Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-01
MOBILES HAZARD
RADIO EFFICIENCY
Conditions Involving 1894
Amateur Stations Called
Serious by U. S.
BY ROBERT MACK.

Many radio amateurs, with their
homemade apparatus, are operating out
Of bounds, causing serious interference
with general radio communications serv-
ices in the upper reaches Of the ether.
This was disclosed today by William
D. Terrell, director of radio of the De-
partment Of Commerce, who said there
is increasing evidence Of webbing" OF
amateur stations. With 1884 licensed
amateur transmitting stations In the
United States, all in the short waves,
he said it can readily be seen that on
frequency operation Of any appreciate
number offers a serious hazard to the
efficient maintenance Of radio COM
munications generally. International
communications as well as the domestic
services, both commercial and govern
mental, may be adversely affected.
License Terms Demanded.
"It is incumbent upon amateurs" he
declared, "as it Is upon all other sta
tions, to operate according to the terms
of their licenses and the provisions Of
the law, and Commerce Department
supervisors of radio throughout the
United States have been instructed to
watch the operation Of amateur stations
more closely"
While the amateur situation grows
more serious, technically broadcasting
stations are showing vast improvement
in this regard, said the radio director.
OF 339 broadcasting stations checked
during December by the traffic cops Of
the ether, 238 deviated more than 400
cycles from their assigned frequencies,
while 101 showed deviations under 200
cycles. The radio regulations permit
webbing" Of not more than 500 cycles,
but the lower the deviation, the less the
interference on the. listeners loud
speaker.
Rigid requirements Of the Federal
Radio Commission on the type Of APP
paratus used by stations is largely re-
sponsible for the Improvement In the
operation of stations. BY the use Of
automatic checking devices, such as
quartz crystal controls, the webbing Of
stations from their frequencies is re-
duced to a minimum, with consequent
all-round improvement in reception.
Accurate Logs Required.
Another step taken by the Radio
Commission In line with its program Of
Tightening up on broadcasting opera
tons, wos the adoption of an order re-
quiring all stations to keep accurate logs
of their operation. A program log, show
ing entries of all stations and call
letter announcements and the time
made, together with q description Of
each program broadcast, with the time
It began and ended, must be kept.
If photograph records or electrical
tranScriptions are used, that fact must
be noted, together with the announce
ment made.
A second log to be required has to do
with technical operations. This must
have an entry Of the time the stations
carrier wave goes on and when 1t is
stopped. Entries also must be made Of
every interruption to the program, its
cause and duration, while each 80 min
uteS the total plate current and plate
voltage must be recorded, as well as the
frequency check and the temperature Of
the crystal chamber, If used.
This new order viii give the commits
sion a complete check on the operations
Of every station. It's effective date
probably will be March ]. These logs
must be kept by competent persons and
shall be open TO inspection ct all rea-
sonable times by Government radio in
spectors and other persons authorized
by the commission.
Copyright, 1881, By the Consolidated Press)