Great Falls tribune., 1922-03-16
ton In this country. That makes you
realize the enormous power OF the ra-
6in -
Small Sets Cover 100 Miles.

omNI SetS cover IUU Miles,.
Most Of the radio sets sold to private
individuals possess q guaranteed range
Of 100 miles, which is sufficient to let
the owners in on the regular CONNER
cial programs, but which excludes them
from intercontinental conversation.
fortunately for the dignity Of inter-
national diplomacy, it requires cou-
pie Of hundred foot steel towers, sew
q hundred thousand watts or 80 OF
electric energy to talk to Europe.
Amateurs are restricted to 200 meter
wave lengths or less, and are under the
supervision of a radio inspector whose
business Is to see that they confine
their operations to short distances
only. Nevertheless, when the great
transatlantic tests were made by
American, English and Scotch ANA
i teurs on the memorable night Of De-
cember Z, 1921, the code signals Of 26
different Americans, most Of them us
ing homemade equipment, were dis
tinctly heard in Scotland.
The acquisition of the usual ANA
| teur radio receiving station is very
simple matter. You can have one in
stalled in your home for the sum OF
$35 up to $3.50, depending upon the
nature Of the equipment. OF course,
there is always the possibility OF un-
| reasonable opposition from your land
lord, who is apt to look upon the aerial
antennae as an eyesore and as fire
menace, but this difficulty is likely to
be eliminated as the landlords them
selves become converts to the radio
sport. Although the equipment may
have its drawbacks as a roof ornament,
30 rnCitivn1r, from firQ
say the experts, If the wires are prop
erly installed.
Sending sets are not quite so easy
to acquire and operate. The operator
must be able to read certain number
of words of the international commun-
ication code, so that he may under
stand any pre- -emptory command to
get off the air" from the big coastal
wireless stations. This command will
be heard whenever there is an S. 0. s.
call from ship at sea. In such an
event, 1t is up to the amateur operator
to quit transmitting, but he need not
refrain from listening to the message
as the work of rescue gets under way.
Amateur Senders Limited.
"At present" says a radio expert,
mo amateur may send on more than
200 meter wave length, nor Is he per-
mitted to develop more than one kilo-
watt of power. He is the lowest in the
scale, and if anywhere in the neigh
borhood, he can no more interrupt the
36O-meter wave length broadcasting
concert or the 1000 to $4,000 meter
wave length transatlantic wireless
than the buzzing of a mosquito can
drown out the roar OF a subway ex-
press train"
Although still in it's infancy. the ra-
dio telephone is already playing an I'm
portant as well as somewhat spectac
ular part In our everyday life. It is
the agent by which the bureau of mar
kets Of the department of agriculture
daily broadcasts its crop. weather and
market news throughout the country.
1t is the narrator Of bedtime stories
to thousands of sleepy children. The
United States public health service
uses it to broadcast two lectures on
health every week. 1t is providing
large and eager audience for Sunday
sermons such as has never been en-
joyed by ministers of the gospel before.
It has been known to lull baby to
sleep with it's music and to carry the
sound Of jazz so clearly to vessel at
sea that the passengers were able to
dance. Most newspapers now give the
nightly radio. programs a conspicuous
place in their columns, and one large
New York daily devotes an entire page
in it's Sunday issue to radio news.
There are nine magazines devoted to
radio, and long list Of books.
Yet the rise of radio has just begun.
Think Of what it will be doing 10 years
from nc > when all obstacles will have
been removed, aud it will be as easy
to talk to Paris as it now is to phone
downtown. The common telephone, by
connecting US only too efficiently with
the world. has already destroyed the
comfortable privacy our grandparents
knew, but fancy what our grandchildren
will have to endure when they will be
compelled to hear so many unpleasant
things that are now lost in the air.