New-York tribune., 1922-03-26
IL Type Aerial
Best for Music
And Speeches
To Take Full Advantage of
Handy Support, Flat Part
Should Run i'm Direct Line
With Sending Station
Outdoor Rig Is Superior
Wires Strung From Window
Better Than Indoor De-
vice, Although Makcshift

How shall / erect an aerial to use
with my receiving set? Can operate
my set win an indoor aerial, and if so
what kind Of an aerial shall it be
These are the questions which bother
most Of the radio fans, and propose
to outline briefly in this article Just
what kind of an aerial to use for the
reception of music from the broad
casting stations.
In the first place, the outdoor aerial
is by far the best and most efficient.
There are. however, several types of
outdoor aerials, depending entirely
upon the physical conditions which pre-
vail whore it is intended to erect the
wires. The most usual form and, by
the way, the best form for music re
ception-is the inverted Il" type Of
aerial. This consists Of single wire
running parallel to the earth, supported,
at both ends, and having a lead into
the apparatus from one end Of it.
Now, this particular type Of aerial
is endowed with very peculiar char
acteristics, in that it will receive sig
mails much better from one direction
than it will from the other This is
krown as a directional effect and
can be utilized to great purpose by the
radio fan. Experience has shown that
an inverted "L' aerial receives over
greater distances in the direction at
which the "lead-in' end of tine aerial
is pointed than it does from the op-
posite direction.
Flat Side to Waves
In order to take advantage of this
peculiar phenomenon the radio fan
should, wherever possible, erect the
fat part of his aerial in a direct line
with the broadcasting station to which
he desires to listen. lie should then
take the lead from this aerial into his
house from the end Of the aerial which
is nearest to the broadcasting station.
To illustrate this: Suppose the
broadcasting station is directly west
from your house. In this case you will
have to erect the Aat-top part of your
aerial in an east to west direction, and
then take the lead into your house
from the western end.
There is one important thing to bear
in mind, and it is this: Most of the
broadcasting stations are operating or
SEQ meter wave length. and they will
continue to do so under the provisions
Of the Washington conference. This
means that your aerial wire should not
be any longer than $50 feet, and the
lead into the house is part of this
$50 feet, as isAlso the wire from your
instruments to the ground connection
1T" Type Useful Also
In the event of it being impossible
for you to erect such an aerial as de-
scribed above, there is another, very
useful type that can be employed.
This is the so-called "T' type Of aerial,
and it gets its name from It's resem-
blance to the letter T. This aerial
consists of a long length of wire run
ming parallel to the ground, and sup
ported at both ends clear of ali OBJ
structions, with a lead taken into the
house from the center of the aerial.
In the case OF this aerial the fat
top can be 200 feet long, because only
that part Of the aerial from the in
struments to one of the free ends
actually counts in the length. 1t is
just the same as though you erected
a double wire "L' type of aerial The
value of the "T' aerial lies in the fact
that it is not at all directionai in its