Evening star., 1933-12-17

~ Ado has been playing hgura-
- tive game Of TAG With Admiral
Byrd's expedition now nearing
Little America aboard the S. S.
Jacob Rupert. Broadcasting
via short waves over relay distances Of
5000 to 10000 miles from vessel on
the high seas has not been all that was
hoped for because of static, fading and
other natural conditions beyond the
control OF man. Nevertheless, engineer
ing authorities say that the first four
programs of the weekly series begun
about a month ago have come through
about as well as might be expected.
Much better reception is ahead, they
promise, and the remarkably clear re-
ception achieved during the fourth
broadcast, which took place from the
ship as it was moored at Wellington,
New Zealand, just before the final de-
parture for the ice pack, is pointed out
as an evidence of what may be expected
when the expedition reaches its base.
Regarded Achievement.
To the average listener tuning in the
Saturday night broadcasts as picked up
on the short waves and carried on the
Columbia network, the voice OF Charles
j. v. Murphy, newSpaperman-annou
with the expedition, and those of Ad-
miraI Byrd and his men may have
lacked much in the way of clarity
during the first three programs. But
the experts say the feat of hearing them
at all while on'the high seas, what with
the relatively low power available to
overcome such tremendous barriers OF
distance, climate and changing dlrec-
tions, Is in itself a remarkable achieve
ment.
When the expedition is established in
Little America in q few more weeks,
reception will be substantially improved,
as manifested by the 95 per cent perfect
reception from the ship when II was
docked at wellington. Then the game
of tag will be ended a fixed and stable
transmitting station with directive an
tennas will be employed; more power
will be available and there will be no
more tagging about among the short
wave lengths and the maps of the
South Seas to determine what wave
lengths and what directive efforts are
best suited to the purpose.
Hope to Use Old Towers.
From the fixed location in Little
America, where the expedition hopes to
find still standing the towers used by
the first expedition for the code radio
communication which was so remark
ably successful, the experts say that
transmission and reception should at
least rival the usual run of transatlantic
relay programs even though the distance
is more than three times greater.
The writer asked two authorities on
short wave broadcaSting to diagnose the
radio ailments" of the second Byrd
expedition after the third broadcast
from the ship while it was still en-
route. One was Malcolm P. Hanson,
chief radio engineer of Admiral Byrd's
at work on aeronautical radio research
for the Navy. The other was Lieut.. E.
x. Jett, retired naval radio officer who
is now assistant chief engineer of the
Federal Radio Commission in charge of
short waves. They were in full agree
nient that the best broadcasting from
Antarctica is yet to come.
Cites Troubles.
sThe trouble" said Mr.. Hanson, "is
Zoo low power on the ship, unavoidable
fading over such distances, trouble in
locating position and difficulty in find
ing the right frequency. Transmitting
from q rolling ship through storms like
the one of the third broadcast (when
Announcer Murphy stuck by his mike
even though very seasick) is naturally
q handicap. When the transmitter is