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October 1945 Radio-Craft
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics.
See articles from Radio-Craft,
published 1929 - 1953. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.
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On December 8, 1941, the day
after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the FCC issued a "Notice
to All Amateur Licensees" that began thusly: "All amateur licensees are
hereby notified that the Commission has ordered the immediate suspension of all
amateur radio operation in the continental United States, its territories, and
possessions." The October 1945 issue of Radio-Craft magazine announced the
long-awaited planned resumption of transmitting operations. On November 15, 1945, amateurs
were finally allowed back on the air, but only on the 10 and 2 meter bands.
Another end to an FCC wartime policy announced was the requirement to reduce output power
by 1 dB (~20%) below normal maximum power, with the motivation having been to
extend the lifetime of tubes. Also reported was the FCC's consideration of
allowing the newfangled FM radio broadcasts to operate ten hours each day rather
than only six. Proving that engineers and major corporations can have a sense of
humor, get a load of the "sniffer" radar dish shown here.
Radio-Electronics Monthly Review
 Amateur operators are back
on the air! Operation after the enforced wartime lay-off was authorized by the Federal
Communications Commission at its meeting on August 22. First to be opened was the
112-115.5 megacycle band, with the expectation that lower and higher frequencies
would soon be declared open to "ham" operation. No permission to operate in bands
offering international contacts was anticipated in the immediate future at the time
the order to resume was issued. Station licenses which were valid between the dates
of December 7, 1941, and December 15, 1942, and which have not subsequently been
revoked are good until the FCC makes new arrangements for licensing.
This drawing released by Philco Radio Corp. last month, shows
bomber equipped with radar bombsight flying above the Normandy coast 30 minutes
before invasion landings. The scene below is the image on the cathode-ray tube screen.
The eye of radar sees a clear picture of territory beneath, invisible to the men
in the plane. It was due to radar-controlled bombing that the Normandy coast defenses
were knocked out entirely before our men landed.
A Minimum of ten hours broadcasting daily for FM stations-instead
of the six hours tentatively proposed by the FCC in its regulations - was urged
last month by E. I. Godofsky, former president and general manager of Radio WLIB,
Brooklyn, in a memorandum submitted to the FCC. The memorandum also declared that
"ownership, operation or control of both AM and FM stations serving the same area
would constitute a concentration of control inconsistent with democratic objective,"
and suggested that the FCC should issue a "sense of the Commission statement" to
that effect, meanwhile postponing any regulations on the subject till the 1950 census
would indicate whether the number of FM sets is likely to exceed or approach the
number of AM receivers in any community. If such should be the case, Mr. Godofsky
believes that ownership of both an AM and FM station would constitute dual ownership
to an extent exactly equal to the ownership of two AM stations in the same community,
a practice not now permitted.
Full-Power operation of all broadcast stations was ordered to
resume October 1. FCC order 107, which required readjustment of all United States
broadcast transmitters to a level one decibel below their full output, has been
revoked. Order 107-A, rescinding the earlier order, stated that "on and after September
1, 1945, at the option of the licensee, transmitting operations may be conducted
with full operating power during daytime hours only, and on and after October 1,
1945, Order No. 107 shall be revoked, and all licensees shall be required to operate
in accordance with the provisions of Section 3.52 of the Rules and Regulations."
Order 107, which called for the one-decibel drop in output, was passed November
6, 1942, with the object of conserving transmitter tubes and other parts. Since
the War Production Board has advised that no obstacles now stand in the way of replacements
and the parts and tubes will be generally available, rescinding order 107-A was
issued.
Renowned artist Boris Adzybasheff envisions that electronic sniffer,
Radar, whose metallic nose detects enemy planes and ships afar off. Time magazine
ordered this picture for its cover, but Japanese surrender forced it inside and
made radar a peace-time instrument.
Rural FM may be detrimentally affected by FCC regulations requiring
directional antennas to avoid invasion of urban areas, declared Major Armstrong
in testimony before the Federal Communications Commission last month. Such aerials,
the Major said, might cut off as much as 50 percent of a rural station's service
area, merely to avoid competition with town or city stations to whom it would offer
no substantial competition, if the urban stations put out programs with real listener
appeal. Questions of interference between high-powered rural stations and metropolitan
or community installations - as well as problems of adequate rural coverage - could
be solved, Major Armstrong believed, by allocating positions on the lower end of
the band to these high-powered country broadcasters. In reply to a question as to
the length of time required to change to the new high frequencies, he estimated
eight months, though this period might depend somewhat on the time taken to develop
a new high-frequency, high-power tube. Meanwhile it would be necessary to build
FM receivers to cover both bands, he stated.
Two-Band FM receivers are not in the public interest, the FCC
informed the Radio Manufacturers Association last month. "The only reason that has
been advanced for the manufacture of receivers. covering the old FM band as well
as the new is that by building such receivers demonstrations of FM reception to
prospective customers will be possible," wrote the Commission chairman to RMA's
president R. C. Cosgrove. "This does not appear a valid reason. We anticipate that
very shortly the Commission will announce its standards for FM broadcasting in the
higher band. As soon as this is done, FM stations will be required to take steps
to begin operation in the new band as soon as possible, so that by the time receivers
are available all stations will be operating in the new band." If necessary, the
Commission letter hinted it might put an end immediately to FM transmissions in
the old band, to protect the public from an unnecessary expense and to insure that
the change to the permanent FM band should not be delayed.
Posted August 19, 2021
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