APRIL 1939 Vol. 17, No. 4
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APRIL 1939 Vol. 17, No. 4 www.americanradiohistory.com ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATION A Journal of Progress in the Telephone. Telegraph and Radio Art H. T. KOHLHAAS, EDITOR EDITORIAL BOARD E. A. Brofos G. Deakin E. M. Deloraine P. E. Erikson F. Gill W. Hatton R. A. Mack H. M. Pease Kenneth E. Stockton C. E. Strong Issued Quarterly by the /nf-l!rnuil'1nu/ Sruunurd Elec/-ric Corpora/ion 67 BROAD STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y., U.S.A. Volume XVII April, 1939 Number 4 PAGE PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM AT THE THIRTY-FOURTH INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS, BUDAPEST, MAY 22�29, 1938.......... 319 By G. A. de Czegledy ULTRA-SHORT WAVE OSCILLATORS ........... .............. ... 325 By D. H. Black ULTRA-SHORT WAVE POLICE RADIO TELEPHONE INSTALLATIONS IN OSLO AND STOCKHOLM. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 335 By G. Weider R-6 AUTOMATIC SYSTEM...................................... 346 By F. Gohorel and R. Lafon }AMES LAWRENCE McQuARRIE .................................. 358 }AMES LAWRENCE McQuARRIE-AN APPRECIATION................ 359 By F. B. Jewett THE BUCHAREST-PLOESTI TOLL CABLE .........•................ 360 By A. C. Nano SOME INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS OF SELENIUM RECTIFIERS. .. .. .. 366 By S. V. C. Scruby and H. E. Giroz A LONG DISTANCE AUTOMATIC TELEPRINTER EXCHANGE WITH MANUAL PRIORITY SERVICES ........................................ 375 By G. A. M. Hyde THE EIFFEL TOWER TELEVISION TRANSMITTER. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 382 By S. Mallein and G. Rabuteau RECENT TELECOMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENTS OF INTEREST. .. .. .. 398 www.americanradiohistory.com Jam es L. McQuarrie 1867-1939 www.americanradiohistory.com Public Address System at the Thirty-Fourth International Eucharistic Congress Budapest, May 22-29, 1938 By G. A. DE CZEGLEDY, A.M.I.R.E., Chief Engineer, Standard Electric Company Limited, Budapest, Hungary NTERNATIONAL Eucharistic Congresses fully for the benefit of multitudes, both at the I rank amongst the outstanding events in Congresses themselves and at distant points, the Catholic world of modern times. It is was extensively studied. As on previous thus natural that early recogmt10n was given occasions, it is an undoubted fact that the to the importance of communicating sermons elaborate public address and transm1ss10n and other items on the Congress programmes systems evolved for the Budapest International to the largest possible number of Catholics and Eucharistic Congress contributed to an import others not within the fold of the Church of ant degree to its overwhelming success. Rome. Since modern loudspeakers and power In connection with previous Congresses, 1 amplifiers have attained a hi gh level of perfec the problem of utilizing loudspeaker systems, tion, sound effects covering a wide range could capable of reproducing the proceedings faith- be reproduced in a highly natural manner. Great care was needed to ensure the highest 1 See references at end of this article. Fig. I-Main Altar at Heroes' Square. 319 www.americanradiohistory.com 320 EL ECTRIC AL COMMUNICATION fixedpoles, lamps, etc., and the latter in wooden booths. The booths were inter-connected by a cable network which the Postal Administration placed at the disposal of the Congress. Telephone exchanges, in most cases, served as the distribution points of this network, over which the output of the microphone groups, Fig. 2-Papal Legate, Cardinal Secretary of State Pacelli (now His Holiness, Pope Pius XII) before the Microphone. possible quality in transmissions from the microphones to the power amplifier stages of the loudspeakers. Standard Electric Company Limited, Budapest, handled all transmission and sound engineering problems and was officially respon sible for the success of the sound transmissions during the Congress. In addition to part of the loudspeakers and power amplifiers, Standard furnished all microphones and pre-amplifiers required in connection with mixers and volume indicator s, as we ll as the distribution amplifier s. The outstanding Congress events, attracting the largest mu ltitudes ever congregated in Budapest, took place at Heroes' Square, at St. Stephen's Cathedral, at the Congress Hall and at the Vigado (Con cert Hall) . A prominent Congress feature was the Boat Procession of the Holy Eucharist on the Danube, when public address systems arrayed on both banks of the river transmitted the programme to the vast crowds aligned on its shores in devout adoration. Additional loudspeakers and power amplifiers Fig . 