"SUI - pioneer in television," January 15, 1939

'*v^*-^ ^'^«^^,, S. U. I.—Pioneer in Television University Station W9XK, Seven Years Old, Looks to Future The only television transmit-v ling station in the United States vhich has operated consistently - ith a regular program sched¬ ule since its installation seven .vears ago is the University of Uwa's station, W9XK. There are 15 other cities In the United States with television stations, but these are all in (he experimental staires and hold only experimental licenses. With the near opening of the New York world's fair comes the announcement Ihat Ihe Xatlonal and Columbfa broad- caslln; [-ompantes will begin j regularly seheduled telavislon proK.ams. The programs to be i pictured over the air arc still I r.nly experimental und cannot be used tor commercial broad- .aslinit. The university transmitter was irslalled in the spring of 1932 and IS located in the electrical en¬ gineering building where the l;roadcasl.s originate. The pictures are sent out from here while tho jstund is broadcast over WSUI. I r L. Potter, instructor in elec- j rical engineering, is the technical perator of ihe station. Prof. , I Zdwin B. Kurtz, head of the eiec- ' ' 'rleal engineering department, is 11 charge of ail general opera- The programs of W9XK are, for he most part, readings and t;ilks, I ut there have been simple dem- jiistrations of shorthand and -harcoal sketching. No music is wer used with television broad- :asts. because it would naturally .;how nothing on the screen. A .?ourse consisting ot 12 lessons in shorthand was given by Prof. E. G. Blackstone of the college ot commerce. This was done by :irawing enlarged figures on char¬ coal paper. For two years Charles I. Oker- 'iloom. instructor in graphic and [liaslic arts, presented demon- Irallons in charcoal sketching. The programs wHi-?h are broadcast now are scheduled for Tuesdays ^nd Thursdays from 7:1.5 to 7:30 pm. They are children's hour "eadlnts and are under Ihe dlr- •ition tif Prof. H. Clay Harsh- ¦ arger of the speech department. By D. MACSIIOWERS The equipment now u.sed by V.'DXK is of the revolving disc type which was the first to be used but which has now been I I't-placed by the electroric type I which has no mechanical disc, the image being picked up b, ii camera. The university has a complete liansmitting set of the . newer type, but it is not being I used for broadcasts yet. ' ;U present, it is being used for ^ research work in an endeavor to find out what things can be I successfully pictured. It would I not, at this time, be practical to ¦ put tlie new equipment into actual broadcasting use because there ! i.i not enough receiving equipment 1 1" warrant broadcasts. It is being I tested in theater, art and speech I The variety of things which can I be broadcast is very limited be- I cause ot the small size of the I picture. The screen Is only four by six inches and can picture only the head and shoulders of the person before the camera. In time engineers hope i© be I able to transmit pictures of life I size. I The difference between the I I two types of transmitters lies | I in the distincUveness of the pic- i ' ture and the speed of sending. , The old disc type can .send 15 images per second whereas the new equipment is capable of sending 30 Images per second. Comparing this with the sending ol pictures by wire, which em¬ ploys the same principle, it can be seen that where the image can be sent across the country ir eight minutes by wire, televi¬ sion can send 30 pictures per sec¬ ond. The same principle of using dots of varying intensities as in newspaper pictures is involved. The old equipment has 45 cross lines in the picture, making the dots far ;ipart and the pn;turc ijlurred or not clear, but the newer type has 441 lines to the .-¦¦iime area, making a much clearer picture with action twice as fast. This electronic type of ti'ans- mitter is the kind being used by the large broadcasting com¬ panies in their experiments. When llie new equipment is placed into actual broadcast op¬ eration, the call letters of the ' station will be W9XUI and it will be a short wave television station whereas the present sta¬ tion is not short wave The Uni¬ versity or Iowa is probably the ' only Institution In hold two tele¬ vision licenses. When tlic new radio studio I building is completed it will ' house the television equipment. and the present WSUI antennae will probably be used for televi¬ sion transmission. WSUI will have a new antennae outside the city in order to eliminate interference. Receivers for television pic- ] tufc^- are not very readily avall- ' ihle jet, b'tt a'ter M-.". •Mxo I aucUcn cr. a .",aUvr.il_ iiili, :i- reivins sets will bo in demand :md will be available tor about S200, which willunciude a built- in-radio to recei,ve the sound. By the time this new building and equipment are completed, the University of Iowa will have , -.robably the most modern and up-to-date television laboratory I in the country. That will come at the same time when, betweer. 'he New York world's fair and the two large broadcasting com¬ panies, television enters the field i>f pracUcal application. Receiv¬ ing sets will be available and the University of Iowa will be one 01 the leading pioneers in the development of commercial tele- iirace Schenectady. Troy. Albany, -Amsterdam and Saratoga — a to- '.al population of ."iOCOOO persons. This effort will mark the first experiment at relaying pictures by .-iiort-wave radio — in this case irom the studio at Schenectady to Ihe main transmitter in the Held- erberg hills 12 miles away. If the experiment works, andean be ap¬ plied to longer distances, network broadca.sting will have been achieved. To dale, the only network con- : nection that has seemed possible I to television engineers generally is the coaxial cabie, a complex ar¬ rangement of telephone wires. I Such a cable has been laid from Philadelphia to New York, but its use over long distances is at the present stage of development im¬ practical because of expense. En¬ gineers esUmale its cost at 55,000 a mile. The technicians expect to solve the network problem in Ume, but not before sales ot receiving sets which are now being manufactur¬ ed are well under way. Although some receivers are now on the market, the beginning of sales of any extensive scale can be ex- !>ected to be delayed to coincide with the beginning of NBC prO- m-am broadcasting, tor NBC's par¬ ent company, the Radio Corpora-! tion of America, holds or control^ ::io,