Articles

A story from the Arlington Journal, March 13, 1930 by S. L. Perry

The reason so many young men leave home and their home town is because it is hard to get just recognition for what they accomplish from those who have known them from childhood. However, that does not necessarily hold good in every instance and we have in Arlington a young man who has been reared here who is accomplishing things far beyond the ability of the average run of Americans but whose work is unfamiliar to most of us. So we took a night off and interviewed Paul Barnes, son of Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Barnes, of Arlington, in an effort to learn something about his work at radio station WFAA, whose new tower is located near Grapevine and being built by the Dallas News and Journal.

After a pleasant auto ride accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Barnes, we approached the radio plant being built on the highest point of land in this section of the country far away from interference from high powered lines and directly beside the new highway being constructed between Fort Worth and Dallas known as the Northern Route. A beautiful concrete plant commodious living quarters has been built directly between the two 300-foot towers, but in approaching the plant the house seems to be beyond the towers until almost in front of them, when it is realized that an optical illusion has been experienced. Likewise when standing directly under the towers and looking up they appear to lean far out into space when in fact they are straight with the exception that they become smaller the higher they go. The two towers are painted different colors in section or bands so it may be seen in any kind of weather and is a beautiful sight from any direction. This eliminates danger of collision by airplanes day or night. The grounds are beautifully decorated with shrubs, recently transplanted, which cost hundreds of dollars, and the land is level and rich, being black land.

On entering the reception hall one is impressed with the richness of the furnishings and graceful architectural designs of the interior of the building. The hall leads into the receiving room where two telephone lines, one telegraph wire, and the operating board with its various instruments showing just how strong or how weak the broadcast is being made. There are adjustable instruments handy to correct any defect or raise or lower the volume that may be noticed in the outgoing program by the radio operator. Here we were introduced to two bright young men, Paul Barnes and Clarence Collins, both reared in Arlington and still calling this home, who hold the positions of Operators, one of whom is required to be on duty at all hours of the day and night. They are perhaps the youngest radio station operators in the United States and had to pass a government examination before a license was granted to them which the government required before anyone is permitted to run a radio station.

Contrary to popular belief, the programs are not sent direct to the broadcasting station over their wires, but are sent from Dallas or other places where the program is being given over telephone wires. The telegraph wire is a back-up, in case of emergency, so the senior operators may at all times have a way of communicating with the Dallas office or studio.

We were next shown into a large room where two sets of broadcasting machines are housed, one now in operation at 5,000 watts of power and another being installed which will make radio station WFAA the first 50,000 watt Super Power Station in the South (this will bring the number of 50,000 watt stations in the country to eight). To those unfamiliar with the intricacies of radio broadcasting, these large machines are a revelation. Radio broadcasting is mainly taking a sound wave and building it up several thousand times to a higher volume and then sending it into the air. However, the music or voices that come in over the telephone cannot be sent out until the sound wave has been amplified and changed into a certain assigned frequency. This amplification process is done by a series of power tubes and going to the larger ones which are water cooled and cost $1,600 each and carry a guarantee of 1,000 hours of service. The water used in the cooling process must be distilled as the mineral in hard water would absorb some of the power. The water is circulated by electric driven pumps.

The power or current furnished to the broadcasting station by the light company is alternating current but must be changed or rectified into direct current before used for broadcasting. The large colored fire produced in this process presents a beautiful spectacle. Some of the electrical power used is from storage batteries which are recharged every day.

The question generally asked of the operators is, “Isn’t this a very dangerous job?” to which they reply that it used to be, but now there is practically no danger with the up-to-date safety devices on bradcasting apparatus. A reasonable amount of care and caution on the part of the operator makes that work reasonably safe. The large machines are encased so hot wires cannot be touched from the outside and several doors of the machines are made to automatically cut off the power when opened, so that the operator is protected in case he forgets to cut off the current.

Two broadcasting units will be ready for operation when the plant is completed so one will be available if the other goes out of commission. The entire plant is equipped with double screened windows and doors, one floating and the other grounded to shut out electrical interference or outside noise that might get into programs being broadcast This new plant is modern in every respect and will cost when completed $300,000. The formal opening is planned for next April 6, and it is expected to be an elaborate affair with probably a 24-hour program.

Arlington is not only interested in this station because it will be one of the best in the country, but because two Arlington boys are in charge of its operation. They have been radio enthusiasts all their lives and spent much of their time in experimenting with radio and broadcasting sets which they built and operated without any thought of that line of work becoming their avocation in after years. Paul Barnes sayks books and schools did not do him much good in learning radio operation but believes it has to be picked up by experiments and practical demonstrations on the part of the individual keenly interested in that kind of work. Although these two are off duty 24 hours and on 24 hours, they do not spend that time in rest or recreation, but help the engineers now installing the new unit solely for what they might learn about the plant which will be up to them to run after it is completed and turned over by the factory.

Arlington has a right to be proud of Paul Barnes and Clarence Collins, two outstanding young men who have mastered their chosen line of work and whose future is indeed bright because licensed radio operators are very scarce and hard to obtain.

Editor’s notes from Texas Signs On, The Early Days of Radio and Television, by Richard Schroeder:

WFAA (Working for All Alike) was the third station in Dallas, having begun on June 26, 1922 (the first was WRR, broadcasting since August 1921). WBAP (We bring a Program) was the second radio station in Fort Worth (1922). In 1929 WBAP and WFAA were granted permission by the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) to share time. The FRC assigned the two stations clear channel 800 kilocycles with permission for 50,000 watts of power. This arrangement became the longest shared frequency in U.S. radio history. Each year WBAP and WFAA agreed on the times each station would have the frequency. Thus it appears that the broadcasting tower being built near Grapevine in the Arlington Journal story above represented the implementation of the permission granted by the FRC in 1929 for both WFAA and WBAP to broadcast at 50,000 watts of power (the Arlington Journal article spoke only of WFAA—I changed the title to include WBAP).