Evening star., 1935-11-17

6ucCClllS Clle VI IllC Oll1Icu ott
The portable short-waye station,
operators, was sent recently by the
State Department to the Ethiopian
capital to give the American Govern
ment a direct and secret communica-
tions link with that warning nation,
and during the past week daily con-
tact for two or three hours has been
maintained between the giant Arling-
ton and Annapolis stations of the
Navy and the tiny portable $500
miles away, in Africa. So far the con-
nection between Adds Ababa and
Washington has been made every aft
ernoon with little atmospheric in
reference and comparatively little
garbling of transmission.
For a time the United States Naval
station at Cayite, in the Philippines,
and the amateur radio operators in
the Naval Reserve were used to relay
the Adds Ababa transmissions, but
this was later not found necessary,
because of the clarity of reception.
Special directive antenna is used at
the Arlington naval station to aid the
communication.
THE establishment Of the portable
station at Adds Ababa was the
second time that the United States
has invoked the right of extra-ter-
ritoriality to maintain radio COM
nunication between its diplomatic
posts in foreign nations and its own
country.
In the first case, a portable Short
wave radio station was built on the
roof of the American embassy in Ha-
vana during the 1884 Cuban revolu-
tion, so the Ambassador could main
tain contact with the American bat
tie feet in the harbor. The United
States asked the permission of Ethiop-
ian Emperor Halle SelaSSie for the
placing of the station in Adds Ababa
during the outset of the war. The
Adds Ababa stations use will only
be confined to Government business,
as it is not deemed dependable enough
for either press telegraph transmits
sion or the relaying Of broadcasts
from the Ethiopian capital. apparent
~ only being highly efficient during
the afternoon, because of its low
power.
nIAL twisters who find cause for
complaint over too much same
ness of programs because so many big
stations are on the chains and dupli-
cate the offerings of their own home
town stations have acquired a new
champion in Federal Communications
Commissioner Irwin Stewart.
Dr. Stewart, baby" member of the
F. c. c., whose main duties relate to
the telegraph division of that agency,
stepped forward the other day with a
protest against chain program dupli-
cation, along with motion asking the
broadcast division to inquire and see
what, if anything, can be done about
1t. Said the 35-year-old member:
duplication of programs on clear
channel stations reduces the value of
clear channels to persons dependent
on secondary service (for whom the
channels were set apart) and tends to
defeat the announced purpose in the
establishment of clear channels"
DR. STEWART brought out that
back in 1923 when the radio COM
mission predecessor of the F. c. c.
Set aside 40 clear channels it did so
with the idea of placing high-powered
stations on them so that distant listen.
ers, on farms and in remote areas,
might get good reception. He brought
out that IS per cent Of the people of
the country, who reside in 76 per cent
of the territory, are dependent upon
distant or clear channel stations for
their reception. Yet. he declared, on
the 40 clear channels there are 26
National Broadcasting Co. stations,
IL Columbia Broadcasting System
stations and three stations of the new
Mutual Broadcasting System. Thus,
he said, only one of the 40 clear chan
nels happens to have an independent
station on it. That channel is the
one occupied by Station KNX, Los
Angeles.