The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1922-12-28
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BODY CAPACITY Is
CAUSE OF ANNOYANCE
Methods by Which Its Effects
May Be Avoided - Possible
Reasons for Fading Signals.


ing. The phenomenon In the case is
that just as the operator tuned in his
station and removed his hands from
the knob, the signals faded out; or 1t
may have been the other way around,
and II the operator touches his set
while listening TO concert, the sig
nails will fade out.
This may be caused by body ca
pncity, and while some stations run
into 1t quite frequently, others are not
bothered at all. Those living close to
n broadcasting station will never be
bothered with II as 1t only occurs with
a very close tuning. II Is explained
by the fact that the capacity Of the
body coming In contact with the set,
which is very finely tuned Is thrown
out OF adjustment by the outside in
ductance
There are several ways to guard
against II. and one Of the best is TO
line the inside OF the panel with tin
foil or aluminium foil and ground II.
In pastlng the tin foil on the back
of the panel, II is cut away from all
binding posts, switch points or rods TO
prevent short circuiting the set. There
Is one exception to this. and that is the
ground binding post. II the tin foil is
pasted over this 1t is, OF course, auto
maticnlly grounded.
She.lac will do to make the foil ad.
here to the panel, which will not have
10 be dismantled to be lined, as the
foil can he placed on In small strips.
Another method of remedying the
effects Of body capacity is by using
metal dlals on the vnriocoupler and
variometers; and I'm sets where the
variometers are very close to one an
other. moving them away will help.
or In case II Is not desired to change
the set. placing nonmagnetlc ma
terlal between the yariometers which
are close to each other and grounding
Il will remedy the III effects. For this
case, piece OF glass such as photog-
raphers use, covered with tlnfoil on
one Dlde, is effective.
Fading signals have long been en-
countered b. amateurs when receiving
long. distance stations. In this case,
the signals from a goodly distance
away may be coming In loud and
clear and then without warning fade
away. In few seconds they may
return with all their force, and then
when the amateur is congratulatlng
himself, again the voices or music die
out. or fading may take the form
OF varying intensity OF signals, one
minute the operator being forced to
strain his ears to catch the sound
while the next voices may be loud
and clear.
There have been many theories ad.
vanced for this phenomenon, and we
are giving today two Of the latest.
The radio division of the Department
of Commerce is reported TO be under
the impression that fading occurs
when cloud passes between the
transmitting station and the receiving
set. This theory has been one Of the
most popular among the experts, and
recent tests hy, been made to obtain
more complet, lnta. If the passing
cloud theory Is a good explanation
Of fading there will be some new
radio development very shortly. The
effects OF various types OF clouds upon
the signals is being studied, and the
results of this study will be of Inter
est to everyone interested In radio
Government officials are interested in
eliminating fading, or overcoming II
as much as possible, largely from the
standpoint Of the amateur, as the com
merclal stations, having much greater
power than amateur sets, are able tC
overcome the atmospheric effects to q
great extent.
The other theory, which has Gloss
relation to the cloud theory Is that
fading occurs when the signals pas'
through an area where rain is failing
In this theory, the idea Is brought ou
In a different manner, II is stated
In effect that clouds are Il benefit 4
the signals, but that the rain vii
hurt them. The theory Is that tn,
condensation OF the particles Of mois
ture In the air which form. the clouds
has the property OF making this me
dlum highly conductive 10 radio sig
nails. Just before storm when ther
Is more condensation In the clouds, tn
signals should be az their strongest
When the storm breaks, and the nj
becomes saturated, the condition !
sold TO change and the falling rall
actually grounds the signals, Thi
sudden change In atmosphere Is state,
as the reason for the varying intensit
In the signals,
An approximate method Of measuI
Ing the antenna resistance Is by mean
OF condenser and a callbrated q
ohm resistance unit connected in 5,
rles. This so-called phantom antenn
is then connected with the antenn
and ground circuit to a double pol,
double throw switch, so that the outpr
OF the Transmitting set can be col
nected eIthev to the antenna an
ground or to the phantom antenna cl
cult.