Evening star., 1926-05-31
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES +. TRACEWELL.

| home. he has placed a gigantic pole.
unpainted. which he has guyed to the
| caves with at least ~ wires. sprawling
out In all directions like the web of
some untidy spider.
The lead.in wire, thick and black
| he has trailed down over the front
of his house. not neatly, along some
perpendicular plan, but in an un-
| slightly, jagged loop.
| We have always regarded this in.
stallatiOn as the worst we have ever
! seen, not only from, an aesthetic
standpoint, which concerns the neigh
borhood (and ought to concern the
owner). but also from the viewpoint
Ut radio efficiency.
| In the first place, there was no par
ticular gain in placing the pole inme-
diately on the peak of his front roof
line, where 1t glares forth at all
I,assersby. lie could have got suffi
cient electrical length by placing his
| pole at the rear of his home, as he
/ has a long back yard.
In the second place. his messy guy
wires are totally unnecessary, as six,
at the most, would have served all re.
quirements. No doubt he desired to
place his set in his living room. and
heard that n short lead-in was best.
but evidently did not know that the
sidered as part Of the total length Of
the antenna, in which length the
ground wire also figures.
We could take this gentleman a
short distance from his own home and
show him another antenna which may
be considered a model, not only from
the viewpoint of efficiency, but particu-
| larry from that Of appearance.
This second antenna post, painted
| white, Is installed OH the center ridge
point of the garage, and IL braced
with exactly four guys, SO placed that
| the maximum stress Is taken of the
forward pull Of the antenna proper.
This fan" has used a N-shape an-
| tenna, which probably does not give
| him much more volume or distance
than single wire would have done,
but which form he chose, evidently.
| because he felt that his distance in
| q straight line was too short. Count
| ing his lead-in, however. and his
| ground, he no doubt has sufficient
| length to pick up all his set can
| handle.
The result Of his installation is an
antenna Of beauty. II any antenna
can be regarded as a work Of art.
| For three years now the winds Of
| Winter and the suns Of Summer have
done their best to tear down this an
| tenna. with absolutely no results
whatever. for it stands there as
| firmly and as trim az 1t did the day
| it was put up.
Any one who has seen this install
| lation knows that there is no neces.
sity for an antenna being ugly.
X Il Il X
| Yet within plain sight OF that good
| antenna, a householder has nailed a
piece Of unpainted scantling to the
| side Of his porch, facing down street.
| He might have placed 1t in a posi-
ton where it would not show so
much, but for some reason choose
| the conspicuous point.
II one can not exactly hitch his
| antenna to a star at least he can
get a suitable pole, and paint it some
| proper color, perhaps white, or a dark
| green or gray.
He can see to it that he cuts down
| his guy wires to the minimum. and
| above all. he can take pains. for the
| sake OF the neighbOrhOOd, to think OF
| the appearance of the street az a
whole. In the rear of houses there
ought to be some latitude IN this mat
ter, but from the street nothing
should be done to mar the appearance
in any way of Beautiful Washington.