Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-02
INTEREST TOFOCUS
ON SHORT WAVES
Broadcasting Between Eng
land and U. S. on rs
Meters Proves Success.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

DA @HFhAs AAN &oDAs%'
Experiments with short waves looking
to regular Anglo American exchanges
Of radio programs over the broadcaStine
networks of the. United States and Grea'
Britain may be expected to focus more
interest on the short-wave spectrum.
While different channels from those
in the continental band now under scru-
tiny in Congress must be used for the
Transatlantic relays, all OF them are
below the 20O-meter mark and their
problems are thus generally all classl-
fled under The broad heading OF short
waves, or high frequenclcS. Licenses
to use any of The waves must be issued
by the Federal Radio Commission.
There is vast dissimilarity in the uses.
of course. The 25-meter channel USED
today TO pick up British program
which was carried for 20 minutes ever
the National Broadcasting Company S
network, is shortWave broadcast
channel reserved for mutual use by all
countries under international treaty.
Most of the other short waves are for
radio biography, rather than radio
telephony and their signals do not carry
as far.
The scramble for assignments to
available Geographic channels between
SO and 200 meters is largely by private
interests seeking to establish domestic
radio telegraph service for various forms
of communication. This band of chan
nels is not worldwide in its effects, and
accordingly Is available to the countries
of the North American Continent to be
divided among themselves. Hence the
recent Ottawa conference.
Grant Creates Row.
It is the Federal Radio Commissions
ALLEGATION of some of these continental
channels that has created so much stir
before the House committee on radio.
The inquiry instituted by Representative
Free of California has been centered
upon the Universal Wireless Communi-
cations Co. newly formed to establish
a public radio telegraph service. Esti-
mates that the 40 short waves granted
to it are worth 81 100000 each are gen.
orally regarded in the wireless world as
mere speculation. No tangible value
can be placed on them at this stage OF
radio development.
Commissioner H. A. La Fount has
answered questions about the financial
and technical character of the new
company with statements of his firm
conviction that it was fully investigated
and that the public's welfare is thor
oughly safeguarded If the company
cannot perform as it has promised, CIV
ing to radio certain advances in the
use of the waves, the commission can
always recapture the ether rights.
Moreover, the commission is not repre-
senting to the investors of the country
that the project will be financial sue
cess; that is risk the hackers them
selves are taking.
What course the rest of the inquiry
4ol, i1 ~ irnIi fod InxyA
His colleagues on the committee are
deprecating the suggestion that undue
influences were brought to bear TO OBJ
tain the wave grant Several of them
ridiculed as being too petty for any
consideration the matter OF candy.
flowers, meals and liquor" that was
brought into the discussions at the
opening of the inquiry.
The defense of the Universal pro-
moters, it is understood. will be that
they will have at hand full and abso-
Lutte proof of their ability to perform as
claimed before the commission. DR..
John Nathansohn, Washington direc-
tor of the enterprise, said today that he
and Senator Frazier of North Dakota
called upon Secretary Hoover about
year ago and after explaining the plan,
evoked from him the expression that the
five-fold use of channels would be a
marvellous advance if it proved tech
nically feasible. The Uniyersals engi-
neer, Howard L. Ford, then outlined
the scheme to DR.. j. H. Dellinger of
the Bureau of Standards, DR.. Nathan
soln said. and that official asserted the
technical Sc up was well thought out"
Signals Tried Out.
"There is no chance in the world for
us to be wrong" said DR.. Nathans0hn.
I'VE have absolute faith in our ability
to do what We have set out to do" He
added that sharp tuning" had been
carried out between New York, Buffalo,
Chicago and Columbus stations and re-
ports of the signals had been returned
by many amateurs.
While much ado is being made about
the continental band, there is little or
no fuss raised about the extreme short
waves below so meters, which are in
ternational and often worldwide in
their effects. One of the most inter-
esting experiments in recent radio de-
velopment was the demonstration by
the National Broadcasting Co. of the
type of program that may soon be
brought over from England via the
short waves as matter of course.
Station 5-SW at Chelmsford, Eng
land, about 30 miles northeast of Lon
don, while serving as key station for
the British Broadcasting Co.'S network,
transmitted at 4:45 pm. on the 1853
meter wave. This was picked up by a
Radio Corporation OF America station
at Riverhead on Long Island, carried
on a telephone line to the National
Broadcasting control room in New York
and relayed to member stations of the
chain by the broadcasting company to
listeners at ordinary receiving sets.
The offering to the public was in the
nature of test, and it served to show
some of the vagaries of the short
waves. Fading and static were over
powering at times, always on the short
waves and never locally on the broad
cast channels employed by the stations
A symphony orchestra was on the air
but most of the time is sounded like
distorted organ music. There was a
long wait for the British announcer's
voice, but when it came in it was clear
and distinct.
1t was around 10 o'clock in the eve
ming in England when the American
audience was given the smattering OF
the British program. The experiment
took place at an unhappy hour. Heavy
static and much fading prevailed. But
that was something the engineers coulC
not anticipate. The demonstration die
serve to show what may be expected
soon from short wave radio, particularly
in carrying speeches between the Eng
liSh speaking nations.
Copyright, 1929. by North American News
paper Alliance)