There was one television test in November 1937 that was, perhaps, more significant than the rest.
Scientists at the Bell Telephone Company managed to send a television picture and sound on a coaxial cable linking New York and Philadelphia.
The experiment proved that it was possible to create a television network. This was still a few years away, but once NBC put W2XBS on the air regularly in 1939, it worked out a deal to use the cable to hook up with Philadelphia to create the first, albeit temporary, TV network.
Newspapers on the East and West Coasts didn’t publish television schedules, so we have to rely on articles to learn what exactly was being broadcast. Unfortunately, they didn’t do it very often, especially in the case of W2XBS as it did air some live programming in addition to newsreels and other short films. Then again, none of the NBC programming was for public consumption.
Still, the company wanted to broaden viewership beyond the 100-or-so RCA engineers with a “receiving apparatus.” It began to make it possible for amateur radio buffs—like the ones who sparked the radio craze after World War One—to view programmes and offer opinions about reception and so on.
In the Los Angeles area, there were TV sets in a few homes. One newspaper story that month reported on one W6XAO broadcast. The Don Lee station was still confined to film.
Stations at the University of Iowa and Purdue University carried on with broadcasts as well. And Kansas City’s W9XAL resumed daily programming tests as well.
Du Mont was not on the air yet, but waiting for FCC approval. A hearing was scheduled for this month.
We have avoided posts about TV in Britain, but we will mention the broadcast in Blighty that got world-wide attention. On Remembrance Day, the Armistice Day ceremony witness by the King and Queen was interrupted by someone who got out of a mental institution and yelled “Hypocrisy!” during the moment of silence honouring the war dead, and screamed the British government was preparing for another war. Considering the actions of the leader of Germany at the time, preparation would have been a wise thing.
Below, we have highlights for the month from news sources, including one of the world’s worst predictions by a broadcaster.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1937
W9XK, University of Iowa
7:15 to 7:30—Television program with radio station WSUI, 910 kcs.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1937
TELEVISION STUDIED
General Electric Asks Permit to Build Four New Stations.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (AP).—The General Electric company of Schenectady, N. Y., asked the Communications commission today for authority to build four new television broadcast stations for experimental radio television development.
The company told the commission it also intended to carry on a television receiver development program in conjunction with the transmission of aerial moving pictures to determine the type of apparatus that must be supplied for public needs.
The commission said today's application was the first filed for the 44,000 to 50,000 kilocycle band designated as a television channel under the recent allocation of frequencies which open up what has hitherto been regarded as the "no man's land” of the ether.
[Two stations would be in Schenectady, one in Albany, one in Easton].
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1937
EXPERIMENTS HINT DAY OF TELEVISION SPANNING OCEAN
London Picture Signals Already Picked Up in N. Y.—Clear Reception Is Still in the Future
By C.E. BUTTERFIELD
NEW YORK, Nov. 6—(AP)—Trans-Atlantic television—that's a new hope for radio's future. Already picture signals originating in London have been picked up here.
Almost daily, too. This despite the fact that the ultrashort waves used for such transmission usually have a comparatively limited range; the engineers call it a "line of sight" range.
It's at the Riverhead (Long Island) reception laboratories of RCA that engineers have been tuning in on London's radio movies. So far they haven't reproduced a picture, but they have heard both the sound part of the transmission and the musical buzz-saw note of the television signal. To do so they have been using special aerials and an elaborate receiver.
Some day soon, too, they expect to be able to reproduce the London pictures, which are a part of the regularly scheduled broadcasts coming from Alexandra palace as put on by the British broadcasting company.
Sunspots Seem to Help
It's only the daytime transmission that can be heard. That comes over here between 10 a. m. and noon E. S. T. The evening broadcast in London—that would be afternoon over here—has never been logged, apparently because it is sunset between London and New York at the time. A freak of the air waves is the explanation given by the engineers for their listening success. Their belief is that it is due to the present intensity of sunspots, which are at 'the peak of an 11-year cycle. Five years from now at the other end of the cycle conditions may be just the reverse.
While the engineers have expressed the hope that radio pictures across the Atlantic may some day be as nearly practicable as sound is today, they say they haven't gone far enough with their experiments to attempt any kind of a prophecy.
There's a further explanation for the reception, which despite fading at times, has resulted in fairly steady signals of good strength for both sound and sight. The engineers advance the theory that the sunspot activity has lowered the ionized layer of the atmosphere miles above the earth to the point where it reflects the signals just right to reach this territory.
