The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 21

TV Sets TV Broadcasts BBaHSaHBHBaBMSlBVBBBBn hHry in IJ EDCOLN, NEBRASKA AUGUST 28, 1949 6 Start Toinorrow TfOS51ia Stations Take To Air During This Week BY DSAN POHLENZ Staff Writaf Mar Jmnal u4 Bta It's here. Television has come to Lincoln. Starting tomorrow at high noon scores of Lincoln TV screens will come liv with the first regularly-scheduled programs to be received by ordinary video sets in the Capital City. Station WOW-TV will launch Video Nets Will Reach Here in '50 Prices Costs Run From $120 to $1,435, Plus Antenna How much does a television et cost? xou can almost writ your own ticket. Sets can be obtained at Lincoln dealers ranging In price from $119.95 to $1,485.

The lower figure will buy a receiver with a seven-inch tube, in comparatively plain cabinet The $1,485 will get you a deluxe set with a 18-lnch tube and a com bination, AM-FM radio and phonograph. NEITHER COST Includes in stallation. 1 flees tor this vary depending on the type of antenna, amount of labor involved and accessories, such as reflectors. Generally, according to industry spokesmen in Lincoln, installation costs run around $60. Dealers point out that TV sets re coming down In price.

They are now about 25 percent under last year. 9 come in four general sizes, which are determined by the face of the cathode ray tube which projects the image on the screen. These tube sizes are aeven, ten, 12 (and 12) and 16 inches. The larger the tube is, the larger and clearer the picture on the screen. DEALERS offer these suggestions for would-be purchasers: 1.

If there'll be only two televiewers In your family, the seven Inch tube set ought to do for you. Its smaller size make it ideal for less roomy apartments. 2. If there are three of you, better get a ten-incher. 3.

A 12 inch set is about right for four persons. 4. If you've a large family or plan to entertain the neighbors, better get the big 16 Inch set THE SIZE of the screen goes up with the size of the picture tube. Here's the formula: Seven inch tube, 27 square-inch screen: ten-inch tube, 62 square-inch screen; 12-inch tube, 90 square-inch screen, and 16-inch tube, 130 square-inch screen. And dad, dealers don't advise taking a set home as a surprise, You'd better consult with the lady of the house for cabinet styles, rearrangement of your 11 via room for best use, ana nrtTieral planning so the new in atrument will best fit into your living scheme.

THERE ARE a handful of accessories on the Lincoln market to make televiewing more en joyable and more comfortable. One of these is a screen en-larger. It's composed of two pieces of plastic which aeal in a layer oi mineral oil ine ou acts as a magnifier. Prices on these range from $14 to $30 depending on the size of screen. Some viewers don't like en TELEVISION COMES TO LINCOLN Starting tomorrow, regular television programs will be beamed from Omaha.

Weeks of test broadcasts have shown that a-hlghly satisfactory signal is received in Lincoln and in other areas even farther from Omaha. Thia antenna, atop the Dietze music store building, is one of scores springing up on uie capital City's rooftops. (Staff Photo.) How to Become Video Expert in One Lesson BY KENNETH R. KELLER A Mb teat FaMI BtUtlMM Dtrattar llTraUjr Jiakntk When you get your television receiver and Junior says, "Hey, how come I can see pictures on the radio?" tell him to go outside and play. If it's bad outside, tell him to play In the basement.

If you haven't got a basement, you're stuck. This piece, then, is being written for people who iJ L. largei larges KOLN Has Application In for TV KFAB Filing Is Held Up When will Lincoln have a television station? The answer lies with the federal communications commission, which has clamped a "freeze" on channel allocations until more is learned about control of TV signals from various stations so they don't interfere with each other. THE INLAND Broadcasting company, which owns Radio Station KOLN of Lincoln and KBON and KBON-FM of Omaha, has applied to the FCC for the first commercial TV station in Lincoln. Emory Dahlgard, secretary-treasurer of the company, said the application cannot be acted upon until the "freeze" is lifted.

He said, however, that the company plans to "proceed as rapidly as is consistent with FCC policies and the many changes in this new field of broadcasting." KFAB BROADCASTING company filed its application March 30, 1948 for TV Channel 7 at Omaha. Shortly thereafter," the FCC ban was put on. Latest guesses on the date for lifting the "freeze" are somewhere around the end of 1949. KFAB said Saturday, "Definitely, KFAB plans on broadcasting television and at a later date expects to request the right to Install a repeater station someplace in the vicinity of Gretna so as to be able to serve both the Lincoln and Omaha areas satisfactorily. HARRY PECK, manager for KFOR, said the Lincoln radio station has no immediate plans for seeking a TV permit "until the FCC picture is clearer." Peck said KFOR is continuing research into television possibil ities, particularly in the color field.

