July-August 1929

There wasn’t an awful lot to see when W3XK got a new, improved transmitter in July 1929. More people could view the programming, but consisted mainly of silhouette drawings. No live bodies on camera.

W3XK was one of two Jenkins television stations on the air at the time. Frank Jenkins was spending much of his time in mid-1929 trying to transmit from an airplane (which crashed in August, leaving him with a cut over an eye), demostrating a new kind of TV set, and dealing with two lawsuits.

Meanwhile, in the mountains near Poughkeepsie, a television station signed on. You can read more about W2XBU in this post.

The Buffalo News published a roundup of active and semi-active stations from something called the Science Service. This is from July 3, 1929. Later editions added W2XBU, the increase in power of W2XK and put W9XR on the air, so it must have been current.

On Regular Schedule
CHICAGO—W9XAA, Chicago Federation of Labor, 500 watts (approved for 1000 watts) 2000-2100 kc. or 145 m. standard scanning*. Time, daily except Sunday; movies, still pictures and living subjects.
JERSEY CITY—W2XCR, Jenkins Television corporation, 5000 watts, 2100-2200 kc. or 139 m. standard scanning*. 2 to 3 P. M., Eastern Standard Time Mon. Tuesday and Wednesday; 8 to 9 P. M., Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
LEXINGTON, Mass.—W1XAY, Lexington Air Station, 500 watts (construction permit granted for 5000 watts) 2000-2100 kc. or 145 m. standard scanning*. Daily, 3 to 3 P. M. and Friday, 7:30 to 8 P. M.
NEW YORK—W2XBS, Radio Corporation of America, 250 watts (approved for 5000 watts) 2000-2100 kc. or 145 m. 20 frames per second, 60 lines per frame, 72 elements wide, scanning from left to right and top to bottom. Announcement cards, views and living subjects. Daily, (including Sunday) 6 to 10 P. M., Eastern Standard Time.
PITTSBURGH—W8XAV, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co., 20,000 watts, 2000-2100 kc. or 145 m. 2100-2200 kc. or 139 m. and 2750-2850 kc. or 107 m. 20 frames per second, 60 lines per frame. Transmitting television programs, generally motion picture films, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 5:10 to 6:00 P. M., Eastern Standard Time.
SCHENECTADY—W2XCW, General Electric company, 20,000 watts, 2100-2200 kc. or 145 m. 24 lines, 20 frames per second. Sunday 11:15 to 11:45 P. M., Tuesday, 12 to 12:30 P. M., Wednesday and Friday, 1:30 to 2 P. M., Eastern Standard Time.
WASHINGTON—W3XK, C. Francis Jenkins, 250 watts (construction permit granted for 5000 watts) 2000-2100 kc. or 15 m. and 2850-2950 kc. or 103 m. standard scanning*. 8 to 9 P. M., Eastern Standard Time, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Radiomovies.
Irregular Schedule
BROOKLYN—W2XCL, Pilot Electric company, 250 watts, 2000-2100 kc. or 145 m. and 2750-2850 kc. or 107 m. Construction permit.
CHICAGO—W9XAG, Aeroproducts, Inc., 5000 watts, 2100-2200 kc. or 139 m. Construction permit.
CHICAGO—W9XR, Great Lakes Broadcasting company, 500 watts, 2850-2950 kc. or 103 m. 24 lines per frame, 18 frames per second, scanning from left to right and top to bottom. (Expect to begin operation about July 3.)
NEWARK—W2XBA, WAAM, Inc., 50 watts, 2750-2850 kc. or 107 m.
NEW YORK—W2XCP, Freed-Eisemann corporation, 2000 watts, 2000-2100 kc. or 145 m. and 2850-2950 kc. or 103 m.
OAKLAND, Calif.—W6XN, General Electric company, 10,000 watts, 2000-2100 kc. or 145 m.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—W1XAE, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing company, 20,000 watts, 2000-2100 kc. or 145 m.
WINTER PARK, Fla.—W4XE, William Justis Lee, 2000 watts, 2000-2100 kc. or 145 m.
*Standard scanning refers to the standard adopted by the Radio Manufacturers association. This is 48 lines per second, with scanning consecutive from left to right and top to bottom as one reads the page of a book.
All the above stations have been licensed by the Federal Radio commission. A number of others who have previously been broadcasting still have their applications pending.

W6XN had been testing for several months and had its grand opening in August. The available story is unclear about whether visuals were broadcast.

We’ll skip the Jenkins litigation as we look at highlights in TV in July and August 1929. There isn’t much. The Federal Radio Commission was asked to grant some licenses. RCA wanted a second permit, solely for specific experiments which it outlined to reporters. In San Francisco, Philo Farnsworth conducted another demonstration of his system that eliminated swirling discs in studios and television sets. A short version of the W2AX story appeared in one paper on July 26. Both have the wrong call letters.

MONDAY, JULY 1, 1929
Television Signals from Plane Goal of Washington Inventor
WASHINGTON, July 1 (AP)—Panoramic views flashed by radio from a speeding airplane to a ground station many miles away is the television goal sought by C. Francis Jenkins, Washington inventor.
Army officers are awaiting with interest experiments soon to be made by Mr. Jenkins with his "aerial eye." If television apparatus can be perfected, as the veteran radio engineer hopes, to send pictures of front line warfare, movements of enemy troops and maps of the battle grounds from scouting planes to general headquarters it will be of great military value.
Jenkins has bought a special plane to be used as a "flying television laboratory" and has been piloting it in practice flights. He plans to be at the controls part of the time when the experiments are made. The "laboratory" is a monoplane of special design, seating four passengers and providing space for television apparatus.
A section of the floor of the cabin will be cut away to serve as a scanning apparatus for the aerial eye. Tests will be made as the plane flies over Washington, views of the ground below being transmitted by radio to Jenkins' new television station north of the city.
The new station is known as W3XK, the same call letters assigned to his old laboratory station in the city. A new 5000-watt transmitter has been installed and two 28-foot towers have been erected. The new station will broadcast a daily program of radio movies In silhouette.



WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 1929
TELEVISION WAVE SOUGHT
WASHINGTON, July 3.—Formal application has been filed with the Federal Radio commission by Station WSVW, Buffalo, operated by the Seneca Vocational school, for authority to construct an experimental television transmitter to be used on 2150 kilocycles with 500 watts power. If the application is granted, it will represent the first opportunity Buffalonians have had to avail themselves of one of the latest developments of the radio art.
According to statements made to the Radio commission by representatives of WSVS, it is the hope of that station eventually to be able to project not only moving pictures in the home, but also the voice and music accompaniment. (Buffalo News)

SATURDAY, JULY 6, 1929
TELEVISION MOVIES NOW BEING MADE
NEW YORK,--A series of short motion pictures, which are being carried to radio fans by television, now is being produced by Visugraphic Pictures, Inc.
These pictures are being broadcast from station W2XCR, Jersey City, owned and operated by the Jenkins Television Corporation, and may be “tuned in” by radio listeners who have receiving sets equipped for television purposes.
Of Widespread Interest
It is interesting to note that the publicity department of Visugraphic received more than 150 newspaper clippings from every part of the United States and Canada bearing on the new television pictures. This indicates the tremendous news value in the science of broadcasting “movies” by television.
From the commercial advertising point of view, the televisual “movies” offers an unexcelled opportunity to manufacturers to popularize a product in a unique and interest-compelling way. (Calgary Herald)

SUNDAY, JULY 7, 1929
Compact Drum Scanner Advances Home Television
The latest television receiver for home use has just been demonstrated at the Jenkins television laboratories and is regarded as one of the simplest and most practical forms of receivers yet proposed. It is a development of the original “drum” type receiver invented by C. Francis Jenkins, a pioneer worker in this field and also in motion pictures.
The new televisor replaces the usual awkward scanning disc, measuring a yard in diameter, with the compact and highly efficient scanning drum. The complete televisor is incorporated in a walnut cabinet measuring approximately 18x18x24 inches, as shown in the illustration. The front end of the cabinet contains a recessed opening or shadow box leading to the large magnifying lens through which the radio-movies are viewed, together with three switches and a “framing” crank. The operation of the Jenkins televisor is simplicity itself. The first switch snaps on a neon glow lamp. A short wave radio set, employed in conjunction with the televisor, is tuned in the usual manner, until the characteristic note of the television signal is at maximum in the loud speaker. The second switch turns on the motor and also serves as a simple method of bringing the scanning drum in step with the picture. The crank is turned so as to frame the picture properly from left to right.
The interior mechanism of the televisor is compact, simple and rugged. The earlier laboratory set-up has been reduced to commercial production equipment for home use. The synchronous motor and scanning drum are mounted vertically and supported by a stanch angle-iron framework.
A special form of distributor serves to flash the four neon lamp plates in succession, illuminating the four quartets of the scanning drum in four successive revolutions. The operation is exceedingly quiet. The framing crank serves to turn the motor and its scanning drum slightly, so as to bring the picture into step with the scanned image. The scanning drum holes are viewed through the magnifying lens, giving an apparent screen size of about six inches square, or sufficient for the simultaneous entertainment of six to eight persons.
As for the nature of the entertainment, only the simplest subjects are being broadcast at this time. Instead of attempting very crude half-tone pictures the engineers are endeavoring to transmit and receive silhouette or black-and-white movies with a fair degree of accuracy. The demonstration of a thrilling boxing contest in silhouette form can be readily followed on the televisor screen and if anything, is so unique as to be perhaps more fascinating than if it were shown to the usual full tone. Titles are included in the television pictures. (New York Herald Tribune)



WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1929
Bound Brook Likely to be Site Of Television Plant for RCA
Two developments in radio in the metropolitan area are awaiting decisions by the Federal Radio Commission, according to a representative of the Radio Corporation of America. An application has been filed for an experimental television station license for a transmitter to be located at Bound Brook, N. J., where Station WJZ’s transmitting plant is located. The application requests that the thirty kilowatt image broadcaster be permitted to operate on the frequency band of 2,850-2,950 kilocycles, equivalent to 105 to 101 meters.
No definite information relative to the plans of this television outfit will be released, according to the RCA representative, until the license is issued. He declined to say whether this television plant would supplant the one now in operation at 411 Fifth avenue, or whether its entry into the ether lanes would mark the beginning of regular television service for the home. (New York Times)

SUNDAY, JULY 14, 1929
Movies in Home by Radio Object of New Invention
WASHINGTON, July 14.—(Universal News Service)—A 23-year California inventor, E. L. Peterson of Los Angeles, has obtained patent rights on a new and revolutionary new television principal, it was revealed here today.
The Peterson invention solves the present great problem of synchronization between the sender and the receiver of visional broadcasting, according to the inventor and his attorney, Judge Jerome Lyman Richardson of Riverside, Cal., who claimed it will make radio-movies as available as the present vocal radio.
Judge Richardson went to New York today to confer with bidders for the patent rights and for production of the set. He declined to discuss technical details of the new invention, but said:
“It embodies a new and simplified principle, which entirely masters the question of synchronization between the broadcasting and receiving points, heretofore the great problem of televison. All synchronization obstacles of the past have been eliminated and the Peterson invention will make it possible for the average person to sit down in his home, turn a dial and receive the picture broadcast with the aid of no more technical knowledge than is necessary for the operation of the radio.”
The invention is known as ray-o-vision and a corporation has been formed under the laws of California to handle it. Peterson his attorney plan to leave shortly for Europe with a view to interesting foreign operators. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 15)

MONDAY, JULY 15, 1929
WOKO BROADCASTING TELEVISION PROGRAMS
Visual broadcasting, known popularly as television, is now part of the daily radio program of Station WOKO, located on the top of Mount Beacon, near Poughkeepsie, N. Y., according to the Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, its operators. The images are sent out each after between 2 and 3 o’clock, Easter Daylight Time, on a wavelength of about 145 eters. The call letters are W-2XBU. Subjects used for the visual programs at present are persons, placards, letters and small objects. While images transmitters are said to be “not perfect,” it is expected that experiments will find their reception an interesting diversion and an aid in carrying on television work with home-made receiving equipment.
The apparatus required to intercept the visual programs is a shortwave receiving set equipped with resistance-type audio amplifier, scanning disk, driving motor and neon tube. (New York Times)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1929
TO TEST TELEVISION OUTSIDE OF CITIES A thorough study of the possibility of reliable television service for large suburban and rural areas will be made at Bound Brook, N. J., if the Federal Radio Commission grants an application now before it for a 30-kilowatt image transmitter, according to Dr. A. N. Goldsmith, chief broadcasting engineer of the Radio Corporation of America, who will direct the tests. The wave length proposed is 101 to 105 meters, or 2,950-2,850 kilocycles. It is expected that a comparatively short time will be required to prepare for the tests.
“Our plan,” said Dr. Goldsmith, “is to determine the limitations of visual broadcasts outside of cities just as we are now studying such problems within cities. We hope to ascertain the general transmission characteristics of rural television, how such signals will be affected by static and fading, and the power required for coverage of definite areas.
“Television signals have a less useful range than that obtained with a transmitter sending out audible programs. The short wave lengths assigned for television work are more highly absorbed between the transmitter and the receiver. The zone of fading on short waves is nearer the sending station, say within 100 to 150 miles. Television also requires very critical and difficult methods of transmission and reception, therefore we need unusually perfect signals for high quality service. All these characteristics and limitations are to be carefully studied, so the tests will be entirely experimental, leading later perhaps to a study of television over greater distances.
Dr. Goldsmith said the 30-kilowatt image broadcaster probably would give adequate image service in an area of 500 to 1,000 square miles. (New York Times)

MONDAY, JULY 22, 1929
TELEVISION BROADCASTING IS INAUGURATED ON NIGHTLY WASHINGTON PROGRAMS
By KENNETH G. CRAWFORD
(United Press Staff Correspondent.)
WASHINGTON, July 22.—(UP)—Picture broadcasting was placed on a permanent nightly basis for the first time here tonight with the formal opening of a new studio by C. Francis Jenkins, pioneer in the development of television and president of the Jenkins Television company.
For more than a year the inventor has been broadcasting tri-weekly programs from a 50-watt station in his downtown studio and has gained an audience estimated at 20,000, most of its members amateur radio operators.
To serve this audience better and recruit new members, Jenkins established his new station in a converted farm house five miles north of the District of Columbia line. He was recently granted permission by the Federal Radio Commission to operate a station on a wave length of 2,900 kilocycles.
With this more powerful station, he hopes to send pictures regularly as far west as the Pacific coast and as far south as Porto Rico. Even from his old station a few amateurs were able to pick up his programs occasionally from those distances.
Opens New Studio.
Jenkins announced with the opening of the new studio that he will attempt to broadcast views of the national capital radioed from his airplane to the ground station. This will be done with the "aerial eye," on which the inventor has been experimenting almost every day for several years.
The inventor pilots his own plane. His first machine was damaged recently in a forced landing and he is now equipping a new one for the forthcoming tests of the panorama broadcasting device. The mechanical "eye" of the equipment will peer through a hole in the bottom of the ship.
The views it picks up will be sent to the new broadcasting station and retransmitted to the television audience. In order to reach remote receiving stations two 130-foot antenna towers have been erected near the country studio.
The opening program of the new station was a one-hour motion picture which Jenkins prefaced with a brief talk. Later he will broadcast scenes enacted by living images, but the room from which this is to be done is not yet completely equipped.
Jenkins has found that television fans prefer to see living objects rather than motion pictures. The change in power and frequency in the new station has made it necessary for members of Jenkins’ audience to reconstruct their sets somewhat. Most of the amateurs who receive television programs have assembled their own sets from parts made at home, or supplied by the Jenkins Company, the inventor said.
The same equipment required to pick up sound waves is used to receive television waves, but this must be supplements with the picture projection device.
The picture as it comes in is about six inches square and shows on an illuminated screen in black and white.
"We know how to broadcast colors," Jenkins said, "but it isn't practical because it would require too many wave lengths. We would ruin the air for everyone else by attempting it."
Jenkins will not use all the power granted by the radio commission in his initial programs, but plans to utilize it all eventually.

SATURSDAY, JULY 27, 1929
Seeks Television License.
WASHINGTON, July 27. (AP)—The Great Lakes Broadcasting Co. of Chicago has applied to the Federal Radio Commission for a new radio station license for a television transmitter.

MONDAY, JULY 29, 1929
Entire Show Is Broadcast By Television
Washington, D. C., July 31.—Television has turned the corner, according to eminent radio authorities after the encouraging results from the Jenkins television broadcast over station W2AX were made known recently.
For the first time in history, a complete picture story was televised. This "television drama" was on the air one hour. Reports of its satisfactory reception were received from points as far west as Chicago, and as far north as Lexington, Mass. Station attendants expect several days to elapse before all reports are received.
The program was the first of a series to be sent out regularly from 8 to 9 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, over the new power transmitter recently installed about five miles north of Washington, D. C. The series was inaugurated in the presence of radio commission officials.
Dr. Jenkins shared the enthusiasm of friends, radio engineers and television fans who witnessed or took part in this epoch-making event. From now on the public will take a keen interest in these broadcasts, and a big impetus will be given to the further development of television which will usher in a new era of opportunity for radio men and the general public. (Tampa Times)