At other times this invisible layer is at such a height that the angle effect is different. Tests have shown that the ionized layer acts on radio waves something like a mirror does on light rays.
The London signals are divided into two sections, the sound just above seven meters and the sight around 6 ½ meters. Over here television experiments are being made on approximately five meters.
Not only has London been heard, but Berlin also has been brought in. The distances covered are 3400 miles to London and 3900 miles to Berlin.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1937
Television Given A Test on Liner
Captain of British Vessel Calls Venture Success
NEW YORK, Nov. 8 (AP)—Successful reception of television broadcasts by a liner at sea was reported today by Capt. A. T. Brown of the Cunard White Star liner Britannic.
Capt. Brown said the experiments, believed the first of their kind ever attempted, were performed Oct. 29, 30 and 31 after the ship sailed from London.
The experiments were conducted by engineers of the British Broadcasting corporation, who set up their receiving equipment in a vacant cabin. Capt. Brown said the Britannic, until it left the English channel, was never more than 30 miles off shore.
"The pictures were extraordinarily clear, and the sound was perfect," he said. "They broadcast special programs from Alexandria palace, in London, and the reception on the ship seemed excellent.
"The pictures were reproduced on a screen about 10x12 inches. It was as distinct as if they'd been sending it from the next cabin."
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1937
W9XK, University of Iowa
7:15 to 7:30—Television program with radio station WSUI, 910 kcs.
MOTION PICTURE IN SOUND TELEPHONED
New Medium for Televisiong Transmission Used from New York to Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 9. (AP)—A motion picture in sound was telephoned from New York City to Philadelphia today over a Coaxial cable—a new medium for television transmission.
The scenes and spoken words passed from the Bell Telephone Company laboratories to a special loud speaker and a glass screen in the company's offices here.
They were the first sent over the new cable, which contains conductor units capable of transmitting simultaneously the currents of 240 different telephone transmitters.
The long-distance movie program included a picture explaining the cable possibilities—television with a minimum of distortion—and also several films of the news reel type.
The demonstration was not designed to show an improved television, because the present cable, with a top frequency of about 1,000,000 cycles, cannot carry images as faithfully in detail as those produced by the most modern television equipment.
Dr. Frank B. Dewitt, president of the Bell laboratories, said 2,000,000 cycle repeaters would be tried next in an attempt to transmit scenes with more than twice the accuracy of those carried today.
N.B.C. Gets Permit to Conduct Camden, N. Y. Television Tests
RCA to Deliver 2 Portable Pick-Up and Transmission Sets to Broadcasting Firm; Companies Keep Details Secret
Field experiments in with portable apparatus in or near Camden are contemplated by the National Broadcasting Company early in 1938, it was revealed yesterday [9].
The Federal Communications Commission granted permission to the N. B. C. to operate transmission stations between Camden and New York City on a portable basis, it was revealed in news reports from Washington.
Simultaneously it was learned here that the RCA Manufacturing Company is building in Camden two complete mobile field pick-up and transmission television sets to be delivered to N. B. C. soon after January 1. The sets are mounted on automobile truck chases.
T. F. Joyce, publicity director for RCA Manufacturing Company, said he presumes the sets will be put in operation in and around Camden to test their transmission range.
“They might be operated in or near Camden or in or near Trenton or other points to determine just how far action and sound can be transmitted clearly with the equipment," Joyce said.
He added that neither N. B. C. nor RCA Manufacturing Company is ready yet to release full details of their plans.
Pictures and the full story, Joyce said, will not be ready for another month.
Asked what scope of pick-up power the portable sets would have, Joyce replied:
“They might pick up and transmit football games or baseball games or any other events where their [sic] is sufficient light intensity."
Joyce, however, said he was unable to answer technical questions, such as what light intensity would be sufficient.
The transmission sets will be equipped with cameras capable of picking up both the visual and sound action and transferring both to the transmitting apparatus.
The permit granted by the Federal Communications Commission provides for operation of the transmission sets on frequencies of 175,000 to 180,000 kilocycles, and for 400 watts power for visual transmission and 100 watts for sound transmission. (Camden Courier-Post, Nov. 9)
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1937
Lucille-Lanny Televising
Lucille and Lanny, young NBC song team, will sing two comic numbers in an experimental vaudeville television show to be broadcast at 4 p.m. today from the NBC television studio in Radio City. Tests made by the artists Monday showed they were very adaptable to iconoscope lens. (Radio Daily)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1937
W9XK, University of Iowa
7:15 to 7:30—Television program with radio station WSUI, 910 kcs.
