The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-02-21
MAKING
ENGINEERS
OF BOYS
Americans Rapidly AssimiIat-
! ing Highly Technical Data,
Expert Writes. !
BY FRANK SAVAGE,
international News Service Staff
N,.vnosrOv.11a,,t

international News service SCaIt
Correspondent.
NEW YORK, Feb. 21.-Radio is
turning the youth Of the country
into a race Of embryonic engineers.
a recent writer declared.
The conclusion was based no
doubt on the fact that boys and
young men Of today show nm
amazing aptitude for the assimila-
ton of highly technical data and
are able to build and operate SEN
sitive receiving apparatus which a
very short time back was the de-
spair Of skilled scientists.
But IL the prevailing types OF
radio receivers-those which pick
up and make audible the etheric
vibrations. set UP by broadcasting
stations--are considered complex"
a new word will have to be coined
for the new science now looming
on the horizon; that Of the reccp-
ton of radio movies"
Radio movies are an actually at
present, we are told by c. Francis
Jenkens, veteran experimenter with
optical instruments and deliver into
the mysteries of television.
Popularity Is Inevitable.
And, what is more, the popular
development Of the art is as inevi-
table as was that Of its predeces-
sor, believe Jenkins and other ex
perts.
True, none have been SO bold as
to predict that the eager amateur
will seize upon the fascinating
principle and straightway build a
set with which he can tune in" on
the picture impulses" but pres
radio was no "child's play"
for it's bold pioneers.
One thing is certain.
If homemade radio movie sets
become as popular as the prevail
ing radio receiver the average
home or apartment will soon take
on the appearance of the munich
pal electric light plant, and the
species radio widow will multiply.
Far more equipment, of course,
will be necessary for the reception
of radio impulses which can be
transmitted into moving pictures
than for those which merely must
be turned into audible sounds.
Making Own Sets.
In the first place perfect syn.
chronization between the sending
and receiving outfit is absolutely
necessary. This is achieved in the
model for receiving still photos,
built by Jenkins, by use of tuning
fork whose rapid vibration across a
gap reveals whether the speed is
exactly right. This, of course, calls
for coils and governors and other
intricate mechanisms, governing
motor speed, because most electrical
current Is more or less variable.
Many electrical machines, requiring
positively unchanging speeds, at
present employ compensating ap-
paratus
Use of the prismatic ring, also,
is required both at the sending and
receiving ends. This new optical
device consists of several glass disks
of graduated thickness, with axes
parallel and radii at right angles.
They move at different speeds, but
maintain a definite, invariable speed
ratio. A ray of light passing
through them is DETECTED, through
the prismatic effect of the glass,
and an oscillating movement is set
up.
These oscillating rays, Of vary
ing intensity, comprise the basic
principle in the sending and recep.
ton of radio Still pictures and
radio movies" @
Whether the radio experimenter
can still be considered an amateur
when he starts to fool with this
kind of equipment may be a de-
batable question, but the experts
nrodict he will get awaV with il,