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1929
'Talkies' in Home Promise of New Television Device
Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of a new television device, which he claims will soon permit owner of radio sets to receive motion "talkie" pictures in their homes, demonstrated his invention last night. A group of scientists witnessed the tests.
Photographs, the silhouettes of moving fingers and the curling upwards cigarette smoke were transmitted in his Green street laboratories, from one room to a receiving set in another, and were visible on a screen.
New Method Used
The scientists who witnessed the exhibition were members of the Board of Directors of the California Research Group of Science of Vision—Prof. R. S. Minor, University of California; Dr. T. A. Brombach, Dr. Van Simonton, Dr. J. R. Morris, Dr. Leland Carter and Al Reinke, lecturer at the University of California.
Professor Minor declared that the demonstration was "most interesting.” He said he was particularly impressed with the new method of “scanning”. The Farnsworth device does not use a "scanning wheel" or scanning disk, as is used in other television system. The picture is "torn down” at the transmitting end and "built up" at the receiving end by electricity.
Farnsworth stated that with his device families possessing radio sets will reasonably soon be able to hear and see in their living rooms musical comedies as they are being acted and sung in some distant city, that they will be able to watch some spectacular play occurring in a football stadium, hear the impact of men's bodies as they buck the line, see the fumbles and the passes and the roaring approval of the stadium crowds.
He promises that pictures of events taken in the sunlight will soon be transmitted clearly by his system.
The astonishing new instrument invented by Farnsworth is not a bulky affair. In a cabinet of ordinary size, it resembles the average home radio receiving set. Instead of a loud speaker there is an attachment on top of the cabinet with a round orifice for the "vision field."
He says that the experiments so far made have convinced him and his associates that the device can be placed in a still smaller cabinet and that plans are under way to put it into practical use on a large scale. (San Francisco Examiner)



TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1929
KGO’s program tonight will be a memorable event; impressive from the number of dignitaries to be presented, absorbing from a dra¬matic and musical standpoint and spectacular for those who will witness the broadcast which will originate in the San Francisco Civic auditorium in conjunction with the Sixth Annual Pacific Radio show. KGO will be on the air from 7 to 11 o’clock.
For its night at the radio show KGO has delayed the opening of its 40,000-watt short wave station W6XN. State and civic officials have been invited to participate in this opening which will feature artists of many foreign countries wearing native costumes. This program will be rebroadcast by the New York stations of the General Electric and it is expected that a score of foreign stations also will relay the W6XN transmission.
Preceding the W6XN inaugura¬tion there will be half-hour program by the Rembrandt Trio. the Melodettes, and the Olympians. At 8:30 those celebrated musical no¬mads, the Pilgrims, who have been traversing the ether lanes for nearly four years, will make their appearance, with August Hinrichs directing. Vocal numbers will be sung by Eva Gruninger Atkinson, contralto, Grace LePage, soprano, and the Olympians. (Santa Ana Daily Register)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 1929
RCA STATION AT BOUND BROOK ASKS LICENSE RENEWAL
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22.—The Radio Corporation of America applied for a renewal of the television license for the portable station serving New York and New Jersey at Bound Brook, N. J. The call letters are W2XBV. Broadcasting station WJZ is located at Bound Brook. (Home News, New Brunswick, N.J.)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 1929
Chicago Station Give Television License
A television broadcasting license has been granted to WENR. The Chicago station has been allocated the visual broadcasting channel ranging from 2,850 to 2.950 kilocycles by the radio commission for television transmission on regular schedule with 5,000 watts power. There are now approximately a dozen stations licensed to broadcast television but all are on an experimental basis. (Chicago Triune

TELEVISION SETS NOW BEING MADE BY JENKINS CORPORATION
With the recent development of a novel combination scanning drum and selector shutter disk by its engineering staff, resulting in a simpler, more economical, and far more practical scanning system, the Jenkins Television Corporation of Jersey City, N. J., now announces the mass production of television apparatus.
“Although we have been in production on experimental television equipment for six months past,” states James W. Garside, President of the Jenkins Television Corporation, “we have withheld mass production of market models until we could be positive of our grounds. Our earlier models were too elaborate and costly for use in the average home, while the results left much to be desired. Therefore, our production until now consisted of sample televisors for use in checking up the efficiency of our television transmitters at Jersey City and Washington, under typical receiving conditions.
48-Line Reception.
“With out [our] latest development, we have evolved a remarkably simple, inexpensive, and highly practical televisor, which can be readily manufactured at a reasonable cost. The new Jenkins televisor will permit of receiving either plain black and-pink radio movies or full half tone pictures, with good detail and illumination within the limitations of our present 48-line system. Should we find it advisable to go to 60 or more lines, based on our present experiments and developments, the Jenkins televisors can be readily changed over to accommodate additional lines and finer detail.
“All in all, I am satisfied we now have a practical televisor with which we can inaugurate everyday television,” concludes Mr. Garside. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1929
Motion Picture Are Broadcast
Distinct Progress Being Made in Television Studios at Pittsburgh
[By ROBERT D. HEINL]
Distinctive progress is being made in the broadcasting of motion pictures at the Westinghouse plant at Pittsburgh. Motion and still pictures are being sent daily from the television studio in Homestead works, thence by wire four miles to the KDKA transmitting station and broadcast from there to the Farm, as the short wave receiving station is known about six miles northeast.
Ordinary moving picture films are used and such subjects being shown a Krazy Kat and Pathe current news events. It was explained that motion pictures were chosen because they are more difficult to than actual objects. However, at the Homestead television studios, scanning devices are also available for the broadcasting of living subjects. A television studio is indeed a curious looking place and with its bright lights not unlike a moving picture studio.
Formerly because of the makeshift apparatus, an observer was constantly reminded of the experimental nature of television, but there is little of this in evidence at Pittsburg. The transmitting apparatus is of a substantial character and finished in appearance. The reels whirl in the same businesslike way as for a regular motion picture and with countless operators the scene presented in the television studio is similar to one so frequently seen in the projection booth of an ordinary movie theater.
Looks Like Going Concern
Likewise there is the air of a going concern at the receiving end. Not a lot of loose junk wired together but the apparatus compactly assembled on a table and resembling a camera outfit about the size a professional photographer uses. Also a thing one rarely sees in an experimental laboratory—the floor was neatly swept. Viewing a television picture recalls vividly the way we used to look at old time motion pictures in a kinetoscope, excepting that here in a darkened room sees the picture by peering into a long cylinder sometimes standing as far as five feet back to get the right focus.
The moving pictures being broadcast at Pittsburgh are as yet small, about three by four inches in size but larger than the Bell telephone pictures being sent over wires in color which are only as big as a postage stamp. In both the Westinghouse and the Bell demonstrations, however, the details of the pictures are surprisingly sharp and distinct.
“If we make as much improvement in the next six months in broadcasting motion pictures as we have in the past six,” a Westinghouse official remarked, “we will really be able to report progress. As soon as we get one thing lacked we go after the next.”
Let not the reader gather from this that any definite time has been set when the last thing will be “licked” or when we may expect to receive regular television broadcasts into our homes. It may be just around the corner and again it may be years. At the moment research is being carried on along two lines. The first is perfecting quality of the transmitted picture and the second is the effort being made by radio manufacturers to design a receiver or an attachment to go on radio sets, capable of receiving broadcast pictures and selling at a price within reach of the general public. Quite tantalizing at Westinghouse is a peep at the new 100,000 watt tubes, said to be the world’s largest, which are in the making for the new KDKA and KYW stations, without being permitted to go into details regarding their construction or possibilities. They look to be about eight feet in length and are the first to have water-colored grids. So intricate is the process of manufacture that, though a new tube is started every week, the net result is only about two completed tubes a month. So it may be some time before the required six are completed for the new KYW station at Chicago and 12 for the new KDKA station near Pittsburgh. Although the Westinghouse people are as silent as clams regarding these great new tubes, it is believed when the facts are known about them they may prove a sensation in the radio world. Rumor hath it that instead of 100,000 watts, tests have shown that they are capable of 150,000 watts power (Tulsa World)

May-June 1930

There wasn’t an awful lot of television in New York City in June 1930 when John D. Rockefeller announced the purchase of a chunk of land that would be the New York home of broadcasting for NBC—Radio City.

During the 1930s and 1940s, there were plenty of radio studios. Television started out with a small one on the third floor of 30 Rockefeller Centre, but as it took over the family living rooms and network radio programming became emaciated, it took over the building as well.

But that was far in the future. In mid-1930, there wasn’t an awful lot of television in New York. Perhaps the biggest story was an interactive broadcast from General Electric’s station in Schenectady, W2XCW, with a theatre a mile away.

Meanwhile, Jenkins Television put W2XCR on the air from Jersey City at 139 meters. A newspaper in Plainfield, N.J. excitedly announced it would list the station’s schedule. That lasted about two weeks. The New York Sun, which had schematic diagrams to build your own TV set in its Saturday editions, began to sporadically provide listings as well.

In Chicago, WMAQ was readying a TV station. The city was being served by W9XAO, which aired live programming as part of a Northwestern University circus. Purdue University got permission to set up a station, as did an Atlanta CBS radio affiliate (now WGKA at 920).

As for CBS, it still had not applied for an experimental television licence. It had inherited a shortwave licence that re-broadcast radio shows from WABC, but it appears that W2XE was used to televise at least one show in June 1930.

Inventors were working on electronic technology which eventually made all stations on the air at the time obsolete. And the owners of W1XWV in Boston were testing colour.

