Evening star., 1925-07-26
BY FREDERICK c. RUSSELL.

How are YOU going to spend your
evenings when you motor camp?
A year ago this question would
have brought a variety of answers,
but for the camping season just get
ting under way there Is but one an
Swer-a radio set.
The end of a perfect day for the
motor camper nowadays is concert
from his favorite broadcasting station,
bit of Jazz, perhaps, and word from
civilization to let him know that the
world is still going on despite the
fact that he is back to nature.
4 number OF motor campers al
ready have discovered this added
source of enjoyment Radio helps TO
make their evenings as pleasurabie
as their days of travel. but radio has
not been especially adapted for the
q Aomohile. Nor is the motor tourist
sufficiently experienced in radio opera
ton to get the best results from the
equipment on hand.
Take Small SET.
When motor camping surplus bag
cage is most undesirable. Whatever
radio equipment it taken along, there.
fore, should lie of the most convenient;
form The picture of the set, plus
aerial, dry cells and tangled wiring,
hardly appearsSto the motorists whose
running boards and tonneau are al
ready occupied with passengers and
essential camping equipment. Hap
PLY, this picture need not cloud the
motor campers radio horizon.
To start with there are the portable
uper-heterodynes, which are entirely
self-contained. These take up no
more space than the average suit case,
and when Summer is over they Will
make the finest of radio instruments
for home use. Several important de-
Velopments. in addition, serve to make
this portable type especially adaptable
for use in the car or around the camp
fire.
Super.heterodyne customarily use
dry cell current for the filament sup
ply. which means that the camper
must carry extra dry cells with him
or limit his use of the set. This OBJ
lection. however. has been overcome
through the development of ineXpen-
sive tubes which permit the use OF
storage battery current for the ma
ment supply in the Super-heterodyne
receiver. To hook up the outfit with
the cars storage battery supply 1t is
necessary only to remove the dash
light and insert a suitable plug and
cord In order to tell which wire is
positive and which is negative just
borrow a potato from the camp
cuisine and poke the wires into it.
The negative wire will take on a green
deposit. so no mistake is made in con-
Meeting this wire to the A minus post
of the set.
Battery 0yercharged.
One advantage in using the cars
battery is that on a long trip the
battery will be fully charged most of
the time. and if it is overcharged the
drain the set eXerts on it will be
decided advantage. Regardless of the
fact that the radio set viii help to
keep the battery in better balance,
il is we'll to remember to leave the
car at night, with wheels securely
blocked, so that it viii be on a slight
downgrade. You can then start the
motor by putting it in gear and al
lowing the car to roll. should the
morning be chilly and the motor dis
inclined to start easily.
If you want the best possible re
ception from your radio set around
the campfire, and if you use the
storage battery for filament current.
it is important not to pull the battery
f1l. dOUn in irving m start the nnpina