Shot 29 / 7:58–8:21Select a shot, or shift-click to select multipleSelect a shot, or double-tap to select multiple

On the Air

19379 min 56 sec34 shots

On the Air opens in a radio studio, where Rubinoff plays violin with an orchestra while control-room staff monitor the broadcast. The film explains that home listeners do not hear the studio sounds directly; microphones convert sound waves into changing electrical currents, which are amplified and sent by wire to a transmitting station.

At the transmitter, an oscillator produces a carrier wave, modulation combines that carrier with the audio signal, and large tubes amplify the resulting radio wave before an antenna sends it outward. Diagrams and views of broadcasting equipment show how a receiver tunes to one station, separates the audio signal from the carrier, amplifies the current, and uses a loudspeaker diaphragm to reproduce the studio sound. The program closes by inviting listeners to hear Rubinoff and his violin again the following week.

Provenance and rights

Original producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Collection: Prelinger Archives
Original title: On the Air
Date: 1937
Original link: Open on Internet Archive
Rights: public_domain