Growing Video Market Likely CHICAGO. The potential market for television sets, according to Chester D. Tripp, president of Television Fund, should widen in the future because of the opening of stations in additional cities and the trend toward larger viewing screens at lower prices, Television Daily reports. The overall electronic field, Tripp pointed out "continues to move forward. In the laboratory and in the use of electronic devices in the operations of industry and government" At a meeting of Television Fund, stockholders recently, Tripp further stated that because of uncertain general business conditions, the company's directors have followed a conservative investment policy maintaining as of July 29, 1949, about 32 percent of their net assets in cash and securities.

Film Processing Is Telescoped Typical of the stepped-up tempo of television is the film processing at WOW-TV. The station has a machine capable of processing 26 feet of movie film a minute. This is nearly as fast as the film is run thru the camera which puts the image on the air. The device, valued at $7,000 is supervised by Harold Storm, head of WOW-TV's photography department IIUSKEK FOOTBALL GAMES TO i Color Video 'Long Way OfP Lincolnites delaying purchase of a television set until color TV becomes available will have a long wait, according to John W. Craig, general manager of the Crosley division of Avco Manufacturing corporation.

Craig said the FCC has made it clear that no color proposals will be considered unless they provide for that reception by existing receivers with relatively minor modifications. The Crosley executive said that improved programming, price adjustments and public recognition that present sets will give long service, has spread television. Nets Pledge Sets Won't Be Outdated Business Bureau Surveys Outlook Present television receiving sets will not become obsolete with prospective changes in telecast frequencies, the Lincoln Better Business bureau reported Saturday. A survey by the national Bet ter Business bureau shows that there is no danger of these sets becoming obsolete "in the foreseeable future." ACCORDING to Wayne Coy, chairman of the federal communications commission, there have been no proposals to elim inate the very high television frequencies now used by the major networks. Mark Woods, president of the American Broadcasting company, reported that ABC plans to continue broadcasting its tele vision network programs by very high frequency stations, irrespec tive of authorization of ultra' high frequency baTids for com mercial television.

He said ABC also contemplates ultimate addition of commercial ultra-high frequency stations to the network in certain instances to expand network coverage. FRANK STANTON, CBS president, replied that Columbia will make Us TV network pro grams available to its TV sta tlons regardless of whether they are VHF or UHF stations, provided operating standards for the latter will permit simultaneous feeding of programs. Dr. Allen B. Dumont, who heads the Dumont Laboratories, advised the bureau that television receivers purchased today will be able to receive present channels indefinitely.

Gustav li. Margrad, vice presi dent of the National Broadcast ing company, replied that au thorization of commercial televi sion operations in the ultra high frequency band would not cause NBC to discontinue its network television programs by stations operating on the very high fre quency band. Admiral Boosts Output UHiUAuu. A substantial in crease In output of the Admiral corporation's television receivers has been announced by J. Huarisa, executive vice president.

An increase from 10,000 to 13,500 sets weekly has been made possible Huarisa said, by the development at Admiral's Cortland street plant of "the longest straight production line in the television Industry." In ddition, he disclosed, Admiral's Harvard. 111., plant has been geared to produce 500 sets a day. Dress boxf Memorial stadium nn telecast. The new addition will its premiere broadcast with a weather report, a farm program and an interview-type show, all originating in the station's Omaha studios. A studio variety program, a homemaklng show, cartoons, feature films and special salute programs will fill out the remainder of the first day's schedule.

ON TTICRSDAY, Station KMTV, also of Omaha, takes to the air with a basic two-hours-a-night schedule. James Moore, KMTVs promotion chief, said other features will be added "as good shows become available." Moore said KMTV was not yet to list its opening nlght'a schedule, but "we're lining up three or four really hot items." RECEPTION tests by both WOW-T and KMTV in the Lincoln area have surpassed the expectations of video engineers. "Frankly," Moore said, "this thing has been way beyond our fondest hopes. But I want to inject a word of caution. Our tests are not complete, and while we've had reports of fine reception from Beatrice, Hastings, Alvo, Eagle, Murdock, Syracuse, Millard and that whole neck of the woods, we're not ready to say that's all there is to it "Some people in Lincoln may not get good reception right at first.