Velvet Screen Is Devised For Television
New Invention Said to Offer Images of Signal Clarity and Brightness Material First Oxidized
WASHINGTON, Nov. 11.—The fine velvets that make glamorous gowns also will produce clearer and brighter television pictures, according to the claim in a patent just granted here to Philo T. Farnsworth of San Francisco, noted for his inventions in television.
The patent covers the invention of a television screen made from velvet. Co-inventor with Mr. Farnsworth of the new velvet television screen, on which the telecast pictures are "painted" by rapidly moving beams of electrons, is Bernard C. Gardner of Philadelphia.
So brilliant can the pictures received be made that the screen cannot be viewed directly because the glare would temporarily blind the eyes. The light is pure white, unlike the greenish and bluish tinged images received on screens of the fluorescent type. The pictures are two to four times as bright as ordinary home moving pictures, asserts the inventor. By use of suitable lens the television pictures can be projected from the velvet on to an ordinary motion-picture screen as large as five feet square. The brightness of the pictures makes it unnecessary to darken the room.
Velvet First Oxidized
In making the new screen finely woven rayon velvet is the starting material. The velvet is dipped in a solution of thorium and uranium salts until it is thoroughly impregnated. Then it is dried and "burnt off." The original velvet fabric disappears and in its place is an oxidized velvet made from thorium and uranium oxide. The process is akin to that in making incandescent gas mantles. It is this oxide velvet that forms the new screen in the cathode ray tube, that ingenious device that is able to take the electrical impulses representing the images sent through the ether and convert them into pictures which are viewed on the screen.
This it [is] does by means of an electron gun which sends crashing into the screen a pencil beam of electrons which zips over every bit of the velvet screen.
So great is the impact of the electron beam that, where it strikes, a very fine incandescent spot or trace shows up on the screen. But the extent of incandescence varies with the electrical impulses received by the television receiver. And it is this variation in the brightness of spots that results in the formation of an incandescent picture on the screen as the electron beam zips across the screen striking every elemental bit thereof.
Blurred Images Avoided
Sharper and distinct images are produced, because velvet keeps the incandescent spots that make up the television pictures from spreading and thus blurring. It prevents conduction of the heat to other areas of the screen.
"Using the finest weave velvets as a base, these screens have been satisfactorily operated to display pictures having a detail corresponding to 400 lines: that is, pictures wherein the area of the focal spot was but one 160,000th of the area of the screen. With these pictures transmitted at the rate of 20 a second, the time which any individual area is bombarded is one 3,200,000th of a second." (Burlington Free Press)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1937
Crude Television Sets Of Youths Prove Success
CLAIRTON, Pa., Nov. 13.—(AP). A battle of experiments and electrons is on in this industrial section as three Clairton youths race fame in further development of the electrical wizardry of the age —television.
Everything from old radios to bed springs are being utilized by the three participants—Thaddeus A. Dragoski, 22, and two brothers, Pete, 23, and Mike Sedor, 21.
A measure of success has already been won by the three. They have built two sets which successfully received news reel pictures from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., some 400 miles away [W9XG].
It all began three years ago when the boys were students in Clairton high school. An electrical instructor assigned them to ferret out information on television.
At first, they tore apart old radios, their own and then a neighbor's set which were unrepairable.
Restricted by lack of cash, but with the eyes of experts, they scoured junk yards and obtained old motors and tubes from radio dealers.
While the work of the two Sedor brothers was being acclaimed by townspeople, Dragoski's experiments were unknown. He was busy pulling apart a bed spring to make a stand for his set which he kept hidden in a third floor workshop in his home.
The task of the three cut out for themselves was not easy but finally after "fooling" with tubes and discs, the Sedor brothers announced a demonstration.
Neighbors were invited to the Sedor home to watch the boys prove they could receive Purdue University's pictures.
Young Dragoski watched the experiments but did not disclose his own work. He continued to work in silence until he got the Purdue pictures clearer, he says, than the Sedor boys.
Recently, the three youthful inventors were invited to exhibit their sets at Clairton high.
When Dragoski arrived with his set, the Sedor brothers were astounded for they did not hear of its existence. But, they declare, they will carry on and aid their fellow inventor.
The two television sets are the same in principle the boys explain. However, Dragoski employs a cathode ray—one of the newest developments in televisors. Dragoski's set cost $80; the Sedor boys built their set for $7.
