Evening star., 1934-04-29
-FOUR HIGHER BAND
STATIONS O.K.'D
Channels From 1900 to
1000 KiIocycIes Tapped
by Radio Commission.
BY MARTIN CoDEL.


TOUR new 1,000-watt broadcast
l. ing stations In as many COM
| munities will go on the air
L within the next few months
by reason of the Federal Radio
Commissions grants of channels in
the experimental 1,500-1 800 kilocycle
band to that many applicants, effec-
tive May IL. They will not be tunable
by all existing radio receiving sets,
but at least half the radios in use
today and nearly all requirements Of
the succeeding years should be able
to catch their broadcasts.
The successful applicants and the
places they will establish their sta
tions, together with the wave lengths
to be used, are First National Tele-
vision, Inc, Kansas City, q radio
school, 1880 kilocycles; Waterbury
Comm American-Republican, news
paper, 1880 kilocycles; John v. l.
Hogan, Long Island City, N. Y, radio
inventor, now experimenting largely
in the fields of facsimile and tele-
vision, 1850 kilocycles, and Pioneer
Mercantile Co., Bakersfield, Calf, al
lCdug OpC1 dIO1 Vi oil
television station, $50 kilocycles.
The commission rejected the appli-
cations of two others, namely, the
Unity School Of Christianity, Kansas
City, seeking 1880 kilocycles, and
Fred w. Christian and Raleigh w.
Winston, Los Angeles, seeking 1870
kilocycles.
Germany Makes Plans
Further evidencing the trend to-
ward the establishment of broadcast
ing on the shorter wave lengths is
the report from Berlin that the Ger
man broadcasting system, finding q
need exists for more radio stations to
serve the country districts and being
limited by continental wave-length
agreements to the use OF fixed num-
Der of waves, is planning to establish
new network Of ultra short wave
broadcasting stations.
These will require special radio sets
to tune them in, but this is regarded
as a simple matter in the new
Germany where the Nazis have CO.
ordinated radio along with other en-
terprises. The significance of the
enterprise as seen here is in the fact
that ultrashort waves are to be used
for the first time in regular day-by-
day broadcasting-a move long pre-
dicted but never undertaken on this
continent. There are plenty of the
ultrashorts available, but the handi-
cap has been the fact that a new
kind Of radio set will have to be used,
the regulation set of today being in
capable of tuning those waves.
By many it is believed that the
Radio Commissions action in WIDEN
ing the broadcast band by 100 kilo-
cycles at the short wave end Is simply
a move in the same direction, with
the prospect that the ultrashorts will
also be made available some day. II
they are, there will be enough room
in the ether" for many hundreds Of
additional broadcaSting stations.
Experimental Grants.
Recently announcing its intention
Of widening the broadcast band, the
commission set aside the 1880, 1850
and 1870 klocycle channels for So
called high fidelity" transmission and
reception. These three waves were
thrown open to all comers who could
show that they were technically and
financially qualified to develop them
and to build audiences on them under
experimental six-month license grants.
Although more than 1000 educa-
tional institutions were advised Of
their availability, the commission re-
vealed that not one has applied. The
waves can be duplicated many times
throughout the country, so that there
Is still room for several dozen more
stations on them. Engineers calculate
that about half the radios now in use
can tune up to 1900 kilocycles, and
that this number will grow rapidly
inasmuch as almost all good radios
being marketed today can dial that
far. Moreover, the growing use Of
short wave and all wave radios in
sures a certain audience on those
frequencieS.
The successful applicants will be
permitted to carry sponsored pro-
grams, but the commission has de-
creed that these must not interfere
with technical research and develop
ment. Within two or three years it
is believed the new band will be re-
garded as useful as the regulation
broadcast band of today, with per-
haps several score additional stations
operating on the three new waves.