It'll take a good deal of tuning to get the antennae Just exacUy right. People downtown, near big buildings, may have some trouble at first. We're not Interested in deceiving anyone. Reception may be good one day and lousy the next, but right npw the reports are very encouraging." JOE nEROLD, head of WOW TV section, said tests by his station show "reception from Lincoln and that area all very good. In fact, surprising.

We've had reports from 150 to 200 miles away. We consider 80 miles very good. Indeed. "With a stack folded dipole antenna, and with directors and reflectors, there's no reason anyone, with their antenna up a decent height, can't receive us very well." WOW-TV plans extensive erage of the Nebraska state fair next week, the first program starting at 1 p. m.

Labor day. They'll air two shows a day sending a signal to a relay station atop the capitol tower where it'll be beamed to a booster station at Gretna, then on into Omaha for transmission. The same station will televise Husker home football games in the same manner. One feature of the TV gridiron coverage will be the use of the "zoomar'Mens familiar to news-reel-goers. The lens is a device which brings longshots into close- ups almost instantly.

WOW-TV Will offer National Broadcasting company network shows, on films at first, then as "live" shows as soon as relay equipment becomes available some time next year. KM! has connection with three networks, CBS, ABC and DuMont Moore said KMTV plana to keep its schedule simple, adding local shows later. WOW-TV will offer Knkl Fran and Ollie, one of TV's best children's programs, INS news-reel, Woody Woodpecker and half a dozen other toD-drawrr network entertainment, according KMTV. Moore said, will Crusade in Europe, Arthur God- irey, ine Uoldberes. the Lnn Ranger and the best in dramatic productions.

TV Sending Is Difficult Television has abbreviate schedules for two main reasons: Transmission is four times as difficult as radio and four times as costly. And most TV SDonsom that homemakers can't afford tn lay down the broom and watch video soap operas, hence most of the programming Is beamed at night-time, family participation shows. The federal communicationa commission has set up these requirements: For the first 18 months of station operation, there must not be less than 12 hours of programming a week over five day and for two hours a day. From 18 to 24 months, the minimum of telecast hours is 18. For the next six months, the minimum is up to 20, and for the last half year of the first three-year period, the station must be on the air 24 hours a week.

ScJi icerin Corn. Video 'Hooper9 The "Hooper" of the television industry is the Schwerin Re search corporation which testa audience reaction to video shows The company mails ballots to televiewers who mark their reaction to various phases of the programming. The system was first tested during a recent telecast of "Quiz Kids" in a three-city midwest area, Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland. Pleased with the results, NBC plans to use the system on a full schedule of commercial and sustaining shows originating in New York. Cable and Relay stations Used Network television is striding westward across the country and will be available in Lincoln late next year, the Lincoln Telephone Telegraph company reported Saturday.

Network TV moves toward California in two ways: By coaxial cable, which this spring joined the transcontinental toll cable at Des Moines, and has since moved toward Omaha, and Radio relay stations, located atop towers and tall buildings to pick up and strengthen TV signals and beam them toward the next tower. THE RADIO relay system is being handled by the long lines department of the American Telephone St Telegraph company. There will be one channel pointed in each direction between New York and Chicago; two channels headed westward from Chicago to Des Moines, and one channel extending from Des Moines to Omaha. Later, by Installing extra equipment at the stations along the route, more channels may be added for either television or other forms of communication. Lincoln will be linked to the network by L.T.

tt T. A TOTAL of 33 stations is needed to beam the signals between New York and Chicago. Telephone buildings located in Cleveland and Toledo will serve as two of these relay points while the remaining 31 require new construction. Depending on where they are built the intermediate relay sta tions range In height from 60 to 200 feet and on the average are spaced 25 miles apart Differing from ordinary radio. radio relay uses super high frequencies sometimes called microwaves that travel across the country from tower to tower.

The signal beam is focused like a searchlight from one tower to the next so a clear line-of-sight must exist between the towers. Because the mivrowave frequencies are so much higher than the frequencies used by other types of radio signals, they don't interfere with or drown out other programs which are being transmitted in their vicinity. EACH OF THE stations on this relay route is a concrete structure with space for emergency power equipment on the ground floor, for storage batteries and associated power on the second and third floors and for microwave transmitting, receiving and testing apparatus on the fourth. Directional antennae of a new-improved design will be Installed atop the buildings. These antenna will be horn-shaped an will have a 10-foot square metal lenses which will serve to concentrate the energy of the microwaves into narrow beams.

