Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-01
TRAFFIC OFFICERS"
OF AIR DEVELOPED
Equipment, Consisting of Six
Test Cars, Devised to
Police Ether.

Uncle Sam, who has set the pace fol
the rest of the world In radio, also j.
teaching it how to police the ether.
When radio sprang into the public
eye less than a decade ago as a ire
mendous potential medium of reaching
the people, the Government realized
that it would have to be regulated, not
alone by law, but by physical force
It fell to the lot of the radio division
of the Commerce Department to Su-
admirable job.
Starting from scratch, with nc
methods then known Of checking sta
tons to ascertain whether they were
operating on their specified channels
and thus not interfering with other
stations, the division had to 1mpro-
wise its own equipment. There was no
commercial market for apparatus.
Traffic Cops Developed.
But, under the immediate direction Of
William D. Terrell, chief of the divi-
sion, monitoring apparatus, or AUTO
matte traffic cops" of the ether have
been developed. And pursuant to de-
signs and specifications drafted by the
division, they will be placed in CONNER
cial manufacture, and will be available
TO all nations.
So far as is known, no other nation
has developed accurate methods OF
checking the operations OF their sta
lions. whether broadcasting or code,
to determine the accuracy of their sig
nails Just as soon as the commercial
company now manufacturing the
monitoring apparatus for the radio
division, begins its commercial produce
ton, many countries undoubtedly will
order the equipment
The apparatus now in use by the "a
do inspectors throughout the country
was constructed by the field inspection
service. It consists largely In six radio
test cars, which cruise about their as
signed territories and listen In on sta
tons, checking their frequencieS. Dur
ing the fiscal year ended last June, for
example, 374 Of the GA licensed broad
casting stations, were checked as to the
frequency of their signals.
Within the next few months, the ra-
do division will have In operation the
new equipment now on order. This
will include a master trafic cop" Or
conStant-frequency monitoring station,
to be situated in the geographical cen
ter Of the country, at Grand Island,
Lie range "a Tile 4oN1S
spectrum viii be its beat" and it will
be capable of checking stations any
where in the world. Use Of this and
other new equipment will greatly SIM
pity the task Of the inspection serv-
ice in insuring the movement of radio
trafdc along the specified ether lanes
without interference.
Cuba Seeks Apparatus.
Cuba already is seeking monitoring
apparatus Of the type used by the
United States for its radio supervision.
In a letter to Mr.. Terrell, the commu-
nications administration Of Cuba re-
quests information about the equip
ment.
This government desiring to acquire
for the supervision of radio, apparatus
efficient and Selective TO verify the fire.
quency in kilocycleS of broadcaSting, "
says the letter, at Is requested that you
inform US what type of apparatus the
supervisors of radio in the United
States are using and also If said APP
paratus Is of special construction and
where 1t can be procured"
In reply. Mr.. Terrell said the ap-
paratus used was constructed by the
supervisors themselves because of
there not being available In the COM
mercial market apparatus suitable for
this purpose" He explained, however,
that the new apparatus soon would be
available by commercial manufacture.