The remote and automatic control of semi-attended broadcasting transmitters

In the Chairman´s Address to the Radio Section in October 1949, a description was given of the steps which the B.B.C. was taking to extend its sound-broadcasting service without a proportional increase in the number of its technical staff. This was being achieved by a process which now might be termed `automation¿, but which at that time meant broadcasting from unstaffed transmitters remote from the studios supplying the programme material. The paper reviews this technique and may be regarded as confirmation that these steps were justified.