New Britain herald., 1924-03-03
MANY RECEIVERS
 MADE IN ATTICS
Sale of Parts Much Greater Than
 That of Ready-Made Sets

One phase of radio as to which there has been much speculation is what proportion Of the more than 2,o00. .000 radio sets in use in the United States today are homemade. and what proportion are factory made.
 It has gradually become the accept ed opinion that about S0 per cent of the receipts from sales Of radio ap- paratus by dealers have been from radio parts. and % per cent from complete sets.
 Tn view Of the fact that q mann factured sets costs, on the average, about s100. it may readily be seen that the number Of complete sets sold by dealers is relatively not very great By comparison it shows that a tremendous amount of parts have been sold. One dealer told the writer that in one of his stores alone Gin New York) he sells several hundred amplifying transformers of well known brand each week. Anothcs dealer. who operates half a dozen stores, sells 1,200 each week.
 A radio fan who. out of curiosity had been looking up the matter of complete sets as compared with parts found in addition to the fact that the great majority of sets used today are homemade, that a very large propor- ton of the complete sets are made, not in manufacturing plants, but by what might be called attic manu- facturers.'
 There are, throughout the coun- try. several thousand so-called radio engineers who are making sets. One man connected with one of the large automobile houses has made IT sets of the well known reflex type. He was so successful in making his own first set, and so enthusiastic about the re- suits he got with it, that he actually wished on himself the job of making sets for his friends. If his friends had to pay for this executives labor it would have been nearly as expensive as to buy q set in the first place, but even then they would not have had the service which he supplied with each set he made. He is so interested
 
 that he looks after any little difficult 1 ties which arise, and keeps them in shape. As a matter of fact, this man installed and setup the sets for noth- ing except the fun Of the game. Such sets are usually made with unusual care because it is generally n superior grade of man who does this for his friends. often he is n high priced i executive whose time would be worth many dollars an hour, If it were available at all.
 A man connected with the advcr- l Using stan Of nationally known ! magazine made reflex set for him l self and fl worked. He made nn- i other for his father, and fl worked. l Now he is making a couple more for people who have heard these. X man in Astoria. L.. l., K making his ] sepcDth set. There arc actually ] Thousands Of such cases. l
 Then there is another type Of "at- tic mannfacturer' For instance in linion Hill. \. J.. n man who ran q ! Eiragc found he could earn more money making up radio sets and . selling them than hc could with his garage. So he hired q manager 10 , run the garage business and proceeded . to make four or five sets n week for his friends. and naturally had no trouble in selling them at fair . profit.
 Radio is the most dramatic thing in American life today. Thousands Of fans have learned by experience that it is not necessary Co buy expensive sets to enjoy radio. but with the clear diagrams and practical suggcs- tions provided by leading radio inanu- facturcrs they can make their own sets. get good results. and have a lot of fun besides. And if any individual4 wishing q set does not feel confident that he can build one cven under these circumstances. he would not have 10 look long among his friends to find an attic manufacturer" who either for the pure joy of tho thing. or for a small fee. would build set for him.
 It is no small part which attic manufactures" arc playing in the de- velopment Of the radio industry.