[78-L] Radio Poets

[Donna Halper]

On 6/14/2012 3:52 PM, Michael Biel wrote:
> The regulations in question went into place in the middle of 1922 when
> the broadcast band was reorganized into just two frequencies for all of
> the stations to fit on!  Class A got the higher of the two frequencies
> which had worse propagation, lower power allotments, and no restriction
> on the use of mechanical reproductions.  The Class B stations got the
> lower frequency and higher power allotments in exchange for not using
> mechanical reproductions.
>    

Yes, you are certainly correct.  But here's the problem, and I am sure 
you know about this too:  by 1925, it became pretty obvious that the 
Department of Commerce was doing an ineffective job enforcing the 
rules.  Stations had begun artificially boosting their power, and wave 
jumping (arbitrarily changing frequencies) was such a problem that 
newspapers published disclaimers with their radio listings, saying they 
basically had no idea where some of the stations might be on the dial 
tonight.  So, that may be why I do see some mention of phonograph 
records being played, even after 1922.