Evening star., 1934-02-18
nv TEE RADIO EDIroR.

QlBI1y pOpUlaI GUuuy LIlht LQc I8o4O
set makers have reported q mild boom
IN . market that has otherwise been
sluggish during the last few years Of
the depression.
The revival Of distance tuning may
b attributed not only to the new
short-wave fad, but to the recently
begun sunspot cycle, which Is bringing
perceptible Improvement In ordinary
local broadcast reception As well a.
distant broadcast reception. Then, too,
on January Is there was q big reallo-
cation Of European wave lengths simi-
hr TO the one that took place In the
Omitted States In 1923, and Thousands
Of DIX fans are daily trying to bring
In European stations on their new
channels.
The ordinary hroadcasting waves,
which practically all radios can bring
IN, lie between $50 and 1.50o kilo-
cycles, while the short waves are gen.
orally regarded as those above 1900
kflocycles. Short waves carrying
speech and music programs are con-
fined by international agreement to
. set Of seven bands Of wave lengths
between 5000 and ALSO.
Adapters Attached to Sets.
II Is among these latter waves that
the owners Of all-wave radios, or
short-wave adapters attached to their
ordinary broadcast receivers, are hnd-
ing their new indoor sport. In the
B50-l 500 hlocycle broadcast band,
TOO. the fact that there are now some
IS high-power. American stations
operating on clear channels has been
conducive to more listening for those
stations. They blare In strongly on
sensitive radios during these cold
Winter nights. One Of the favorites
being heard occasionally Is the expert
mental 500 .000-watt transmitter of
WLW, Cincinnatt-most power
broadcasting station In the world
which began testing with that power
on 100 kilocycles As the year began.
operating after midnight.
something Ike this: With few sun
spots, little ultraviolet b poured
down On the top side Of radios cell
ms" the ionized rejecting layer in
the upper atmosphere, some rs to
100 miles above the earth, called the
Henneuy- -Heaviside layer. This acts
as . great mirror" from which radio
waves iglratively bounce" back to
earth. when this mirror Is smooth
and unbroken during . period Of few
elnspotS, radio waves are reflected
back to earth i've Or SIX times %
well Is when the layer Il broken up
49, tA @R l~A
BY many ss1nspots. :
In the normal hradcast band. The
DIX fan confines himself largely 10
seeing how mary Of tho 900 stations
IN the United States. ths 10 In Can
ada and those In Medeo, Cuha and
Central America he oon hiring m
Occasionally one reports reception Of
European and Asiatic high-power sta.
tons, but not often. It - . peculiar
vagary Of the broadcast waves that
they seem 10 travel eastward across
tho Atlantic very well, 20 that British
and continental listeners more or lesa
regularly hear certain of our stations
But u d only under exceptional con-
ditaons that W can here Duropean
stations. even though their powers
80 sometimes four or I'VE times that
& the 50,00o-watt American stations.
wysv Heard In britain.
Thus IN Britain the psriodicala
regularly report fairly consistent r.
ospti0 Of such stations a. wJSv,
Warrington: WCAU. Philadelphia:
WIG. Atlantic City; VITO, Hartford;
WBz and WAAB, Boston; KDKA
Httsburgh, and WHO'D, Miami. AL
but WAAB and WHO'D are In the
high-power class; some freak Of na-
tare alone must account for the good
oRsrseas reception Of tbs Boston and
Miami stations. which have powers Of
only 1000 watts.
9hort-WANe fans, besides hearing
ship and military code and police and
a6nateur voice broadcasts, have about
100 ShoFt-Wave program broadcasting
sbatioals In the world to tune IN. OF
THESE, rs are In the United States,
usually operating as adjuncts Of regu-
lar broadcasttng stations and carrying
programs simultaneously with them.
But the real sport lies In tuning In
London, Rome, Moscow and Berlin,
which ere often heard via the short
waves a. clearly as local stations dur
ing the daytime as well as at night.
Consistently good reception on the
short waves cannot be promised, how
ever, because Of the vagaries Of
atmospherics over the long reaches.
THE unseen hand that wrote mes
i sases across the walls Of palaces
In Biblical times had nothing On
the fountain pen on the receiving
end of q facsimile radio set save that
It u perhaps slower.
Although facsimile transmission Il
still IN an experimental stage, its de-
velopments have been s,lfncient to In
duce an alert newspaper to prepare
for the day when 1t may serve very
practical purpose. The Milwaukee
journal, which already operates Q
broadcasting station, an experimental
television station and several broad
east pickup stations, has applied for
permission to construct two expert
mental facsimile transmitters.
II the Federal Radio Commission
approves the journal win experiment
on 1852 kilocycles and In the ultra
high frequencies between 10000 and
10000 kilocycles, both Of which are
outside the regular broadcasting band.
It's stations, W9XAZ and W9xAF, win
operate with 1000 watts and 500
watts, respectively.
Fac-Simile transmission is not limit
ID to the printed word, but can carry
picture or series of frames" taken
from . motion picture nlm. These
are the two types Of transmission. In
the first an electric eye" picks up Its
impression by reflection, and In the
second by direct impression of the
light shining through the hlm.
Must Have Spirit Of Scientist.
The man on the receiving end of
facsimile transmission must also have
the spirit Of scientist, or ut least an
adventurer, IS his receiving set il
comparatively expensive and doubt
less win be obsolete within q year.
First the listener must have q set
- ~>snlxtvr~ 49,