3-Group of Distribution Amplifiers. were placed along the streets, the former on www.americanradiohistory.com P U B L I C A D D R E S S - E U C H A R I S T I C C 0 N G R E S S 321 adeq uate ly amplified and MIXER CABIN eq ualized, could be faith r-------------------, fully transmitte d. PRE·AMPLIFIHS MICROPHONES' MIXERS 1 I AND VOLUME : At He roe s' Sq uare , a ALTAR I. INDICATORS. 1 sort of te rrace was erec ted " II. I for the Prince s of the THRONE 1WORKING LINE STAIRS I Church, he ade d by the I Papal Le gate, Cardinal ORCHESTR. I R Se c re tary of State Pace lli CHO US I. SPARE: LINE (now His Holiness, Pope CHORUS JI. SPEAKER I Pius XII). The Main Altar I fI stood in the ce ntre of the I te rrace . The orc he stra and : DIRECT LINE I I TO ROME choir we re on the stree t L __________________ J le ve l be twee n the Millenary Me morial Column and the Altar (Figs. 1 and 2). All sound effec ts, from POWER AMPLIFIERS TO LOUDSPEAKER CROUPS i1>i5Tiieurro"N-i1 AMPLIFIERS orc he stra and choir, and SPARE LINE 1 I from te rrace and Altar, I A we re transmitte d true to WORKING LINE life. Eight microphone SP. lines, consisting of shie lded 8 rubberca ble s 25 to 30 m w. in le ngth, we re utilize d, SP. te rminating in jacks at the c Altar te rrace and in a socket W. at the Millenary Column. It was ac cordingly possible SP. D to place the mi c rophones w. at any de sire d spot within SP. the area, thus providing E gre at flex ibility in the w. I se le c tion of combinations I _______ L _J of microphones and loud Fig. 4-Block Schematic of Transmission System at Heroes' spe akers-a pre re q uisite in Square and Surrounding Area. vie w of the rapid and var- ie d programme se que nce s. The shie lded pair mic rophone cable s we re mic rophones could be connec te d or dis conc entrate d at a cabin in the monitoring tower, connec ted witho ut the slightest noise . The to the right of the Main Altar. This cabin main function of the mixe rs, howe ve r, was to housed the mic rophone mixe rs and amplifiers ; give suitable music al colouring to the various from it, all transmissions we re controlled. soun<l effec ts. Eac h mic rophone was associate d with a mixe r The Pontific al High Mass, from the point of potentiomete r, the output of whic h was vie w of transmission, pre se nte d the most connec te d to a mic rophone pre-amplifier. The difficult proble ms. Microphones we re arrange d mixe rs se rve d spec ial purposes ; for ex ample, with spec ial re gard to naturalne ss of the sound when orchestra and choir programmes we re re production : one each in front and be hind transmitted, the different microphones we re the Altar ; one on the first ste p of the stairway se t by me ans of the mixe rs to appropriate sound to the Altar proper ; another on the Throne of volume . Furthe r, with the same mixe rs, the Papal Le gate ; and two in the orc he stra and www.americanradiohistory.com 322 ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATION choir. At the re he arsal, the choir of 1 200 was whe re signals had to be divide d be twee n se ve ral re groupe d in view of the predominance of groups of power amplifiers and loudspe akers. soprano voices. This choir was supple me nted Individual loudspe aker and power amplifier by a Gregorian choir forme d by 500 se minarists groups we re thus entirely independe nt ; also, and the Schola Cantorum Sabarie nsis. The a possible short circuit occurring in any one latte r re nde re d individual programme numbe rs group would not cause disturbance else where. which re quire d an additional microphone . The distribution amplifiers (Fig. 3) we re The allocution of the Holy Fathe r made locate d in the ce llar of a building adj ace nt to a profound impression on the vast multitude He roe s' Square . They we re provided in that attende d the Pontifical High Mass. It duplicate, as we re also the connections to loud was transmitted fromth e summer re sidence of spe ake rs and the ir associatedamplifi ers. Trans the Pope s in Castel Guandolfo ne ar Rome over mission could thus be effected ove r two inde se ve ral hundred kilometre s of te le phone line. pe nde nt channe ls ; and, in the event of failure Inasmuch as the sound volume of the Pope's of a loudspe aker group, the ne ce ssary switching address could not be ascertained in advance, an could be effected without special instructions adj ustable mixer-potentiometer was ke pt in to the pe rsonnel on point duty. Five loud re adine ss for practically instantane ous connec speaker-amplifier groups (Fig. 4) we re utilized tion to the loudspeaker system. at He roes' Square . Th e microphone and amplifier system used The nine mixers and the microphone pre at He roe s' Square and its environs is shown in amplifiers (Fig.