Below are a number of stories for May and June 1930 along with listings for W2XCR where we could find them. One of the papers in Maine mentioned a television studio in connection with Bob Emery's Big Brother Club, but only for a couple of weeks (twice weekly). By the way, Leo A. Carroll on the station is not to be confused with Leo G. Carroll of Topper and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. fame.

FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1930
W1XAV, Boston (pictures on 137 meters/2180 kcs.; sound on WEEI, 508.2 meters/590 kcs.)
6:00 to 6:30—Big Brother Club, with Bob Emery.

WASHINGTON, May 1.—Allen B. Du Mont, chief engineer of the Deforest Radio Company, told the Federal Radio Commission today that the Deforest Company and the Jenkins Television Company of New Jersey, of which De forest owns more than half of the stock, proposed to pool their patents, numbering more than 500. Mr. Du Mont was heard in support of an application for a construction permit for a television station at Passaic, N. J.
The company now has an experimental station at Passaic, but is seriously handicapped in making television tests because of no license. Mr. Du Mont was especially anxious to erect the station, he said, in order to make some tests in television which were “quite radical.” These tests may develop a way to operate four stations on a regular television wave, whereas now only two are used. He expressed the opinion that great strides would be made in television within the next few months.
Purdue University also was heard on an application for a television construction permit, with A. L. Mecklenburger, engineer, telling of research work which promises a “novel method” of transmitting photos. This was pronounced by the Grigsby-Grunow Radio Company, with which the university’s research department has a working agreement, as a long step toward solving the television problem. (Herald Tribune, May 2)

NORWAY, Iowa, May 1 (AP)—Lawrence Becker sits by his farm fireside and sees movies in Washington, D. C., 1500 miles away. He does it with a television receiver he made himself.
Becker has had his apparatus, crude but serviceable, functioning since January 6. Each evening he tunes in W3KX [sic], the short wave television transmitter of the Jenkins laboratories in Washington, and watches intently the experimental broadcasts of special moving picture films.
Although static causes snow storms to appear in the televisor on occasions, Becker reports that the pictures he receives are unusually clear. The images are small and only a few persons can see them at a time by crowding around the viewing lens which is a reading glass.
Despite the handicaps of reception, there generally is a crowd at home each night from 7 to 9 o’clock while the broadcasts are under way.
Becker experimented a year before his apparatus worked satisfactorily.

CHICAGO—(AP)—Television has been hearing about this "experimental stage” for so long it has decided to see if it can't bring about a change or two.
So, with the help of some young engineers it has attired itself in coming-out clothes that give it a more dignified appearance as far as cabinets are concerned. At the same time, it has ironed out a few of the many kinks to which it is subject, although there remain a large number yet.
To show just what has been done, three types of receivers were used for demonstration purposes. Head and shoulder signals of entertainers coming from W9XOA [W9XAO], 42.9 meters, companion short wave transmitter of WIBO, were picked up in a hotel 40 miles away with considerable success.
Could Be Enlarged
Very apparent was the fact that with two of the receivers pictures were thrown upon small screens mounted on pedestals placed in front of the television windows. The pictures could be enlarged up to the maximum of the screens, 8x12 inches, merely by moving back the stands.
One model contained only the television reproducer, consisting of scanning disk, neon lamp and motor. Another housed also a short wave receiver for television, while the third had a receiver for broadcast reception as well as the television set and reproducer. To see with the small model, called a "visionet," it was necessary to look into a window in the front.
Inventor Was Teacher
The sets are the results of research work by Lloyd Garner, formerly of the faculty of the University of Illinois, who perfected the glow or neon lamp used for reception; by U. L. Sanabria, whose scanning disk and transmitter design was an important factor; by Richard Wagner, who perfected the optical system, and by William Parker, in charge of the broadcasting phase of the work.
Back of the laboratory efforts is Clem F. Wade, president of the Western Television corporation. With him are his two brothers, Martin and Hugh, also lawyers and also from Des Moines, Ia.
The Sanabria transmission system enables radiation of pictures with a minimum of flicker and wave band space. The photoelectric cells, which correspond to the microphone for sound, the design of Garner, are four times the size of other types.
Can ‘Shift Scenery’
The photocells are arranged in conjunction with amplifier mixing equipment making possible shifting of studio scenes without interrupting continuity. Flicker reduction, it was stated, is due to Sanabria's triple scanning system, which might be compared to the three-blade shutter for a moving picture projector.
The glow or neon lamp in the receiver is eight times more efficient than the average, it is asserted, making possible the use of a screen. "This higher efficiency is necessary," Sanabria said, "because the apparent brilliancy of a television picture at the present time is about one five-millionth of the apparent brilliancy of the source of light."
Besides WIBO, which has been conducting tests for some time, WMAQ here and WKRC, Cincinnati, are installing television transmitters. WENR and WCFL, Chicago, are experimenting with television broadcasts. (C.E. Butterfield, May 1)

SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1930
WASHINGTON, May 2 (CPA)—With an eye to the future, the Grigsby-Grunow Company, of Chicago, has invaded the experimental television field. It has joined forces with Purdue University in television research.
H. E. Kronz, chief engineer of Grigsby-Grunow Company of Chicago, said that today commercial production of televisors for home use is not feasible. His company, he explained, is trying to hasten the day when television will be practicable for the commercial field.
All of the engineering skill at Purdue is being concentrated in the efforts to develop television, the commission was told, and authorities predict its commercial practicability soon. (Allentown Morning Call, May 2)

The first night of the two night presentation of Northwestern’s student circus last evening [2] was marked by a demonstration of television. Through cooperation with the Western Television company, 6312 Broadway, an audience at Dearborn observatory on the Evanston campus saw and heard speeches by Mayor Charles H. Bartlett of Evanston, Walter Dill Scott, president of the university; David Forgan, and Bryant Washburn, stage and screen star, who were at the company’s studio. The demonstration will be repeated tonight and a “Miss Television” will be named in connection with the circus. The main performances of the circus are given in Patten gymnasium. (Chicago Tribune, May 3).

SUNDAY, MAY 3, 1930
WASHINGTON, May 3.—Authority was granted last week by the Federal Radio Commission to the Jenkins Television Corporation, of Jersey City, to construct a new television transmitter. The station will be used for regular broadcasting of television on a wave length of 139 meters.
The construction permit calls for a transmitter having a power of 250 watts, with unlimited time operation. The permit is for visual broadcasting experiments on the 2,800-kilocycle channel, since no regular visual broadcasting licenses, which embrace the field of television are issued. (Herald Tribune, May 4)

MONDAY, MAY 4, 1930
There are, at present, limitations as to what may be broadcast by television according to Clem F. Wade, of Chicago, where unusual developments of television are being made. It is not yet possible to broadcast a baseball game or a football game. Apparatus to make this possible has not yet been perfected. Generally speaking, it is present practice to locate the television pick-up apparatus within the radio studio, although this will not be the case with the installation at WMAQ, Chicago.
This station has just completed a special television studio from which it is planned to broadcast all of their synchronized sight and sound productions. The microphone is the only reminder of radio in the studio.
A three-quarter length picture is ordinarily to be expected in television, but larger pictures can and will be produced regularly. For experimental purposes the engineers, on several occasions, have utilized laboratory space as a large studio, and broadcast, exceedingly well, a boxing match between two youngsters of the neighborhood, a ballet dancer in full length, and an instrumental trio.
While, according to Mr. Wade, no claim is made that perfection has been attained in television receivers now being manufactured, he declares that a high state of initial development in the new art has been attained. A finished piece of apparatus at a reasonable price he said has been the aim of the engineers and he predicts such a television set will be on the market within the next month or two.
“A de luxe console will contain the entire equipment for the reception of sight and sound broadcasting,” Mr. Wade said.
“This includes the ordinary radio receiver and loud speaker, a short wave receiver for television, and the televisor. A second console model will contain only the televisor and short wave receiver, A smaller model contains only the televisor, housed in a cabinet. In this instrument the picture, instead of being projected on a screen placed in front of the televisor as in the case of the two console models, is seen by looking directly into a larger aperture located in front.” (Washington Post, May 4)

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 1930
W1XAV, Boston (pictures on 137 meters/2180 kcs.; sound on WEEI, 508.2 meters/590 kcs.)
6:00 to 6:30—Big Brother Club, with Bob Emery.

