The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1922-04-09
GETS RADIO CONCERT
OVER ELECTRIC WIRE
New Yorker Tries Plan Of Gen.
Squire and Now Will Re-
move His Aerial.
EVEN PICKS Up DETROIT
Has a Two Way Socket i'm
Plug. One Giving Light.
the Other Music.
EVEN PICKS Up DETROIT

The widespread publication or the ex-
pertinent OF Major-Gen. George o.
suuier. chief signal officer OF the army.
IN sending a radio concert over an cleo
trio light wire and taking 1t off at the
other end through an ordinary lamp
socket provoked much interest through
out the country.
This interest was closely followed by
= wall of anguish from some amateurs
who had hooked up with the electric
light circuit. turned on the current and
received 100 volts instead OF music
through their expensive apparatus.
The average amateur. however. real
iEing this danger. RETAINED from follow
ing i'm the footsteps OF the chief signai
officer.
one radio experimcnter. Thomas 6.
Shotwell of Gil West l56th street, al
though realizing that Gen. Squ.er's ex-
pertinent was simply demonstration OF
wired wireless" the tendency OF a radio
message to follow a guiding wire. tried
out the use of the electric lighs circuit as
an aerial. The results he obtained were
Sc startling that THE NEW York HERALD
gives them in his own words.
Mr.. Shotwell uses n Grebe CR6 set
with RADIATION detector and two stages
OF amplification. He has Brown phones
OF 1000 ohms and vocalord with
Brown phone built I'm. The power house
he refers to Is eleven blocks, a little more
than half mile, from his house. In
view OF the fact that heretofore not
more than one receiving set has ever
taken radio impulses from an aerial !;
will be interesting to learn III amateurs
in the same light circuit can get concerts
at the same time. Those who attempt the
experiment. are warned. howeve'. not to
let the electric light current wander
through their sets.
Tells Of His Experiment.
In speaking of his experiment MI.
Shotwell said:
az have discarded my aerial on the
roof for receiving radio messages and
music because | get much better results
nv using In it's stead a wire screwed into
an electric light socket. As there IL
but one lamp socket convenient IN the
room in which my set Is iocated have
a two-way socket and get light from
ono side and music from the other at
the same time. To prevent the current
reaching my receiver put rubber
insulation in the socket ahead OF the
plug 70 which the radio wire Is con-
nected. I use an ordinary lamp cord
for this.
1T Is so simple and 20 efficient that
I feel foolish when I remember the hours
7 have spent on the roof In the seven
years that ! have been playing with
radio. ] have made every conceivable
combination of aerial. both outdoor and
indoor. ] have used loops, wardrobe
doors, double wires. single wires. long
ones and short ones. triangles and
squares. I have hooked 1t UP to the
fire escape, to the rainwater pipe, door
bells and the radiator. / got results
from all OF these. With my set ! can
get WIZ at Newark without any aerial
at all, very low. OF course, but very dis
tinct. My latest aerial is 40 feet single
cable made of seven strands of No. %
phosphor- bronze wire.
Follows Gen. sauier's Plan.
"The morning | read OF what Gen.
Squier did in washington l began to
look at the lamp socket. It seems that
Gen. Squier got the music from a socket
served by power house which was con-
nectcd by wire with the radio sending
station. At least all the newspaper
stories reported it that way. II he
did. then it was nothing wonderful. for
the electric wire merely served as
transmitter much as a telephone would
act--his set merely became refined
telephone.
lndt nlknt j LOOk all pihE
and connected a lamp cord about six
feet TO IT, turned off the electric light,
screwed the lamp out and the plug In,
connected II to the aerial binding post.
plugged in the phones--and there was
WIZ at Newark like a house afire.
IF had made an original discovery
OF a great radio principle myself ! could
not have been more astonished. | then
tried il on other sockets to make sure
cto 1rA 4 nttt mir NJ
rubber into The lamp socket and screwed
the wire in again, turned on the cur
rent TO see il it made any difference.
1t did not.
Then 7 went to the electrician across
the street for a two-way plug. He
asked me what ] wanted 1t for. When
told him he said 1t could not be done.
T told him ] knew 1t could not. but I was
doing ii anyhow.
Electrician Is = Pessimist.
"If that could be DONE" said he, II
could sell hundreds of sets. i have
twenty-five ordered right now from one
house. but the landlord refuses to let
the tenants put up aerials. II a lamp
socket would do they could forget the
landlord. But OF course II cannot be
done.
so ] went home with my two-way
socket, rlgged ~ up Win llgnt from one
side and music from the other. / asked
two radio experts IL they had tried the
lamp socket and they said no. because ii
would not work In New York. invited
them - listen in. ] invited the neigh
bors in to hear the music via lamp socket
for several days before | ventured to
speak OF IL as I was afraid Id wake up
some time and discover that there was
an outside wire did not know of from
which the signals were coming. To
make sure I asked the superintendent OF
rne power house and he insisted that
tho light wires leave the power house
through an underground conduit and do
not emerge til they come TO my apart
-a<ni. even Their the: are imbeddcd in
the walls.
To Remove HIS Aerial.
II am going to take my aerial from
the roof, as ] use IL now only as a
relic OF the dark ages and to dcmou-
strato to visitors that the lamp socket
Is much better. get not only Newark
hut Pittsburgh, Detroit ard way ,tions
over II. but also the amateurs Zen
want them. stations that ] have licked
M this way arc--w J Y. Newark X ID
X A, Pittsburgh: w W j. Detroit
w @ Y. Schenectady: w Il u. Spring
field: w O r., Newark w N o, Jersey
cay: w r w, Tarrytcwn; w w z,
John Wanamaker and score OF un-
identified stations. (Mayor ylan talked
10 me through a lamp socket) These
are all telephone broadcasting stations.
or course I get spark and code signals