The Coconino sun., 1926-01-29

| seldom that it is absent. Therefore
1t must be contended with Given a
receiver of unlimited capabilities, it
! is evident that the greatest distance
can be covered when using the coll
lecting system, not that picks up the
most energy, but when using the sys-
tenn which picks up the most energy,
in proportion to the static picked up
at the same time. If sufficient static
in proportion to the signal is picked
up to either obliterate the signal en-
tirely, or to make it so noisy as to be
! disagreeable, it is evident that that
| signal cannot be used for entertain
ment purposes.
| An aerial picks up from all direc-
tions at the same time, almost equal
ly we'll, while loop picks up from
only the direction in which 1t is point
ing. Suppose there is a signal in the
air and also static, both of a strength
which will be picked up equally by a
loop. If the loop be turned in the di-
rection of the signal it viii pick up
both equally and feed them to the
first tube of the receiver equally. But
how about the aerial on the same
night, under the same conditions 1t
will pick up the signal ten times as
strong as the loop, but it will also
pick up the static going in the direc-
ton of the signal, equally stronger
than the loop, and it will also pick up
the static going in the other direction,
and the static going up and down, the
result being that it will feed the sig
nal to the first tube ten times as
strong as the loop did, but it will feed
static to the tube thirty times as
strong as the loop, the result being
that the signal picked up by the aerial
is less usable for entertainment pur-
poses than the signal picked up by the
loop. 1t is not the strength picked up
by the collector that counts, but the
proportion of signal strength to static
strength. The set can make up for
any lack of strength, so that it is of
little moment how little is picked up.
The entire question on the pick up
end is, what, not how much. In prac-
tice this works out exactly. The loop
picks far less proportion of static to
signal than the aerial, and therefore
the loop is capable of better, average
reception, and its advantage is the
more noticeable, the worse the atnos-
phere is. Frequently a loop set will
deliver a fairly good program when
an aerial set right beside it has to be
turned off on account of noise. By all
means, If you want real satisfaction,
pay a little more and use a loop. If
you do, your average reception will
be far better, and you will gain the
very desirable feature of being able to
use your set wherever and whenever
you like without having to tie it up to
an aerial. A loop set is as free to
move as a phonograph
The other point usually overlooked
I is the loud speaker. Most buyers ac-
cept the speaker brought them by the
dealer and are satisfied at that. A
good speaker can make poor set ap-
pear good, and poor one can ruin a
good set. There are two general types
of speakers en-. the market, the horn
and the cone. Without going into their
construction and operation, I will tell
you what they do. The best horn type
lfeproduces faithfully over about three
and half octaves of the musical
scale The very high and the very low
notes are lost entirely by most of
them, the worst offence of most of
them being the loss of the low tones,
making the music and speech sound
high pitched and unnatural. Good