Evening star., 1935-11-24

spic and span tenchncally. There's
can be no exposed wires of any kind
that endanger the lives of engineers
or of visitors and most modern safety
factors and appliances must be in
stalled.
Good engineering practice" is the
all-incluSive phrase used in the new
regulation which all stations must
meet. But in order to make certain
that they are complied with, the
Engineering Department of the
F. C. C. periodically will issue an
nouncements as to what it construes
to be good engineering practice"
These will be in the nature of techni-
cal specifications.
According to Andrew D. Ring, as
sistant chief engineer in charge of
broadcasting, many Investigations of
station transmitters have revealed
that protection to human life is in
adequate, with exposed leads and
wires endangering those working about
the plants. Numerous transmltters
also are simply slapped together, re-
sulting not only in inefficient opera
ton, but also presenting danger fac
tors
Actually, the F. C. c. regulation be-
comes effective Immediately, but 1t
states also that existing stations shall
be allowed one year in which to meet
the requirements specified. All new
stations, however, must toe the mark
the
start. Similarly, whenever a station
ing assignment, as condition prec-
edent to the granting of the request,
it must meet all of the mechanical
specifications.
TOTALLY aside from the safety
factor, the new regulation covers
station operation to insure maximum
efficiency. 1t ties directly into a
series of regulations recently adopted
which, among other things, specify
that new antennas must be built to
accord with modern engineering
technique; that station cannot over
or under modulate, which means that
The quality of the signals it transmits
must be at the specified maximum;
that they must install series of
meters and devices which will usually
show the operator at a glance just
how the station is performing, and
that they must take other steps which
will reduce interference, noise level
and raise standards of quality.
All this cleaning up comes at a
time when the F. C. c. is consider
ing the most sweeping realignment of
broadcasting station operations since
the general reallocation of 1928. At
that time the commissions prede-
cessor, the Federal Radio Commission,
ordered a reallocation which cut down
the number of stations from some
735 TO about 600 and changed the
dial-settings of nearly all of the re-
manning stations. There was pande-
monium in the ether for several weeks,
but the result was a greater degree
of interference-free reception.
Now, because of advances made in
the technical radio art during the
last decade, the commission is con-
sidering a horizontal increase in the
powers Of most stations. 1t wants a
minimum of upsetting of station as
signments, although some inevitably
will occur. Moreover, before it is
through with the current realignment,
the chances are strong that at least
100 more small stations will be added
to the present roster of about $40.
THE broadcast division already has
before it engineering recommen-
dations for a revision of power as
signments Of some 200 stations on
the 40 so-called regional channels.
About 80 of the stations would be
elevated in night power from 1000
watts maximum to 5000 watts, en-
abling them to send stronger, more
crisp signals into the air. Other sta
tions on these channels would be
horizontally increased to 1000 watts
from present varying powers of $50
to 500 watts, and about half of them
would remain at their present levels.
In these cases there would be no ma
terial shifting of channels, so that
stations still would be received on the