Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-08
new ARMY STATION
TOBE OPENED SOON
WAR Will Cost $28, COO for
Unit Without Equipment.
Begins October 81.

y
will soon be in operation with new and
modern equipment linking all units of
the Armys widespread network with
Radio Central of the Army Signal
Corps. Situated on a promontory above
the Potomac at Fort Myer, Va, station
WAR will stand out in sharp contrast
to the tall masts of naval radio NAA
at Arlington, for none of its .antennae
will range over 80 feet in height. The
reason is that WAR will use the re-
f1ector beam system of transmission.
The new station, costing $685. 900 with
out equipment, will be in complete
operation by October 81. 1t will CEN
tralize the present three transmittero
used by the Army net at Fort Myer
and the two used in cooperation with
the Navy at the Washington Navy yard
and at Annapolis. All the transmitters
will work high frequencies, four using
the beam antennae and six the
doublet or half-wave antennae. Two
of them will be rated at l kilowatt, but
coupled to power amplifiers capable OF
10 kilowatts.
Reach All Stations.
When in complete operation radio
WAR will be able to work any one CT
the Army's 212 permanent land sta
tons and 68 ship stations. The ship
stations of the Army are its nine trans
ports and the bargeS and dredges aid
other boats the Army Engineer Corps
operates on the inland waterways and
harbors. Even today the temporary
WAR can work Hawaii and Panama d.
rectly. The new equipment will work
the Philippines II necessary, although
to- Dc yia ~
While WAR is being built under the
supervision of John A. Gilman of the
Quartermasters Corps, the message
center Of the Signal Corps in the NUM-
lions Building at Washington is being
modernized IN every detail. With the
removal of the development engineers
to Fort Monmouth more room has been
made available, so that a large and
Transmission will be by remote control
to the Fort Myer transmitterS, while re-
ceiving antennae will be on the roof
of the Munitions Building and at Wash
ington Barracks. 1t was found that
electrical interference, such as fans,
caused so much distortion of incoming
traffic during the Summer that the re-
mote control receiving Set-up at Wash
tngton Barracks was erected.
The message center works directly
with the headquarters of tie nine corps
areas; that is, with Boston, New York,
Baltimore, Atlanta, Columbus Chicago,
Omaha, San Antonio and San Fran
cisco. There are separate networks in
each of the areas. Seattle is the control
point for communication by radio and
cable with Alaska.
Net Saved Money.
That the Army's radio net has been
saving the United States Government
substantial amount of money in tolls
is revealed IN the annual traffic report
for the fiscal year l928-29, just sub
mitted to the chief of the Army Signal
Corps, Gen. George S. Gibbs, by the
officer in charge, Capt Frank E. Stoner,
who is supervising the reorganization
of the radio central at Washington.
Some so departments and bureaus of
the Government have utilized the serv-
ice, sending 382,219 messages, totaling
16,843,24l words. during the period end
ing June 80, 1929. The cost of operat-
ing the system, including maintenance
and power and tolls on relied mes
sages; amounted to S35,515.
Capt. Stoner estimates that the equiv
alent value of the dispatches handled
during the fiscal year if sent via COM
.merclal wires at Government rates
would have been $366,493. The Govern
ment thus saved $329,978.
Savings in lesser amounts, but saw
1ngS nevertheless, have been shown in
every report of the Signal Corps mes
sage center since it was established in
1928. That year it showed saving OF
approximately $4,000 Five years later
the saving was about $4,000 a month.
The 1928 fiscal year showed a net saw
ing to the Government on its oficiaI
business of $263,312.
Largest Continental Radio.
With the radio net including prac-
tically all important key cities in the
United States. Alaska, Philippines, Ha-
vail and Panama. the Army has the
largest continental radio system in ex-
istence. About 500 enlisted men are
used at these stations, including radio
operators, maintenance men, supply
men and technical men. The enlisted
men are generally trained at the Signal
Corps School at Fort Monmouth. N. J.
Thirty enlisted men and ten civilians
are on the rolls at the message center
at Washington. The turnover of radio
operators, according to Capt. Stoner, is
about 40 per cent a year, on account
Of the demand for Army operators after
they have served their enlistment.
Army and Navy transcontinental "a
do channels are generally regarded as
the fastest nanually operated channels
In the world. Capt. Stoner cites a
recent check Of 100000 words which
showed that errors ran less than one
tenth Of per cent. Sending and re-
ceiving are being mechanical as fast
as possible. but most of the work at
the message center will continue to be
81 81.