SATURDAY, MAY 9, 1930
That television may soon be an established fact in the realm of production, with pictures shown in private homes, and with the Warner Brothers controlling the television market, is apparently well on the way to fulfillment.
It became known yesterday [9] that the Warners have bought the Nakken patents for television production and projection, and for production of sound in pictures on film, which may mean that Warners are to abandon the disc method of producing dialogue for the more generally used method of photographing the sound on the film.
Theodore H. Nakken is president of the corporation bearing his name. Though a native of Holland, he was an admiral in the Russian navy during the late World War, having in charge the submarine division. It was while studying the control of submarines by radio that he became interested in another branch of radio, namely, television, and it is said that he has invented a very excellent method.
Jack Warner, Lewis Warner and Robert Crawford, the last named in charge of the music connected with Warner Brothers productions, are leaving next week for New York to meet H. M. Warner and other officials of the organization to plan enterprises connected with television and other subjects.
Chief among these subjects is the matter of wide film, which the Warner Brothers propose to use in the making of their pictures, to a certain extent, at least, with the probability that w1h1n a short time subjects will be photographed on it. (Grace Kingsley, Los Angeles Times, May 10)

WASHINGTON, May 9—Applications approved today [by the Federal Radio Commission] included a permit to the De Forest Radio Company for a television station at Passaic N. J., with 5,000 watts power; extension of the time for the completion of the Atlantic Broadcasting Company’s new 5,000 watt station until July 31. (Herald Tribune, May 9)

TUESDAY, MAY 13, 1930
Authorization for the construction of a television station has been received by Prof. C. F. Harding, head of the school of electrical engineering of Purdue university, from the federal radio commission in Washington, D. C. The new station which will be the first ever constructed for long distance transmission, will operate upon a wave length of 2,100 kilocycles will have a power of 1,500 watts.
Research work upon television has been carried on during the past year in the school of electrical engineering at Purdue under the direction of C. F. Harding, R. H. George and R. B. Abbott, with the Grigsby-Grunow company, of Chicago, cooperating. A new method making use of the new cathode ray, is being developed. Laboratory experiments have been so successful that the construction of a transmitting station and receiving station was found necessary for further experimentation. The transmitting station will be built in the electrical engineering building at Purdue, and the receiving station will be constructed in Chicago.
Like the radio broadcasting station WBAA, the television station will be constructed by students under the direction of the research staff. Only through such a program was it possible to secure a permit for the station, as the frequency bands available for television operation are few in number.
Although a great deal of development must be done before television can be of household or commercial use, according to Prof. Harding, the policy of the local school of engineering will be to engage in the pioneer investigation. (Lafayette Journal and Courier, May 13)

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1930
W1XAV, Boston (pictures on 137 meters/2180 kcs.; sound on WEEI, 508.2 meters/590 kcs.)
6:00 to 6:30—Big Brother Club, with Bob Emery.

SATURDAY, MAY 17, 1930
BOSTON, May 17.—Competition on technical details making commercially available color television within two months is the latest achievement of Short Wave and Te1evision Laboratories, Inc., given in an exclusive an to the Herald Tribune correspondent here today.
The group is putting thousands of dollars into television research, and recently received a license from the Federal Radio Commission for transmitting in the 150 to 200 meter band. They now have an application for a voice broadcasting channel in order to transmit simultaneous voice and pictures. With the addition of color transmission extensive work on talking motion pictures permission will be possible.
When considering talking picture transmission one enters Into the best field for television, as the scanning of a compact film is much easier than scanning a large actual object. Now many of the best talking pictures today have color inserts or are all color and perfection of this kind of transmission therefore should create a real public demand for commercial television.
Method of Scanning
The scanning in this company’s system is accomplished by means of a “spider” named after the familiar cooking utensil and resembling it somewhat. A round metal disk is received in a horizontal plane by a synchronous motor.
Instead of the familiar iron such as a cooking spider a scanning belt is set in a circular slot at the edge of this disk or pan bottom. This is made of photographic film and the scanning openings are photographed thereon.
At present a forty-eight-hole scanning is used, but a sixty-hole system can be changed to it in a few minutes by merely putting a sixty-hole belt on the spider. This system is used at both the transmitting and receiving end. This spider is very small, about eight inches in diameter, making for a most compact television receiver.
The designer or this system is Hollis S. Baird. The president of the company is A. M. Morgan and the treasurer E. P. Perry. Their laboratories are located in a concrete building in the motor car supply district at Boston. Test sets have been completed and production design is now under way. The receivers will be running through regular production by September 1.
The first plans called for a rather sound merchandizing idea. This was to concentrate on areas served by the same electric light company that serves the laboratories and transmitter. Using synchronous meters on both the transmitter and receiving scanning spiders, perfect unison would be obtained. This would indicate the use of such a system as limited to certain city areas, which would include a transmitter using this company’s system.
While this idea will still carry on, the receivers are also equipped with a very simple framing device which permits keeping the reception synchronized with the transmission without difficulty, even in remote districts.
If you can imagine a small, aluminum frying pan, minus its handle, with a short shaft inserted through the bottom up through the center, above a small synchronous motor like a top, you have a good picture of the compactness of the Baird design. The scanning arrangement could be put in a box about ten inches square.
The radio receiver is built directly under this and a short wave and broadcast unit will both be available in the design.
The television laboratories have been working on this for about two years and have had their system in actual use. Station WEEI has been co-operating with them in a regular series of tests.
The “big brother” club of this station, which has now been put on a chain program as a commercial feature with Bob Emory in charge, has had its members televised while their voices were being broadcast over the regular wave length of 503 meters. During these tests the scanning arrangement was brought so near to the microphone that some of the humming noise could be heard in order to identify the fact that television was being used. (Boston Globe, May 18)

SUNDAY, MAY 18, 1930
SAN FRANCISCO, May 18 (AP)—The scanning disk and its whirring motor have been eliminated from both transmitter and receiver in television experiments under way here.
Working on the premise the disk was unsatisfactory for radio pictures, Philo T. Farnsworth, young research worker, has developed vacuum tubes that have enabled him to design apparatus to send and receive movies and photographs without mechanism.
Device Copies Image
The transmitting tube he calls a “dissector.” Its task is that of the scanning disk, making a copy of the image to be sent over the air and reflecting it to a photoelectric cell, which reproduces electrically what the “dissector has seen.
In his experiments Farnsworth has transmitted moving pictures containing 640,000 elements or “pin points of light” by the use of a film.
He has sent photographs or “stills,” containing 40,000 elements, at the rate of 20 pictures per minute Compared with a newspaper halftone having a 100-line screen or equivalent to approximately 8000 elements, Farnsworth said his transmitted pictures had five times more detail.
‘Oscillate’ Coneshaped
The receiving or reproducing tube is an ‘oscillate,’ getting its name from the fact that it is a reconstructed oscillograph tube, used for visualizing electric current. It is coneshaped, with a flat end where the picture is seen upon a fluorescent screen. It takes the place of the scanning disk, the motor and the neon letup in the receiver.
As to the success he has had in motion picture transmitting tests, Farnsworth declares it will be only a matter of a few months until visual-radio sets are workable. He has designed and built a set on which a vocal program may be received as picture flash in.
Synchronization, however, is not yet perfect, but Farnsworth believes the problem will be solved by further research. He says perfect transmission is still to be obtained, but that the dissector tube has solved the greatest problem—elimination of moving parts.
The transmitter for pictures utilizes ultra-short wavelengths from 4.7 meters down. His best results have been obtained by using a wide band of frequencies.
Farnsworth has been making his experiments under the sponsorship of William H. Crocker, western financier.

MONDAY, MAY 19, 1930
W1XAV, Boston (pictures on 137 meters/2180 kcs.; sound on WEEI, 508.2 meters/590 kcs.)
6:00 to 6:30—Big Brother Club, with Bob Emery.

THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1930
Schenectady, May 22—The tall bespectacled orchestra leader raised his baton. The crowd waited, hushed and expectant. Down came the baton and the orchestra broke into the first strains of the overture.
Ordinary? Hardly.
The orchestra was in the pit of Proctor’s R. K. O. theatre.
John Gamble, the leader, was a mile away.
Television, grown up after three years of research and study, did it, making its first public appearance as part of a regular theatre program here today.
It was after 10 o’clock this morning when William Gluesing, WGY announcer, stepped from the wings into the greenish blue glare of the spot light. The curtains slid noiselessly apart, exposing a screen six feet square.
Out front there was a crowd of 300, including General Electric officials, theatre officials, newspapermen and patrons.
They waited for television’s pioneer theatre performance. Among them, seated in about the center of the theatre, was Dr. E. F. W. Alexanderson, consulting engineer of the General Electric Co. and the Radio Corporation of America.
Three years ago Dr. Alexanderson gave his first demonstration—a picture in a three-inch aperture.
Last fall at the radio show at Madison Square Garden the image was increased to 14 inches. Today the screen was six feet square. Dr. Alexanderson sat and crumpled his hat in his hands. His feelings were carried to the crowd.
Behind the screen was the television apparatus which was to transform electrical impulses generated a mile away in a special studio of the general Electric company into living pictures.
As wires from the studio to the stage carried the electrical impulses radio carried the voices of performers in the studio to the theatre in perfect synchronization.
Gluesing, laboratory assistant of Dr. Alexanderson, gave the signal from a microphone on the stage. It was carried by telephone to the studio with Merrill Trainer as master of ceremonies on the receiving end.
Apparatus Hums Faintly.
There was a faint hum of the television apparatus back stage. The face and shoulders of Trainer standing in the studio a mile away, appeared on the screen, smiling and clear.
There have been big moments before, but few greater than this. It left one inarticulate—a condition which was to increase as the performance continued.
Trainer lighted a cigarette and blew the smoke toward the audience. He chatted with Gluesing.
For once, a revolution in vaudeville, the performers in the studio fought among themselves to obtain the opening spot.
Being the first actors to participate in a television program of this sort meant something.
Matilda Bigelow Rush, soprano, sang “The Little Hills Are Calling.”
Charley Harrison, a mile away, put on an act with his partner, Sylvia Dakin.
“You be on key,” Charley told Sylvia, grinning from the screen, “and I’ll be a mile off key.” The orchestra played and with the phone receiver to his ear he did his stuff.
Sylvia dedicated a new song, “Now I have a Television Picture of You.”
Billy Raymond, on the stage, put a call through for his partner, “Slim” Trimblin in the studio.
Troubles of the Future.
Trimblin’s face appeared on the screen.
“Oh, operator.” complained his partner, “Wrong face.”
Mabel Renflow sang and gave an imitation of a cornet solo. Helen Keefe, to orchestra accompaniment, sang “Tell It to the Daisies,” all the time being “just thrilled to pieces.”
Trainer made merry in between. His smile covered the screen.
The high spot of the program came when Gamble, from the screen, led his orchestra. His direction was followed perfectly. There was another big moment when Joe Winton, of the team of Weber and Winton, talked with Trainer while standing five rows back from the pit.
Trainer wisecracked with him as if he were standing on the stage.
Alter the performance the newspapermen went back stage where Dr. Alexanderson explained the action of the television equipment and predicted still progress encouraged by the “pleasant spirit of invention.”
Not Practical for Homes.
He preferred to withhold comment on the future possibility of television until tonight, when he will discuss it in a speech before the newspapermen.
Mr. Alexanderson did express the opinion, however, that television will not compete seriously with the “talkies.”
In his opinion television will not be practical for use in homes. Today’s experiment, however, showed the possibilities of the new art as a medium of entertainment in places such as theatres.
In the improved studio the performers appeared before the television camera. The light impulses, converted into electrical impulses or radio signals were sent out by a transmitter in the laboratory on a wave length of 140 meters.
A microphone close to the artist picked up his speech and song and converted the sound into electrical impulses which were carried by wire to a short wave transmitter at South Schenectady, where they went on the air on a wave length of 92 meters.
Intermediate Shades Clear
R. D. Kell, assistant to Dr. Alexanderson in television research, was control operator at the theatre. The light impulses, when received, were reproduced on a small monitor teleopticon and transferred to the light valve at which point the light was broken up to produce an image corresponding in every detail to the subject in the studio. A second receiver picked up the sound signal and fed it into loud speakers which converted the electromagnetic waves into sound.
All the gray shades between black and white were reproduced, registering every shadow and shade of the features and giving both depth and detail to the image. (Binghamton Press, May 22)

FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1930
BOSTON, May 23. (AP)—Television transmission in colors within two months is the hope of engineers tackling the problem of radio sight in laboratories here.
So successful do they feel they have been in their experimentation that the engineers said they would be able to reproduce colored pictures eight inches square. Included in their development work has been the design of a receiver housed in a console no larger than the ordinary sound set.
If the attempt at color transmission succeeds, it will mark a climax in three years of television work by the Short Wave and Television laboratories, which are operating W1XAV on 137 meters or 2180 kilocycles. The transmitter, designed and built for television work by Hollis S. Baird, chief engineer, has a power of 500 watts.
As one of its accomplishments the laboratory points to its development of horizontal transmission against the former method of vertical transmission. The engineers explained that with vertical transmission a straight line always appears as a curved line with resultant distortion in the received picture. In horizontal transmission a straight line remains a straight line when it is received.
The receiver used is rather novel in that the scanning disk is really not a disk. It consists of a band of metal having a series of holes and is fastened around a drum-like frame which revolves in front of the neon lamp. The band is removable, making it possible to change it to receive either a 48-line or a 60-line picture.
The receiver has a framing device which keeps the picture in the correct position for viewing and which somewhat simplifies synchronization. The framer is controlled by a knob at the front of the receiver. The viewing lens is located just above the tuning and framing controls on a level with the operators' eyes.
This outfit, the engineers explained, was for television only and would not reproduce sound, for which a separate set would be required where sound and sight were being received together from the same studio.
Although the picture at present is only four inches square, a process has been developed whereby it can be enlarged to from eight to 12 inches square. Under this method the engineers said the picture would be seen on a ground glass rather than through a magnifying lens. They also said that it would be possible for a room full of persons to see the picture at the same time.
In cooperation with WEEI, Boston, WIXAV began sending synchronized voice and vision of the Big Brother Club on February 5. Short waves were used for the television signals and the sound went out on WEEI’s regular wave length. (C.E. Butterfield, Associated Press)

SUNDAY, MAY 25, 1930
The three McKay brothers of Evanston, Ill., are in all probability the proprietors of the world’s most exclusive store. They opened recently with a complete stock of television receiving equipment.
At the present time station W9XAO of the Chicago Northwestern university, is the only commercial station broadcasting television programs.
Their first program was released on May 3 and included Bryant Washburn, screen and stage star; Gene Sarazen and Johnny Farrell of golfing fame, and Tug Wilson, athletic director. (Sacramento Union, May 25)

MONDAY, MAY 26, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2120 kcs., 139.5 meters
8:00—Jenkins radio-movie silhouettes.
8:30—Reading by Miss Irma L. Lemke.
9:00—The Twilight Hour, "Play."
9:15—Radio talkies.
9:45—Direct scanning.

TUESDAY, MAY 27, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2120 kcs., 139.5 meters
8:00—Radio-movie silhouettes.
8:30—Synchronized movies of noted persons.
9:00—The Twilight Hour.
9:15—Half-tones of noted persons.
9:45—Direct scanning.

An experimental laboratory end radio broadcasting station will be established by the RCA Victor Company, Inc. at Lake Shore drive and Newton creek, Collingswood, June 1.
The station will be used to experiment in television and radio broadcasting.
An application to transfer the RCA experimental broadcasting station in Yonkers, N. Y., to Collingswood is now under consideration by the Federal Radio Commission, it was learned today [27].
At the same time W. G. R. Baker, vice president in charge of engineering of RCA Victor, admitted that the experimental station was to be transferred from Yonkers to Collingswood and that television experiments would be made there.
“Does this mean that RCA Victor will eventually go into the manufacture of radio television sets?” he was asked.
Baker said he was not in a position to answer the question.
Two sites had been under consideration by the company for the station, one in Colwick and the other in Collingswood. The Collingswood site is the property of J. S. F. Pardee, brick manufacturer of Colllngswood, Maple shade and Philadelphia. It is at Lake Shore drive and Newton creek and was formerly Pardee’s home. Previous to that time it had been the site of the Collingswood Tennis Club.
The property is 100 by 200 feet. The former Pardee home is being fitted up for use as an experimental station and for the use of engineer, and scientists. RCA-Victor has a one-year lease beginning from June 1, with an option to purchase at a price reported to be in the neighborhood of $14,000.
Application for the transfer of the radio broadcasting station was filed with the Federal Radio Commission on May 9. Two applications were made, one to transfer the station from Yonkers to Collingswood arid the other to transfer the permit from the Radio Corporation of America to RCA-Victor.
Because of the double transfer involved it is expected that the granting of the application will take slightly longer than usual, but permission for the transfer is expected within the next ten days, engineers at the Camden plant said.
In the application the commission was also asked to approve an increase in power from 150 to 250 watts.
The Collingswood site was chosen because of its isolated location, which will give the quiet needed, and because it is free from high tension wires which would interfere with reception and transmission of radio messages. (Camden Evening Courier, May 27)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2120 kcs., 139.5 meters
8:00—Radio-movie silhouettes.
8:30—One-act television play.
9:00—The Twilight Hour.
9:15—Synchronized radio-movies, featuring the film of Dr. Lee DeForest.
9:45—Direct scanning.

THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2120 kcs., 139.5 meters
8:00—Radio-movie silhouettes and direct scanning.
8:30—Synchronized half-tone movies.
9:00—The Twilight Hour.
9:15—Jenkins radio-movie silhouettes.
9:30—Jenkins half-tone movies.
9:45—Direct scanning.

FRIDAY, MAY 30, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2120 kcs., 139.5 meters
8:00—Radio-movie silhouettes and direct scanning.
8:30—Television Club.
9:00—The Twilight Hour, with John Glyn Jones and Miss Irma L. Lemke.
9:15—Half-tone synchronized movie.
9:45—Direct scanning.

MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2120 kcs., 139.5 meters
8:00—Jenkins radio-movie silhouettes.
8:30—“Sue and Joe,” Miss Irma L. Lemke.
9:00—The Twilight Hour, with John Glyn Jones and Miss Irma L. Lemke.
9:15—Half-tone movies.
9:45—Direct scanner.

TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2120 kcs., 139.5 meters
8:00—Silhouettes and half-tone movies.
8:30—Synchronized movies of noted people.
9:00—The Twilight Hour, with John Glyn Jones and Miss Irma L. Lemke.
9:15—Half-tone movies.
9:45—Direct scanning.
W1XAV, Boston (pictures on 137 meters/2180 kcs.; sound on WEEI, 508.2 meters/590 kcs.)
6:00 to 6:30—Big Brother club, Big Brother’s Radio Rascals presenting episode No. 14 of Prince and the Pauper, Elizabeth Rifchin, dramatic coach.

ATLANTIC CITY, June 3. — Television receiving apparatus was introduced in perspective today to America’s radio industry assembled here to view what the next year in radio will offer.
Riding on the crest of the wave of the public acclaim inspired by the giant strides made in recent weeks in television research, two manufacturers exhibited televisors to the some 20,000 radio dealers and jobbers attending the 1930 annual trade show. Under the auspices of the Radio Manufacturers’ association, complete television receiving sets, synchronized with sound, were displayed to show the trade what it should expect in the way of commercial models.
There were television receivers for the experimenter, as well as the early showings of the commercial models designed for home use. There were visual reception kits for connection with audible receiving sets and there were the combination sets to bring in radio “talkies” or the sight synchronized with the sound.
TWO FIRMS EXHIBIT.
The Jenkins television Corporation of Jersey City, and the Insuline Corporation of America, introduced the completed television receivers in cabinet models.
The former, however, announced that the set it introduced was intended for home use and that operation has been greatly simplified. Insuline’s apparatus is for amateur transmitting and receiving.
New receiving sets by new manufacturers abounded in the display in Atlantic City’s new $15,000,000 civic auditorium. Other names familiar only last year in the industry were nowhere to be seen. Westinghouse and General Electric, as well as General Motors Radio, were among the larger of the new manufacturers — who have cropped up as a direct insult of the separation of plant activities of the Radio Corporation of America.
In the receiving set line there were no startling innovations.
SMALL CONSOLES.
Of more than usual significance, was the display of tiny receiving sets about three feet high. Several manufacturers are offering them to the trade for delivery during the 1930-31 season, denoting an apparent trend toward these small consoles. Receiver camouflage, or the secretion of sets in book cases, tables, desks and the like, were more in evidence, as a new twist in furniture design.
The much controverted period, or double screen-grid tube, which caused an upheaval in the industry last winter, was displayed only by the Ceco Manufacturing company of Providence, R. I. (Robert Mack [aka Sol Talshoff], Consolidated Press Association, June 3)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2120 kcs., 139.5 meters
8:00—Silhouettes and direct scanning.
8:30—Synchronized half-tones.
9:00—The Twilight Hour, with John Glynn Jones and Miss Irma L. Lemke.
9:15—Half-tone movies.
9:30—One-act play, with Leo A. Carroll and Irma L. Lemke.
W1XAV, Boston (pictures on 137 meters/2180 kcs.; sound on WEEI, 508.2 meters/590 kcs.)
6:00 to 6:30—Big Brother Club, with Bob Emery.

THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2120 kcs., 139.5 meters
8:00—Radio-movie Silhouettes.
8:30—Synchronized half-tone movies.
9:00—The Twilight Hour, with John Glynn Jones and Miss Irma L. Lemke.
9:30—Felix and his accordion.

SCHENECTADY, June 5. (AP)—Television of tomorrow—outdoor scenes flashed upon a 6-foot screen in the theater—is a possibility in the laboratories of today.
Experiments are way here in which it has been possible to televise, without artificial lighting aid, events transpiring in the open and reproducing in a nearby laboratory radio pictures of traffic going over a bridge in addition to other scenes.
Success in development of the apparatus which may considerably extend the scope of television, even to the possibility of glimpses of a baseball or a football game via radio transmission, was indicated by the projection upon a screen 6 feet square in a local theater of action taking place in a studio a mile away.
Head and Shoulder Seen.
While only head and shoulder views of the images could be seen, there was no contradiction of the fact that entire scenes could be transmitted. The theater demonstration gave the public an insight into the progress that has been made by Dr. E. T. W. Alexanderson, pioneer television research engineer of the General Electric Company staff, in his efforts to overcome the obstacles of practical vision by radio. The showing included the playing of an orchestra in the theater under the baton of its leader standing before the distant televisor whose image was projects upon the large screen on the stage.
It was made possible through the development of a light source in the combination receiver-projector which permitted the showing of lights and shadows with considerable detail despite the fact that the picture was life size, Doctor Alexanderson explained.
An Outdoor Eye.
Doctor Alexanderson does not feel that ultimate television will be restricted to mere heads and shoulders, with his laboratory work cited as an example of what the future may bring. He has designed an outdoor televisor whose photoelectric eye would look over anything within its range and reproduce with considerable fidelity what was taking place.
While this instrument is considerably in the experimental stage, the engineer has used it in the transmission for reproduction upon a large screen views of the Great Western Gateway bridge spanning the Mohawk River near the laboratory, showing plainly the movement of vehicular traffic. Other pictures have included scenes visible from the laboratory windows. The daylight pickup device in outward appearance resembles a large studio photograph camera.
Larger Each Year.
"Television today is in the same state as radio telephony in 1915," Doctor Alexanderson said. "We may derive some comfort from the experience of the past, but on the other hand we are not sure that the analogy is justifiable and that television will repeat the history of radio telephony."
The projection of a 8-foot picture has been another milestone in the progress of which he has been an important factor. Three years ago Doctor Alexanderson produced a picture only 3 inches square. Last fall it had grown to 14 inches square, and now it has taken a considerable leap in size.

FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2120 kcs., 139.5 meters
8:00—Radio movies and silhouettes.
8:30—The Television Club.
9:00—The Twilight Hour, with John Glynn Jones and Miss Irma L. Lemke.
9:15—Half-tone synchronized movies.
9:45—Direct scanning.

SATURDAY, JUNE 7, 1930
The initial step toward the day when Atlantans may sit comfortably at home and watch by television a football game on Grant field or a political or other gathering at the city auditorium, has been taken by the Southern Broadcasting Stations, Inc., operators of WGST.
Walt Dobbins, vice president and technical director of the organization, Saturday [7] announced that the company had been granted a license for a television transmitter for WGST and will start work at once on the television apparatus.
Parts for the set are already in Atlanta and ready to be assembled. Mr. Dobbins said that in from three to four weeks the station would be completed, and indicated at that time a series of demonstrations will be made at which Atlanta may catch its first glimpse of television.
While television, like radio in 1918 to 1920, is in its infancy, and so far as his knowledge goes there is not a receiving set in the south, Mr. Dobbins expressed confidence in its future.
The installation of the transmitter to WGST, he said, was largely designed to stimulate interest locally in television. The transmitter, he said, would operate on a short wave length, especially chosen so that the standard radios might be readily adapted to it.
It is possible, he said, to purchase a thoroughly satisfactory television receiving set for from $200 to or to adapt a standard radio set to television for as little as $75.
The present difficulty, he said, was that a receiving set would be valueless without a local transmitter. In the east, where television has been experimented with on an extensive scale, it has been found satisfactory at fairly close range, but unsatisfactory at a distance, particularly where the power used for broadcasting and that used for receiving are obtained from different sources.
Successful television by the method most used, he explained, is dependent upon the absolute synchronization of two revolving discs, one on the transmitter and one on the receiving set. When the two discs are operated on power obtained from different sources it is difficult to maintain them at identical speeds.
"Most people at their first sight of it will be disappointed with television,” Mr. Dobbins stated. “They expect too much, forgetting that television is now where radio was 10 years ago.
"If an image four inches square is successfully produced by television, it is thought a success today. The average person seeing it for the first time is expecting something greater than that.
“In 10 years television should be much greater than radio is today. It will improve just as radio has. There is no reason why ultimately we should not be able to follow the plays in a football game, as well as hear a speech, in fact why interesting scenes of all kinds should not be broadcast everywhere.”
Mr. Dobbins, who has been interested in R. O. T. C. work at Georgia Tech, said that two small television sets have already been constructed at the Georgia Tech signal corps laboratory, experimentally, and proved successful from that viewpoint. (Atlanta Constitution, June 8)

MONDAY, JUNE 9, 1930
W1XAV, Boston (pictures on 137 meters/2180 kcs.; sound on WEEI, 508.2 meters/590 kcs.)
6:00 to 6:30—Big Brother Club, with Bob Emery; Big Brother's Radio Science League.

Observance of annual non-affiliates night will marke [sic] the meeting of Pasadena lodge, No. 272, F. and A. M., tonight in the Masonic temple. Dinner will be served at 6:30 o’clock, followed by a first degree meeting at 7:30 o’clock. After lodge Dr. C. E. Warriner will give the first demonstration of television in Pasadena, attempting to bring a radio program from New York. Refreshments will be served at the close of the meeting. (Pasadena Post, June 9)

TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 1930
W1XAV, Boston (pictures on 137 meters/2180 kcs.; sound on WEEI, 508.2 meters/590 kcs.)
6:00 to 6:30—Big Brother Club, with Bob Emery.

