Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-10-29
indian SUMMER WEATHER BLAMED FOR
PARTICULARLY Unsatisfactory RADIO
RECEPTION ExASPERATlNG LOCAL FANS

Naoio rams in Augusta. due fo AL
most absolute lack Of signais in their
radlo receivers or exceptionally moor
I!ception II signals come through AT
gu nave for the past ten days and
tne last week In particular been IN :
s'e,e or bordering on evaporation.
OWners OF super-hets TO one-tube
Esgenerative "squealers" are alike
anecten and 1t doesn't seem to make
any diHerence whether loop or an
Outdoor antenna Is used. MANI
lauIo ians arc stripping down their
once came through SO nicely he
Heving that something is wrong
with the wiring. or that a condenser
mas short-circuited. or that the grad
isak fails TO leak or some other re-.
mote reason. Many others. assum.
ing that their batteries have died a
natural death. or that their tubes
nave ceased to reach out and grab
the station whistle, have purchased
new ones-and find that the set still
refuses to percolate. thus causing
walls and gnashing of teeth. espec-
iaily from the u x hounds. Static
or the rock-crusher type Is frequent
~ heard grinding in the ear phones.
so that even IL signals were coming
through. clear reception would be
impossible.
Weak signals is the general COM
plant, together with exceptional
fading. During the past week diff :
ferent complaint has arisen which
states that there Is a heavy ground
hum which is due to a high tension
leak somewhere in the city. This
hum Is heard by nearly every rad O
ran In the city. according to reports,
| and especially Is ID noticeable in the
general vicinity OF Grove street.
Noticed I'm Nearby Towns
investigation OF specific complaints
and OF conditions in general as Far
as could be ascertained. the same
state OF reception IS being felt In
Gardiner and surrounding towns. On
long wave lengths 1t has been re-
ported that the same heavy drone,
sounding like a high power leak, Is
heard plainly. so that IL there 10 in
reality high tension leak then the
effect Of 1t Is also being heard in
Gardiner.
Watervllle fans renort the poor re-
ception OF signals, not much static
but weak signals and much fading.
since last Saturday night. Waterville
amateurs are stripping their sets as
we'll as Augusta fans, believing
something wrong with wiring. No
high tension hum, however. has been
encountered in the up-river city as
far as could be determined. Augusta
owners Of sets which use a loop are
endeavoring to locate such leakage
by the we'll known directional value
of their loops.
But whether or not there IS a leak
still remains n mystery. Up to late
yesterday the Central Maine Power
Company had received no report
from it's linesmen or trouble depart
ment of any leakage in it's trans
mission lines.
Explode One Theory
Another purely local rumor that
the batteries of the telephone CEN
trail office were being charged at
night and thus causing the ground
hum was knocked silly yesterday by
Mr.. Stone. manager of the Augusta
office. He stated that the batteries
at the central station were charged
twice n week and that only durin.
the daytime. Also that the poten-
tial used on the company's lines was
less than 100 volts and such low
current would hardly cause the prev
alent ground hum even In the event
OF leakage. And again. an elaborate
check-up system employed by the
company would apprise the latter
Immediately OF a leak.
Warm Weather Blamed
It Is we'll known that static Is al
most eliminated by the use of short
wave transmission. but during the
past 10 days short wave reception
has been affected as well as long
wave. giving rise to the fact that
the whole condition is due to the
ecccntricities OF Mother Nature
Warm weather and especially warm