Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-28
THIS. AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

| Why, indeed. should this wonder
art and science be dished up to us In
mathematical ratios. diagrams and
blue prints solely?
Those are all we'll enough for the
person with that sort of mind. but all
Of us who pride ourselves upon hav-
| ing poetical souls, and all that sort OF
| thing, are very much put out when
we are told:
From equation (2) we find that
Ep) EQUALS 1876 minus 10000 times
| G0OS6 or 80 volts. From figure 5.
| curve A, which is for this type tube,
we find that R(p) is approximately a.
| 500 ohms when E(v) is 81 volts. We
have said that r(p) is approximately
R(p) over 9, so it will be about 1880
ohms in this case. Substituting these
values in 90, A equals 10 times 10000
over 1880 plus 10000, which equals
STA or S74 per cent of the mu OF the
| tube"
The latter type of radio writing may
| be absolutely accurate, but 1t also Is
! deathly dull. at least to us who are
not radio technicians. such Wrltlng
probably is best confined to such
magazine as QST, the ofhclai organ
| of the Radio Relay League.
| Yet one may properly say, perhaps,
| that many readers of the general radio
| ma gaines are prefectly well equipped
| to handle the ratios, ana 10 under-
stand any article whatsoever on the
variations in the filament to plate re-
sstance We wonder.
Maybe that Is true All this Is the
| necessary groundwork that has made
possible the non-technical mans inter
est and appreciation of radio broad
casting. Our hats are off, and will be
forever, to the laboratory workers OF
all nations, the scientists, the tech
| nicians, the electricians and experts
| in acoustics.
| The point I am laboriously attempt
| ing to make Is that a wide field is
open for writer's who really can put
some imagination into writing about
| radio.
The wonder still remains.
| Whether one considers that mar
velously simple instrument, the crystal
receiver, or that peak OF modern radlo
reception. the superheterodyne. he
! will be enthralled by the wonder OF
it all.
| 4 peep into a modern broadcasting
station will enhance the feeling OF
wonder over the whole science and
art. for radio Is both of these, as ii
always has been. Long before popu-
lar broa dcasting was on the air, Navy
| operators were receiving code on
|
| from thousands OF miles away.
| What we need in radio is the trained
| technician who can actually put the
wonder might one not say giory?)
| OF radio transmission and reception
| into messages that will really explain.
J The article quoted above may or
| may not set a new fashion in radio
writing. but at least II has the merit
| of being attractive. and, as stated,
being essentially correct.
| 1t is a safe bet that no one who
reads II will ever forget that picture
of the impulses going pellmell, mad
as hornets. into the receiver. after
being kicked out by the microfarads.
| Many non-technical persons will be
| induced thereby to look up the word
| "microfarads." and maybe they will
| find out what it is, and maybe they
will not.
! Maybe It is radio nature taking.
| Perhaps II Is just like the tales con-
| corning little Johnny Bear, and what
happens when he meets Danny Mea-
dow Mouse.
| At any rate, it is interesting. and
| picturesque, two mighty desirable
| qualities in any writing.