Collectively, they said:
"We are going to continue working on our sets. A lot of development in radio and other things were maded by amateurs and we might hit on some idea. If we don't, then when the real engineers find the answer we'll be sitting pretty and step right into some job.
"But, we're going to continue alone. May the best man or men win."
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1937
Swor and Lubin [blackface comedians] are set for a shot on the NBC experimental show Monday. (Radio Daily, Nov. 11)
Start Television Tests
Kansas City — W9XAL, television station of the First National Television School, went into operation yesterday [15] for daily equipment tests authorized by the FCC. (Radio Daily, Nov. 16)
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1937
Television Test Set for Tuesday by Engineer Here
Long Beach tomorrow night [16] will be the scene of television demonstration.
Roger Howell, Long Beach radio engineer and television research expert, said today that he had arranged for a special broadcast from the Don Lee television studios in Los Angeles at 10 o’clock.
Howell has perfected a receiving set at his home, 857 Cerritos Avenue, where the first Long Beach television party will he conducted for a selected list of guests. The television broadcast will be previewed at 6:30 P. M. tomorrow [16] at the Howell home and will be repeated at the formation presentation three and one-half hours later when reception will probably be better.
Don Lee station W6A0 [W6XAO] for seven years has been experimenting with television. Howell said that a motion picture news reel accompanied by full sound effects will be the first to be broadcast tomorrow evening.
The distance of more than twenty miles between the sending and receiving sets is said to be the farthest that television can be broadcast under the present power facilities of the Don engineers.
An attempt will be made to broadcast singing and speaking by men and women at the Don Lee studio. (Long Beach Press-Telegram, Nov. 15)
Widen Scope Of Television
Many Tests Scheduled Within Week.
By C.E. BUTTERFIELD
Associated Press Radio Editor
New York, Nov. 16 (AP)—Television, as displayed on occasion while field testing is under way in New York, is widening the scope of its demonstrations.
Within the next week a half-dozen or more test showings have been docketed—one for fashion experts and all the others for amateur radio station owners. All will originate from the RCA-NBC picture studio in Radio City via the Empire State building transmitter.
The fashion guests, here for the annual style spectacle, Fashion Futures, naturally will see by air a program of fashions. This showing will be Thursday afternoon [18].
The amateurs are to take a look at television next Monday [22] and Tuesday night [23], the demonstration to be divided into six sections, three each night, to accommodate all of them.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1937
Television Test Is Enjoyed at Residence Here
Human images were hurled through the ether last night [16] between Long Beach and Los Angeles in one of the most successful television experiments in Southern California.
While radio technicians at the Don Lee station in Los Angeles broadcast motion pictures and still pictures, a thrilled party of spectators at the home of Roger Howell, 857 Cerritos Avenue, saw the latest achievement in science. City Manager Randall M. Dorton and Mrs. Dorton headed a party of guests who saw news reels of the recent New York American Legion convention reproduced on the Howell television set.
Harry R. Lubcke, director of television for W6-XAO, the Don Lee experimental station, today hailed last night's television reception by Howell as “a pioneering achievement."
The Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Eugene Biscailuz and other prominent personages are scheduled to attend the next television demonstration which will be conducted next month by Howell. (Long Beach Press-Telegram, Nov. 17)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1937
W9XK, University of Iowa
7:15 to 7:30—Television program with radio station WSUI, 910 kcs.
1st Fashion Show Is Sent By R. C. A. Television
Broadcast From Empire State to Rockefeller Center
The first all-fashion demonstration of R. C. A. television was presented by the National Broadcasting Company yesterday afternoon [18] at the R. C. A. Building. It was produced under the supervision of Betty Goodwin, N. B. C. fashion editor, and announced by Ben Grauer. The clothes shown were from Saks-Fifth Avenue. For the purposes of the demonstration the show, sent out by the antennae on the Empire State Building, was picked up on the experimental television receivers on the sixty-second floor of the R. C. A. Building. If television receivers were now in general use, it could just as easily and effectively have been picked up in thousands of homes throughout the city.
A few of the highlights of the show, from the fashion angle, were a bois de rose slipper satin gown with a brown velvet jacket, a hostess gown of tangerine silk jersey with a bolero jacket of maroon velvet embroidered in silver, and a pastel blue satin negligee with matching ostrich feathers.