THE CABLE is about four inches thick and contains eight coaxial tubes, each of which is about as big around as a pencil. In the center of each tube is a wire, which with the tube, itself, form "two wires" of a circuit, and by means of electronic terminal equipment, can carry up to 600 conversations at a time. Enclosed with the coaxial tubes Inside the cable are a large number of wires which also carry telephone messages, radio networks, teletypewriter messages, radio networks and other services. shown building an addition to the of the Scarlet and Cream will be STARS Lincoln televiewers this week will see two of their favorite movie and radio stars come to life on their television screens. Arthur Godfrey, top, and Woody Woodpecker are two of the top performers on network shows to be carried by Omaha TV stations.

Radio Still Here to Stay Radio is still here to stay, de spite the tremendouj strides made by television, Lincoln deal ers in both media agreed Saturday. A pool of dealers showed that while TV is definitely on the upswing, it is not a substitute for radio. "For one thing," an industry spokesman said, "they are two entirely different things and ought not even be compared. For another, radio broadcasts are available virtually 24 hours a day, while television schedules are relatively skimpy right now." Clarence Helgesen, of Omaha, chairman of the Nebraska-Iowa Electrical council's television section, said that each member of the family may have different tastes, some of which will be served by radio, olhers by video. Women Hit Cheesecake It is understood that a group of Los Angeles women are organizing their own "censor" committee and will send all local TV stations a petition signed by several hundred women protest ing low necklines and other "cheesecake" pictures on local television screens.

Their reason too many children watch TV every day. Boston Has 112,000 Sets BOSTON. More than 12,000 receivers are operating In the Greater Boston area, according to a survey by WBZ-TV and WNAC-TV. This is an increase of 7,354 over June figures and does not include the Providence area where an estimated 12,570 sets are installed. BE TELEVISED Workmen are will shoot their signal to the capitol in Gretna, strengthened, and beamed aon'i nave Dasements.

you have a basement for heaven's sake, don't read it If you don't have a basement, please understand that when you finish this you probably will know no more about how television works than you do now but, at least you will have something to say to Junior so he won't think his par ent is an old creep. ACCORDING TO Arthur J. L. Robertson, instructor in physics at the University of Nebraska, it is not difiicuit to understand how television works. It he says.

uses so many of the basic prin ciples of common everyday radio, and common everyday sound movies that there really isn't so much to it That of course, is the opinion of Mr. Robertson who, by the way, is a nice, per sonable young fellow, except for the fact that he probably seasons his sweetcorn with electrons and neutrons. He says that in the beginning 'way back in the late 1920s television was very crude, For a long time anybody who knew anything at all about phy sics, knew that certain zinc compounds would give off showers of little electrically-charged particles when exposed to light The particles, as you no doubt know, are electrons. BUT THAT wasn't all. They also knew that certain other zinc compounds, when exposed to electrons, would give off light You will recognize at once the tremendous possibilities of this unusual circumstance.

All you have to do is to expose the one compound to light catch the little charged particles that come off, and you've got light all wrapped up in a little electrical package which can be delivered by wire or radio to about any place you can think of. And, of course, when you get them there, all you have to do is to shoot the little electrical packages into the other zinc compound and unwrap them back into light And, presto! you might have a picture of Betty Grable, Hedy Lamarr, Esther Williams or, Harry Truman, depending upon how your tastes run. SOUNDS ALMOST too simple. doesn't it? It is. The real trick is to get the little electrical packages arranged in the right order before you transform them back into light Without that trick, you will have a blob of light but no picture.

since you are rapidly becom ing a television expert it is time you learned some of the terms. One of them is "scanning." Sup pose you want to send a picture of Junior by television. Well, the TV (T for tele; for vision) camera would reproduce his image which would be intensified on a special photoelement screen. You may sometimes wish to refer to this screen as a mosaic. AT THE MOMENT, however, the point is that a most unusual electronic gun is trained on this screen, or mosaic.

With-, great speed sometimes as fast as 7,000 miles an hour this gun sweeps its range in diagonal lines across Junior's picture, firing a stream of electrons, like tracer bullets. This is called Most of these electrons hit Junior's picture and are absorbed. They do this because they are attracted by the electrical charge generated by the image on the mosaic. Where the picture is brightest the attraction is greatest Where the picture is dark. or gray, there is less attraction and so, some of the electrons, falling to find attraction, turn around and head for a collector plate.

