept the at he was
stu IN accord with the general nature
&C the so-called engineers plan Of AL
yl,a +ious. which he helped 10 prepare,
That rlsn proposed classifying the
% available broadcast channels into
three cToups-national. regional and To-
ca Fifty Of the channels would be
national and would be utilized ex-
clytsIvelv bv so stations Of 5000 10
1000 watts Of power. Thirty-six chan
rels would be regional and on them a
total 81 % stations Of 500 TO 1000 watts
O. power would operate. Four local
channels would hold SO stations on each.
with their power not TO exceed ESQ
watts.
Provides for $40 Stations.
Thus there would be room for an
aggregate of $40 stations using full
time. as compared with the $50 now
operating. The engineers plan, how
ever. held leeway for more than $40
stations through the medium of time
divisions. Il also was presented with
the statement that the commissions
own policy could determine whether the
number Of channels proposed for each
service was too great or too small. The
service range classification and the adj
monitor against overlooking the nom
exclusive channels with power were the
chief contributions Of the engineers
plan.
Since then. the commission has been
torn --ithin itself over the application
Of engineering principles to proposed set
ups. which would carry out the man
dates az Congress The engineers plan
was vigorously aSsailed as favoring
high-powered stations to the exclusion
CT the small independents The fact
that the 1igh-pcTer stations we're usu-
ally members Of national networks led
% indiscriminate charges OF trust and
monopoly.
Two Reports Submitted.
Accomplishing nothing as a body,
the commission. late in June, turned
to two Of its members and babe them
work on the necessary re-allocation
that would equalize radio for each of
the five zones. Commissioner Caldwell
and Pickaro undertook the task. They
unlimited two different reports. Cald-
well an engineer, presented a varia-
ton Of the engineering proposal, pro-
passing that each zone get 10 positions
for stations Of 5000 watts and above.
for stations of 1000 watts. Is for
stations Of 500 tn125(A watts, so stations
Of 10 to Iklp.wstts ana 40 for stations
dBlEgIg the daytime Only.
Commissioner Pickard's plan proposed
Encouragement of existing stations so
that the zones would be equalized in
power aggregate Unopposed TO high
power Pfckard said he was seeking,
nevertheless. to strike happy medium
bctween local and distance reception"
Plans Held Secret.
Both plans we're and still are secret,
80 that further details are lacking. It
has developed within the commission
that a least one member is opposed
to- high powers and thinks local and
regional services are sufficient from any
station, ir1aSmuck as national programs
could CONS via the chains. One or two
others think that the status quo In
broadcast reception Is quite satisfactory
and that no radical changes beyond an
equalization are necessary, despite the
cry against heterodynes.
The chief difficulty apparently Is with
TIE Middle Western zone represented by
Pickaro With Chicago its sore spot"
II has more than 200 stations, or more
than any Of the other zones Applying
the equalization principle. ii is bound
u suffer most under any sort Of ailoca-
tier
Beard 10 Reconvene August IL.
The commission will reconvene August
Il Meanwhile, some Of its members
viii enjoy short vacations. and ali of
them viii study the records in the cases
Of the 100 small stations recently cited.
Judge sykes has left for his home in
Jackson, Miss Chairman Robinson ex-
pects % 20 70 his home In West Viz
giris
The others viii spend most Of the
time Ia Washington Caldwell and
Pickar6 will continue working on alloca-
ton. and they will be Joined by Com
missioner Lsfount. who has evinced
keen interest in that problem.
AL are extremely gratified with the
opportunity 10 work out the plan with
Or Dellinger Both Caldwell and Pick
s.6 repeatedly expressed every conf
dence that their differences can be COM
promised 50 that satisfactory plan can
b presented n fhe commission by
August IS. ard n the stations and the
public op September I
fcopyfiatt. 1923. by North American News
paper Alliance