Another interesting feature was the appearance, via television, of Lester Gaba with his famous dummy Cynthia Cynthia wearing a white lace evening gown and a Chanel four-strand pearl necklace with an emerald and rhinestone clasp. The demonstration was scheduled in recognition of Fashion Futures, the annual style spectacle to be presented by The Fashion Group on November 22 in New York, and during the broadcast Helen Cornelius, Margaret Case and Ruth Mills discussed plans for the style showing. (New York Herald Tribune, Nov. 19)
Fashion Experts See Television Styles
Study Materials in First "Broadcast" of Models
By ETTA WILSON
NEW YORK, Nov. 19—A glimpse into the comfortable future of television when we can do our Christmas shopping from an armchair, see the Easter parade from our living room and watch celebrities arrive in a city without moving out of our own home, was previewed here today [18].
It was the first fashion television broadcast ever presented.
With 300 other persons, here to attend the Fashion Futures Show at the Waldorf-Astoria Monday night, I sat in a room on the 62d floor of the RCA Building in front of a machine that resembled an overgrown phonograph with the lid propped up. In the lid is a mirror that reflects what appears in a rectangular portion of a globe.
The revue was presented by National Broadcasting Co. not so much as an entertaining feature, but as a laboratory experiment to see how much detail of fabric and trimming could be shown by television.
As an experiment, the show was interesting, but as a medium for presenting fashion shows, all the experts agree television still has a long way to go. The screen is small, 8 ½ by 10 inches, and the pictures in black and white. However, as we watched the reflections, regardless of their wavering, we all felt that when perfected television will open a wide merchandising field.
All of the revue was presented from the third floor of the same building and transmitted 59 floors by television.
Among the new styles broadcast by television was an apricot makeup . . . an Antoine coiffure sprinkled with "star dust" to match your evening gown . . . plaind wool housecoat, and a resort costume of brown and white printed seersucker. (Cleveland Press, Nov. 19)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1937
Radio League To Cooperate In Television
Amateurs Mobilized to Receive Experimental Programs; RCA Offers Equipment
Thousands of licensed amateur radio operators are being mobilized by the American Radio Relay League for participation in a program of cooperation in the field of television. The objective of the league is yet forth in the December issue of QST, league publication, by James J. Lamb, technical editor, who spent months of preparation for the event.
Coincidently the Radio Corporation of America has invited amateur cooperation towards perfecting television equipment already devised in laboratories, and announces in QST the availability of parts for assembly of television receiving sets by licensed operators. In the same issue, also, appears the first of a series of articles on modern cathode ray television reception.
Significant Step.
These announcements mark the first significant step from laboratory experiments towards ultimate realization of television on a commercial basis with widespread public use. The amateur field now is recognized as the testing sphere. Technicians predict that advancement in television will now show an abrupt upward swing.
In connection with the history-making announcements, the RCA states: "RCA knows and is deeply appreciative of the radio amateur's contribution to the art of ultra-high frequency communication. The early development of television gave rise to problems best solved in the laboratory; but as the art slowly emerges from this status, to the stage where experiments can best answer the current problems, the RCA believes the amateur can, and is eager to, contribute to the perfection of this new art."
Transmitting Stations.
It is expected that television interest will establish transmitting stations in various centers of the nation, in addition to the few existing ones centered principally in New York and New Jersey. Meanwhile, amateurs will prepare for reception of experimental programs, which can be received now within a radius of 100 to 150 miles, anticipating considerable activity by spring. Equipment has been perfected for transmission of television programs. The league is arranging for fairly accurate information on transmission of television programs. As schedules are prepared, the league will be notified and pass the word along to amateurs through QST.
The league membership includes approximately 10,000 licensed amateurs. The cost of constructing the receiving set, including the cathode-ray tube, is now within reach of amateurs.
Assistant Secretary Clinton B. DeSoto of the league announced Saturday [20] that 1500 licensed amateur operators from the Metropolitan New York area, or a radius of 300 miles, have been invited by RCA to attend the largest demonstration of television yet given in this country. Six performances will be given Tuesday [23] and Wednesday [24], the 1500 being divided into groups of 250 each because of limited facilities. The demonstration will be at Radio City. (Hartford Courant)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1937
A. T. & T. Coaxial Cable Is Again Demonstrated
Another demonstration of the coaxial cable installed last year by A. T. & T. between New York and Philadelphia was given this week at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in New York, supplementing the recent demonstration witnessed at the Philadelphia end.
Though officials were reticent about making predictions on practical application of the cable, results obtained thus far were regarded as encouraging, especially with respect to the adaptability of coaxial cables to long distance transmission.
Pictures of 240 lines were shown, on a small screen, although tele broadcast via ether has developed to the 441 -line stage.