Television, as a feature of Brooklyn air entertainment, hardly seems likely. Efforts of Sam Gellard, director of WLTH, to obtain a television license from the Federal Radio Commission failed when engineering counsel advised against it. (John Skinner, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 10)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 1930
W1XAV, Boston (pictures on 137 meters/2180 kcs.; sound on WEEI, 508.2 meters/590 kcs.)
6:00 to 6:30—Big Brother Club, with Bob Emery.

FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 1930
KFRC, San Francisco, has asked permission of the Federal Radio Commission to install equipment for television experiments on 610 kilocycles. (Camden Evening Courier)

A huge theatrical venture which will exploit television, music radio, talking pictures and plays will be erected, it was disclosed last night [13], on the site assembled by John D. Rockefeller Jr. between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and Forty-eighth and Fifty-first Streets, which was rejected by the Metropolitan Opera Company. It will occupy the site in the development that had been intended for the opera.
Plans for the new project which involves a real estate investment alone of nearly $200,000,000 call for the erection of three skyscrapers which will form the central buildings of a group. The first of these will rise sixty stories. The two others will be not quite so high. Other buildings will rise around them and the cost of the structures involved is estimated at another $150,000,000.
Four theatres designed for vaudeville, legitimate shows and concerts, as well as television, will be housed in the new buildings, it is understood, Mr. Rockefeller, whose mind was set at first on giving the city a cultural centre about a great opera house of which it could be proud, is said to have been persuaded that an opera was an aristocratic enterprise and that the real democratic benevolence was to arrange for the modern popular forms of entertainment “on the highest plane” and to give his site to those forms.
The new plan is reported to be sponsored by the Radio-Keith-Orpheum, National Broadcasting Company and General Electric Company. Since the advent of general broadcasting the General Electric and Westinghouse Electric Companies have acquired a radio business of at least $100,000,000.
These companies are reported to be backing the undertaking and to aim not only at enlarging the scope of broadcasting but at eventually offering the public television apparatus. In order to provide audiences with something interesting to look at, the electrical interests have affiliated with the Radio-Keith–Orpheum group, with agreements for the installation of television acts in theaters throughout the country so that it may be introduced to the public.
It is expected that representatives of the various interests involved will officially indorse the plan shortly, probably by the first of next week, and as soon as this action has been taken, full details will be disclosed. The site upon which the new buildings will be erected was obtained by Mr. Rockefeller from Columbia University on a long term lease, the annual rental for which ¡s approximately $3,000,000. (New York Times, June 14)

SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1930
JERSEY CITY, N. J., June 14.—(AP)—Television, slowly working way to the fore, is offering new delights for the experimentally inclined.
Development of apparatus for the transmission and reception of "ether movies is not entirely confined to the laboratories where expensive equipment is employed in radio sight tests. The home experimenter is being given numerous opportunities to assemble his own television reproducer and have a try at picking up pictures from the air.
The television reproducer may be compared with the radio loud-speaker, as it requires a receiver before it will function. At present this is a short wave set, operating on 150 meters or lower, depending upon the channel that the television transmitter uses.
In the design of television apparatus for the home experimenter, engineers have sought to develop a device that would be simple yet reproduce small pictures with sufficient detail so that the “looker” would be able to make out what was being transmitted. Such an outfit consists of a scanning disk, a motor, a neon lamp, which functions somewhat like the diaphragm of a speaker in that it produces vibrations in the form of light in step with the current flowing into it; a magnifying lens and a frame upon which the various items are assembled.
Working along this line engineers of the Jenkins laboratories here have bent efforts toward development of equipment that has given certain results in copying radio transmitted pictures.
Probably the most interesting part of this reproducer is the motor, which is of the eddy current type that operates as a synchronous motor, giving automatic synchronization when the motor is connected to the same AC power system that is used at the transmitter. A separate control, a rheostat, provides additional means of adjusting the speed. This is of value also in synchronizing where a different power supply source from that at the transmitter is used at the receiver.
The scanner for this outfit is the conventional flat disk type, containing a spiral of holes near the outer edge. In another type of reproducer, a drum is used, designed to give a larger picture. That obtained with the disk is about an inch and a half square.
In connection with its experiments the Jenkins laboratory operates Station W2XCR on 139 meters over which television signals are transmitted, while W2XCD, 187 meters, sends out sound when it is desired to combine vision and voice.
The pictures sent out are of the 48-line type, at 15 pictures per second. (C.E. Butterfield, Associated Press)

THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 1930
W9XAO (WIBO), Chicago, video on 147 meters, sound on 560 kcs.
7:30—Variety and music.

MONDAY, JUNE 23, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2800 kcs., 107.1 meters; sound via W2XCD.
8:00—Direct scanning.
8:30—“Sue and Joe,” Miss Irma L. Lemke.
9:00—The Twilight Hour.
9:30—Half-tone movies.

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2800 kcs., 107.1 meters; sound via W2XCD.
8:00—Half-tone movies of prominent people.
8:30—Synchronized movies.
9:00—The Twilight Hour, with John Glynn Jones and Miss Irma L. Lemke.
9:15—Silhouettes.
9:45—Direct scanning.
W9XAO (WIBO), Chicago, video on 147 meters, sound on 560 kcs.
6:30—Variety and music.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2800 kcs., 107.1 meters; sound via W2XCD.
8:00—Silhouettes.
8:30—Studio program.
9:00—The Twilight Hour.
9:30—Half-tone movies.
9:45—Direct scanning.

A new Columbia broadcasting system program has been added to the Friday morning schedule of WDBO. Cooking demonstrations by Ida Bailey Allen during the Radio Home Makers Hour from New York.
These cooking demonstrations will be broadcasted from the elaborate kitchens of WABC. Each item will actually be prepared in the kitchen as its description is broadcast.
Not only the audience in attendance in front of the plate glass window, which encloses one side of the kitchen, but a part of the radio audience who are able to tune in W2XE by short-waves and have a television receiver in their home, will be able to witness the preparations.
This program will be a regular feature on the Friday morning program of WDBO for the next year. However, on Friday, July the 4th, this program will be omitted. (Orlando Morning Sentinel, June 25)

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2800 kcs., 107.1 meters; sound via W2XCD.
8:00—Radio movies.
8:30—Vocal technic.
9:00—The Twilight Hour.
9:15—Synchronized half-tones.
9:45—Direct scanner.
W9XAO (WIBO), Chicago, video on 147 meters, sound on 560 kcs.
7:30—Variety and music.

A system of television based entirely on electrical and physical principles, which is expected by its inventor, Lieutenant George Wald, of the Quartermaster Corps, United States Army, at Scott Field, Mo., to eliminate the need for motors and scanning disks in the transmission and reception of images, was shown in New York yesterday [26].
The system uses a special scanning disk at the receiving end, inside the glass envelope of which is a series of electrical Inductors, which cause the various impulses transmitted over the radio or wire from the sending station to distribute themselves in accordance with their respective frequency, Lieutenant Wald explained. The spots of lights, which flicker over the coils of wire within the tube produce the images at any rate desired, he added.
The sending equipment operates in the reverse fashion, with a special vacuum tube employing a series of solenium cells, Lieutenant Wald said he makes use of the solenium cells to form a damper or check to steady the system and keep the images at the receiving end from wavering. Another feature of the system is that the human voice is transmitted with the Image impulses without disturbing the pictures in any way, he said. The system has been named “telephonovislon.” The entire apparatus is said to avoid entirely one of the great difficulties found in most prior systems of television, that of keeping the receiving sets in strict synchronism with the sender. (New York Times, June 27)

FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2800 kcs., 107.1 meters; sound via W2XCD.
8:00—Direct scanning and half-tone movies.
8:30—The Television Club—prize meeting.
9:00—The Twilight Hour.
9:30—Silhouettes and half-tone movies.

SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 1930
Since June 2 [sic] station W2XCR, the radiovision broadcasting station of the Jenkins Television corporation, Jersey City, N. J., has been operating on 2800 kilocycles or 107 meters, instead of 2150 kilocycles or 139 meters, as formerly. The reason for the change, according to D. E. Replogle of that organization, is to clear up interference between W2XCR and W2XR in New York.
Meanwhile, the other Jenkins radilovision [sic] broadcasting station, W3XK, just outside of Washington, continues to operate on 2900 kilocycles or 103 meters. The present programs include half-tone and silhouette pictures, as well as vocal announcements, together with synchronized sound accompaniment through associated radio channels. (Buffalo News, June 28)

MONDAY, JUNE 30, 1930
W2XCR (Jenkins Television), Jersey City, 2800 kcs., 107.1 meters; sound via W2XCD, 187 m.
8:00—Baseball game; one-reel movie.
8:30—Half-tone movies.
9:00—The Twilight Hour, John Jones and Irma Lemke.
9:30—Direct scanning.