Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-13
BROADCAST JAMS
RESULT FROM SUIT
WGBS, New York, Ordered to
New Wave Length and
Trouble Starts.
BY ROBERT MACK.

The colossal engineering "bloomer" of
permitting broadcaSting stations in the
same geographical area to operate on
neighboring wave lengths has been COM
mitted, perhaps Internationally, by the
highest radio authority of the land, and
New York City is the victim.
It comes to light today that six sta
tions in the general vicinity IF New
York are operating with less than the
minimum 50-kilocycle separa ton, which
the engineers insist is necessary for the
elimination of cross-talk interference,
and interference is reported.
WGBS Involved Again.
Station wGBS. in New York, which
holds the unchallenged record of being
the most litigated" station in radio, is
one OF those involved. This station for
more than a year has con1bated the
theory that 50-kilocycle separation
(the equivalent Of five broadcast chan
nels) Is necessary between stations in
New York, and Just the order day lost
the battle in the courts And by the
same court order, although it appears
to have been tnadvertent, the station
Is still operating with only 30-kilocycle
separation from other stations in its
geographical area.
The WGBS case was a long, involved
assigned experimentally to the 600-kilo-
cycle channel with 500 watts power.
This channel was but 80 kilocycles re-
moved from the 570-kilocycle channel
occupied by Station WNYC, New York
City's municipal outlet, and Station
WMCA Of that city, which share time
Interference Claimed.
These stations protested, claiming
interference, and the Federal Radio
Commission ordered WGBS back to the
j. -kilocycle channel
An appeal followed to the Court of
Appeals here and it sustained the COM
missions finding that 80 kilocycles was
inadequate. WGBS was shunted back
to the channel in the higher portion of
the band.
Now it suddenly is discovered that
the commission either violated its own
decision in the original WGBS case or
that the court, ignorant of the alloca-
ton of stations in the New York area,
actually nulli1ed its own finding. In
any event. the strict engineering rule Of
q minimum 50-kIocycle separation has
been broken.
The commission records show that
the i've other stations operating only
80 kilocycles away from WGBS are on
the local channel of 1910 kilocycles.
They are WMRJ, at Jamaica, N. Y,
with 100 watts; WCOH, at Yonkers,
with 100 watts; WGBB, at Freeport,
with 100 watts; WOOL at jamestown,
with IS watts, and WJBI, at Red Bank,
N. j., with 100 watts. All of these
stations but WOOL share time on the
1,210-kilocycle channel. with the rs
watt station operating full time.
Stations Not Equal.
WGBS has reported some interior
ence as a result of its operation on
the 1,180-kiIocycle channel. Engineers,
questioned today about the unusual sit
uation, said that the croSs-talk would
be much more severe in the higher fire.
quencies Of the broadcast band than at
the lower end. Moreover, the inter-
ference will be aggravated, because the
powers Of the stations involved are not
equal, and therefore will not balance,
as was the case in the lower end Of the
band Whether Station WGBS plans 70 |
carry on its battle with the commission
is not known.
Copyright, 1881, by the Consolidated PresE.l