Evening star., 1926-06-20
CHEAP SETS LEND
TO POOR RECEPTION
Some Experts Point to Short
Wave Lengths as One
Cure for Ills.
BY CARL III. BUTMAN.

What is the matter with radio. or
more particularly. what is wrong with
distant radio reception? This Is the
question we nov hear asked nearly
everywhere.
Apparentlv there are several things
wrong, since admittedly reception
was not good either last Winter or
his Spring Some experts claim that
although we have practically perfect
"a receiving apparatus and transmit
ting sets, we know but little about
he radio waves themselves and their
variations or about static and other
forms Of interference and how to
avoid them. Their only encourage
ment is that time and thorough
scientific investigation will probably
solve the present problems. They urge
US 10 sit tight and accept the pro
grams of the best station we can get
clearly.
Others assert that we should be
using shorter wave lengths. bur admit
furt her experimentation must be car
ried out before we shift the broadcast
hand downward. one expert, our OF a
number who appear to think along
, l. he same line. ellis me there are too
1Gany high POI cred stations on the
air. the effect If their simultaneous
emissions in the upper reaches of the
reception of lesser powered stations
on ueighboring wave channels. He be
iieves that in the lower part OF the
hand there are so many stations we
rannot tune them in clearly no matter
how expensive or seleCtiNe a set we
possess.
ReceptiO Inferior Today.
-Four years ago with a twotube.
home -assembl, ,d receiver and very
short. crude aerial, this man says
he could get many good 0O0.Watt sta
lions readily, and was content. Now
he finds he needs several tubes ANA
a long antenna to get few lndlfrer-
entity we'll. High-FOWered stations, ne
points out. heterodyne each other ana
blanket other stations. The sharper
we tune them in the less perfect is
the quality Of the received program,
chiefly because we cut off the side
hands and lose some of the high notes
Of the inStrU mentS played
Give me an old regeneratiVe re
ceiver that doesn't tune too sharply.
set it up IN a location not close to
any high powered stations, and I'd
he happy. as far as radio reception is
concerned he said.
Today, with something like 535
broadcaSterS on the air, there are only
two good places for real radio fans
to live. according to this exponent of
yhe old days. One is in upper New
York State where the ia ms have only
one big station, WGY, which they
can avoid If they desire. Folks liv-
ing there. he believes. sit on the top
of the radio world. The other loca
zion is in the Southeast, far enough
from WSB at Atlanta to tune it out
when distance is wanted. This site
also is considered a reserve seat in
the theater ethereal.
Construction Is Cheaper.
Another of my radio friends claims
that the present vacuum receiving
tubes are not what they should be,
and that they do not compare well
with the tubes put out a couple Of
years ago. They get soft. he says.
out of two dozen tubes tested recently
by this fan, he only found six which
served his purpose. Many, he asserts,
were poor or not efficient on the radio
frequency end of the set, although
hey would serve for audio amplifica-
tion. Quantity production, he believes,
reduced the efficiency of modern tubes
The reduction in costs to purchasers
has been made possible only by cheap
er construction, which has limited
efficiency and quality.
Thus it is seen there are many rea-
sons why we don't get better recep-
ton; some of them such as the static
we can merely try to avoid, but we
can always try TO pick out good tubes
and sets and operate them properly
If we cannot locate our homes in regu-
lar radio sites. There may he q few
other ideal places in the far West,
he admits, but in the whole AIissis-
sippi Valley reception is bad. due to
The Clashing of signals from each
coast, which practically drown the
listener out We can tune in local
stations, anyhow, while awaiting
further improvements in the control
of waves and the radio in general.