Two other series of television demonstrations were given this week by NBC for amateurs, with a view to encouraging the "hams" to try their hand at the visual broadcasting art. (Radio Daily)
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1937
FCC DECISIONS
CALL LETTERS ASSIGNED
National Broadcasting Co., Portable, W2XBT. Television station.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1937
FCC DECISIONS
HEARINGS SCHEDULED
Nov. 23: Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, Inc., Upper Montclair, N. J. CP for television experimental station.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1937
Sherlock Holmes Enters Television
Conan Doyle's Super Sleuth Carries on Via the Ether
By WILL BALTIN
Radio Theatre Editor
A new medium has been found for the adventures of the immortal Sherlock Holmes. Sir Conan Doyle's super sleuth first captured the imagination of the world with his amazing detections when he appeared on the pages of Doyle's late 19th century novels.
So famous did he become that he soon was portrayed on the stage. Development of the motion picture opened a new channel through which Holmes could carry on his celebrated sleuthing.
Last week several hundred radio amateurs watched Sherlock Holmes solve the mystery of "The Three Garridebs.” They saw him patch together remote bits of evidence, and applauded his efforts when he wove a web of circumstances about an imposter, counterfeiter and murderer. But they neither saw him on the motion picture screen, nor on the stage.
They saw him by means of TELEVISION!
Sherlock Holmes thus has the distinction of being the first fictional character of world renown to have his image reflected through the ether by means of Iconoscope and transmitted to the television kinescope for the edification of the multitude.
Thrilling Experience
It was a thrilling, as well an entertaining experience, one that brought boldly to the fore the possibilities of the future entertainment values of pictures through the air. The demonstration of program technique as developed by the National Broadcasting Company was given before hundreds of members of the American Radio Relay League at several performances held on the 62nd floor of the RCA building last Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The A. R. R. L. men witnessed the presentation on 16 television sets operating on separate antennas.
It was the first real studio effort by NBC and was exceptionally well staged. There were a number of scene changes including an "outdoor shot” which had been previously filmed and blended into the story with admirable deftness. The characters wore costumes suggestive of the late 19th century, and the proper English atmosphere was created—even to the broad accents.
The televised detective story ran for nearly 30 minutes and is said to be the first studio-staged presentation of any consequence ever televised in New York.
The demonstration also included "short subjects" consisting of filmed newsreel, novelty piano duo and a one-reel song and dance picture.
RCA announced that it now invites amateurs to interest themselves in television development. (Home News, News Brunswick, N.J.)
Television Tubes Placed On Sale to Experimenters
2 Kinescopes Priced at $60 and $40 Yellow Picture
Two cathode ray tubes for television reception are being made available to radio amateurs, educational institutions, laboratories and to others interested in experimental television by the R. C. A. Manufacturing Company. This is the first television apparatus offered for general sale by R. C. A. in the United States. Placing the tubes on the market, R. C. A. said, should not be construed as an announcement of commercial television apparatus for use by the general public.
The tubes, known as kinescopes, are of the electromagnetic-deflection type and employ viewing screens on which the picture appears with a yellowish hue. They are numbered RCA-1800 and RCA-1801, the former being a nine-inch tube and the latter a five-inch tube. They carry suggested list prices of $60 and $40, respectively.
The kinescopes each employ an electron gun and a fluorescent screen assembled within a vacuum tube. The negative electrode delivers a stream of electrons varying in intensity with the strength of the signals received by means of magnetic deflection coils, this beam is made to scan the fluorescent screen, which then emits light in proportion to the beam intensity. The beam can be made to trace a patern [sic] of 441 lines, thirty times a second, giving pictre definition substantially equivalent to a good photographic enlargement.
The tube will permit experimenters to build receivers to pick up experimental transmissions. (New York Herald Tribune)
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1937
W9XK, University of Iowa
7:15 to 7:30—Television program with radio station WSUI, 910 kcs.
SAM TOWNSEND
Manager WJW [Cleveland]
"The public isn't ready for pictures with its favorite parlor entertainment, and the engineers know it. How many people are going to darken their living rooms for hours at a stretch to look at a television screen? The modern tempo won't allow it. The radio listener now takes his air entertainment along with his evening newspaper and other activities going on in the home at the same time. He can wander away to any part of the house and still hear it. With television, it would be a matter of doing nothing else. I don't believe the public wants to darken its homes for a continual movie performance." (Radio Daily)
[Note: WJW went into television. Its station signed on in December, 1949]
