Abstract
THE broadcasting service from the Alexandra Palace television station has already illustrated the suitability of ultra-short waves as a medium for the transmission not only of high-definition pictures but also of speech and music of very high quality. The latter achievement arises from the fact that in the ultra-short wave-band, the permissible band width available for the modulation frequencies is many times that obtainable amidst the present congested conditions in the medium and long-wave broadcasting bands. It is rather natural to suggest, therefore, that more use might be made of the ultra-short wavelengths for high-fidelity sound broadcasting. This matter was referred to in a note in The Times of February 18, in which it was pointed out that this aspect has been under consideration by the B.B.C. for some time past. Indeed, experiments were carried out some years ago with a transmitter installed on the roof of Broadcasting House and operated on a wave-length of six metres. Further experiments are being conducted, but it is stated that no plans have yet been made for the development of a public service on these lines. A large-scale extension of the ultra-short wave broadcasting of sound would be complicated by at least two factors. First is the fact that the B.B.C. is not the only user of the band of wave-lengths below ten metres, for some other national services already have vested interests there. Secondly, there is the difficult problem of interference from the ignition systems of motor-cars, which cause very unpleasant noises in neighbouring receivers working on ultra-short waves. It would seem to be unlikely that broadcasting on these wavelengths will become really popular until the fitting of suppression devices to such ignition systems is made compulsory.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ultra-Short Wave Broadcasting. Nature 139, 439 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139439b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139439b0