Illegal Radio at Racetrack

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 90, 14 March 1941, Page 47

Illegal Radio at Racetrack

A month’s search by the Federal Communications Commission (Washington) for unlicensed radio equipment which broadcast "sure tips" to favoured bettors while horse races were still being run reached a climax with the arrest of two men and the seizure of illegal apparatus at the Charles Town (West Virginia) racetrack. In early December, Commission " field men" discovered that two portable transmitters were surTeptitiously being put to such use. One transmitter concealed under the coat was employed by one of the men in the grandstand to communicate progress of the race to an accomplice in a rented tourist cabin near the track. The latter utilised the second set to flash the expected result to conspirators listening in at outside receiving stations. Under this system, some persons were able to make advantageous bets before the results of the race were generally known. The method of operation, as determined by Commission inspectors listening, was this: At the start of the race a person could be heard whistling on a certain radio frequency, followed by the words "Oh Johnny" repeated several times, and then a few bars from such songs as " Beer Barrel Polka" or "Maryland, My Maryland" would be sung, As the race neared the finish the voice would suddenly cut in with a number, repeated until the race was completed. Immediately after this number was spoken, a stronger signal on another frequency was observed to repeat the same number perhaps 10 or 15 times, followed by such commonplace expressions as "testing" or "testing for modulation," and finally the words, "that is all." On checking the Tace results it was obvious that the number in question referred to the number of the winning horse. By the use of highly specialised equipment and technique, the party in the grandstand operating the transmitter concealed on his person was finally located. This transmitter was adjusted to an ultrahigh frequency and the microphone. extended down into the sleeve of the overcoat worn by the operator. To speak into the microphone, he merely raised his hand to the back of his neck and appeared to be conversing with his look-out companion, or shouting for his favourite horse to win. To allay suspicion, he ‘carried @ programme and consulted it between races,