Evening star., 1924-08-06
RADIO T|NKER|NG
AN AID TO NEW ART
Developments Achieved Are
Largely Through Continued
Experiments by Fans.

Probably one of the commonest ex-
prcssions heard in American house
holds today when the whereabouts
of father or his son are sought IS,
"Oh. he's fooling with the RADIO
1t is fortunate for the new art tha'
he is. There is more in the phrase
than is realized. Radio owes larger
part of it's development to this So
called "fooling" than can ever be
estimated. Not only 'fooiins by
father and other novices, but by eH-
perts and engineers.
1t is easy to understand how A man
who has been busy in store or
office all day is glad to get nome al
night and fool with the radio II
day But it is not quite so easy 70
understand why radio experts ano
research men who have worked AT
top speed all day on radio proolems
of one kind and another start IN as
soon as they have had their dinner
AT night to fool with the radio at
home.
"Radio widows" May Dissent.
Rad o widows" may not all agree,
hut of course the real answer for
their strange" conduct is that theN
are impelled by the urge of expert
nleQtdtiOn. TO members tl INC
families who are waiting TO go to the
moyie, or to be taken out in the
car they are simply 'fooling with the
o." but in reality they are con
d. tinx the practical experiments
from which so many Of the improve
ments OF the past five years have
resulted.
They are eternally striving to make
the set work better, 10 max II SIM
pier, to eliminate minor difhculreS'
nd n
to perfect the quality and purity OF
tone. II is the never ending quest
for perfection which is bringing
radio in common with all other great
public utilities. to new stages OF EN-
cheney and usefulness
Recently great strides have been
made in simplifying the control of
modern sets. A well known four
tube reflex set has only one knob to
tune with. and new station can be
brought in by every turn OF rev
degrees on the dial.
Radio widows" and the general
public need not waste any sympathy
on either experts or amateurs VINO
| the radio" The wife of the chief
engineer of an important transform
er mandatory, which maintains
one of the leading research labora-
| tories in the industry. told the writer
| recently that her husband stays up
| till l2 or / O'Clock several nights
week experimenting with the set in
| their home.
| "Not Sorry for Him." She Says.
| But I do not feel sorry for him."
she observed. "It does not tire. him.
! 1t is not the actual amount of work
| which any one does which tires him.
| Fatigue and happiness in ones work
| do not go together. In fact. / do not
think my husband gets as tired as
| some men who work far fewer hours
but who do not have work which so
absorbs all their faculties and crea-
| tive instincts. Probably the reason
| that Edison can live on so few hours
| Of sleep a night is that his trained
brain working on problems which in
| terest him so deeply operates with
degree Of fatigue far below the aver
| age person"
| Pre-eminent among the problems
of radio development on which n,v-
! ices and research experts alike ale
| now working is improving the clarity
| and purity of tone in receiving sets
| to secure amplification without dis
! tortion. without good tonal quality,
any set, whatever may be its range
| or power, falls short of the ideal of
| perfected operation. Accurate and
pure reproduction of the voice or of
| the musical instrument in radio
set depends in the last analysis upon
proper amplification in which the
sound Is multiplied but not distorted
| Some idea of the Importance of
general public may be conveyed by
the realization that this new industry,
born only q few short years ago, is
now turning out a product worth
$3.50, ,000, 900 year and giving en-
| ployment, directly and indirectly, to
not far from 100000 persons.