Texas Almanac, 1939-1940 Page: 21
[514] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS.
Industrial Guide, first printed in 1857.
Through all the years it has had-the pri-
mary goal of informing Texans and oth-
ers about the state, thereby facilitating
the economic and civic development of
Texas. It. has been edited since 1925 by
Stuart McGregor, who is also staff eco-
nomist for The Dallas News.
Because early issues were so replete
with information about Texas natural re-
sources and other elements for wresting
a livelihood in the state, the Texas
Almanac was a favorite book with thou-
sands of early day immigrants. It was
said that many a pioneer settler arrived
in Texas with a skunpy library consisting
only of a copy of the Holy Bible and
the latest issue of the Texas Almanac.
Published annually through 1861, it was
issued less frequently m subsequent
years. This current issue constitutes the
thirtieth volume. The present series be-
gan in 1925 following a lapse occasioned
by the World War after 1914.
Although the youngest unit in The
News' family, Radio Station WFAA has
rapidly forged into the forefront of the
world's broadcasting stations since its in-
ception in 1922. It consists of one radio
broadcast station operating on an as-
signed frequency of 800 kilocycles, with
a power of 50,000 watts, and three short
wave transmissions under less familiar
call letters. The main studios and control
room have been maintained in the Baker
Hotel since 1925, with the main trans-
mission plant located in its own modern
structure on the Northwest Highway
near Grapevine since 1929. All operations
of WFAA have been under the direction
of Martin B. Campbell as general man-
ager for several years.
When the transmitting power of
WFAA was increased in 1930 to 50,000
watts, it became the first superpower sta-
tion in the South as well as the first sta-
tion of such magnitude owned by a news-
paper in the world. To keep abreast of
rapid developments in the field of broad-
casting, the management in 1938 installed
a steel tower rising 653 feet above the
ground at its broadcasting plant near
Grapevine. This vertical radiator is thehighest man-made structure in the South-
west, exceeding in heichth the tallest
skyscraper; it has extended the primary
listening zone to WFAA transmissions
more than fifty miles beyond the original
listening radius. It replaces the old an-
tennae, the two supporting towers of
which rose to less than half the heighth
of the new one. This radiator weighs
168,000 pounds and rests on a porcelain
bearing surface only eight inches square.
A network of twenty-two miles of copper
wire, placed underground in spoke-like
fashion over an area of thirty-two sur-
rounding acres, is connected with the
tower.
In recent months WFAA has begun op-
eration of experimental station W5XD,
which has its own transmitter atop the
Tower Petroleum Building in downtown
Dallas. Using an ultra high frequency of
31,600 kilocycles, this station has a rated
power of 100 watts. Many of the regu-
lar programs of WFAA are also sent out
on this station, although a number of in-
teresting programs originate solely over
this Apex station.
Primarily for picking up broadcasts of
sports and field events of various sorts,
WFAA operates a pack - transmitter
W5XAJ, which uses principally a wave
length of 31,000 kilocycles. A short wave
receiver in the main studios of WFAA en-
ables the station to pick up these reports
and to re-broadcast them over the 800
kilocycle frequency. In addition WFAA
has a third short-wave sending station,
KAXD, operating on 1,622 kilocycles. This
is a mobile transmitter built on an auto-
mobile chassis and is used primarily for
picking up reports of events at a greater
distance from the main broadcasting stu-
dio than can be served by the pack-trans-
mitter.
All frequencies of WFAA are assigned
by the Federal Communications Commis-
sion. All plant and equipment are owned
by the Dallas News Radio Corporation, a
subsidiary owned wholly by the newspa-
per publishing company, with E. M.
(Ted) Dealey as president, R. M. Bu-
chanan as vice-president and J. M. Mo-
roney as secretary and treasurer.
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Texas Almanac, 1939-1940, book, 1939; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117163/m1/23/?rotate=270: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.