Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-17
RADIO CHIEFS USE
ORDINARY SETS
Members of Commission anc
Others Conservative in
Receiver Sets.

There are no frills or furbelows or
the radio receiving sets used by the
men who regulate American radio
Nary a one of them uses a highly ex-
pensSve set, although most of them
have two or more, and few tinker
with short-wave receivers. For the
most part, however, the members OF
the Federal Radio Commission and
other Federal radio officials use the
same makes of radio sets that are
found in average American homes.
Chairman Saltznlan, the only tech
nical radio man on the commission
and the only one who can read the
telegraph code, relates reluctantly how
he has been forced by the pressure OF
duty to give up former paStime-the
building of his own sets. Having been
identified with radio since 1905, he has
built scores of radio sets of all kinds.
But today he uses commercial super
heterodyne in his home, and hasn't
even any relics left Of his early eff
forts.
Judge Robinson's Sets.
Judge Ira E. Robinson has an ordi-
nary medium priced set in his apart
ment in Washington and at his home
in West Virginia has two sets, one a
very low-priced model. Commissioner
w. D. L. Starbuck has four-tube
screen-grid set in his apartment here
and in his New York City home uses
en- old-type superheterodyne.
Both Commissioners Sykes and La
fount have short-wave receivers in
their homes here, and both confess to
q weakness for "fooling around" with
them occasionally. In addition, each
has enc medium and one low-priced
set at home. A wide variety Of makes
Is represented among the commission
ers, no preference being shown for any
particular brand unless it be the super
heterodyne.
william, D. Terrell, radio chief Of
the Department of Commerce, has q
seven tubed a. o. set and a tuned r. (.
set Of an old make In his home across
the Potomac from Washington on the
Virginia side. He also has q super
heterodye. He is the only one Of the
rulers of radio who admits he cares
anything about DX-ing but he says
he tunes distance not for the number
OF stations he can log, but for the pro-
grams he can get and for the game of
detecting interference"
AS matter of fact, they are Just
average radio listeners-these men
who rule American radio. Their aca-
demic interest in radio ends when they
get home from a long days work at
the oflces of the commission. The
program and the program alone is
what they tune-in for, and most of
them conflne their tuning to the local
stations.
No TelevisiOn Experiment.
None has succumbed to television
experimenting as yet, although Gerald
c. Cross, short-wave engineer, regu-
larry tunes in television signals on two
receivers, one q commercial set and
one of his own design, at his home in
Chevy Chase, Md. Lieut.. e. K. Jet,
also Of the commissions engineering
staff, uses q commercial broadcast re-
ceiver and q short-waye receiver of his
own construction. His hobby, however.
is home movie& Their chief, DR.. C.
3. Jollife, chief engineer Of the COM
mission, uses q folIr-tube tuned T. (.
set at his home and also has an old
battery operated tllree-tube regener-
alive set
When they want accurate and pre-
else technical check-ups on radio
operations the commissioners and their
staff turn to the district offices Of the
Department Of Commerce, where vari-
GUS types OF noritoring sets, some
costing thousands Of dollars, are in
stalled. And now, at Grand Island,
Nebr., the Department Of Commerce
has erected q receiving station with
supersensitiye receiver capable Of
tuning the whole range from 10 to
SO. 900 Elocycles. This is the Govern
ment's n1onitoring station for observ-
ing both domestic and foreign radio
operations, including short and long
wave as well as broadcasttng.
The Grand Island station, although
not completely installed, already has q
record Of having tuned in broadcaSts
from Australia, Africa, Russia, Eng
land and France. 1t is located near
the exact center OF the United States
and Is known az Americas policeman
Of the air"