In doing this, they really are making a dot-by-dot record of Junior's face. That is, a lot of electrons return from the deeply shaded areas, a few from the shaded areas, and almost none from the bright highlighted spots. And when these rejected electrons head for that collector plate, they are really running for an exit which will carry them eventually to your TV receiver. As you undoubtedly have already concluded. this dot-by-dot record is wonderful! It means that since the strengths of these rejected electrons vary, you will be able to convert them into dots of va rious shades, from heavy black to white.

Thus, you will be able to resemble the dots the black ones, gray ones, and white ones into a pretty good replica of Junior's sweet little map. Sure, it's the same idea used in your newspaper pictures which are, as you've noticed, not pictures at all but a series of dots. Get Grand ma's reading glass and see. NOW, AS A TV Authority, 2nd Class, you will not be sur prised to learn that all of this "scanning" takes place inside glass bulb, known to the trade as an "image orthlcon," about 18 inches long and four or five inches in diameter. They cost about 11 hundred bucks, each, that is.

You may suspect that we are skipping details, such as how ex cess electrons are kept from pn tag up on Junior's picture on the mosaic. Frankly, we are. But all of this, remember, is taking place inside that image orthlcon, so why worry about It? The main thing is that we come out of that collector-plate exit with Junior's likeness converted into electrical Impulses. These, natur ally, can be transmitted by radio just like the electrical im pulses that give you those de light commercials on old-fash i AM radios and you understand all that of course. THE NEXT big job at hand is to receive Junior's electrical-Impulse face, gets the dots into proper order, and shoot them onto the screen of your TV re ceiver.

This takes considerable doing. In the early days, they used to use mechanically operated discs, both on the transmitting and receiving end. The transmitter disc had little holes for the dots to come out of, and the receiver disc had little holes for them to come in. Obviously, to operate successfully, these discs had to rotate in exact syn chronization. Which brings up a term you should use frequently to show you are a TV expert The term is "sync," short for synchronization, and pronounced "s-i-n-k." as in kitchen.

It may be that somebody's TV won't be operating efficiently sometime. That is when you say, "I think something Is wrong with the sync." YOU DONT have to remem ber anything about those discs. They don't use 'em any more. But you do have to understand that the rate of transmission for the impulses and the rate of reception must be the same: they (Continued ea Pag 6, Section B) 1 because they distort the icture when viewed irom any- except a head-on angle. aroid filters which reduce glare from television screens are available.

Ana cost xrom arouna $2 to $15. Television Is Big Business Don't ever think television isn't big business. Figures released by trade sources show that TV this year will be in the billion dollar bracket Two million sets are expected to be produced in 1949. Their total cost will be about 700 mil lion dollars Dlus another 100 mil' lion dollars for installation and extras. Last year, the radio Industry turned out 14 million receivers worth 707 million dollars.

There were 20 manufacturers of television sets in 1947. That Jumped to 80 in 1948. This year from 105 to 120 manufacturers are turning out receivers. An estimated 30 million dollars is invested in 67 stations. The federal communications commission has granted 53 permits to build stations.

Another 331 station applications are under study. An annual production of five million receivers within five years has been predicted. Okays New Relay Stations WASHINGTON. The FCC has announced okays for new TV microwave relay installations linking a number of eastern cities including relays from Dea Moines and Pittsburgh to Chicago, according to Television Daily. received okays for installation of equipment estimated to.

cost $17,690,000. with the other grant to the Wisconsin Telephone company for a one-day link from Madison to Milwaukee, with four stations estimated to cost $110,000. The Pittsburgh-Chicago link will parallel the present coaxial cable, and will can lor xa intermediate stations at cost of Cost of the 14 stations estimated for the Chicago-Des Moines link is four million, with a five-station link between Albany and Syracuse, N. to cost $1,055,000 and a four-station link between Richmond and Norfolk, to cost $635,010. All these links will be completed before the end of 1950.

CBS-TV Sign Brynner Yul Brynner. former circus clown and trepere artist who has starred In the theater, Alms and television, has been signed by the CBS-TV program department as a producer-director. Brynner was co-host on a CBS-TV variety series in 1944, and last apring starred in a "Studio One" production. re 'ivk i a nii-llli'y n1 the University of Nebraska campus, where this fall's football games nouse television cameras which to pickup station tower in left background. From there, the signal will be sent into Omaha for its final transmission.

(Staff Photo.).