Evening star., 1928-12-30
Behind the Microphone
BY THE RADIO EDITOR

| Therefore, our program for 1929
must be more service"
The most important radio news
since the frequency reallocationS
of November II in so far as Wash
ington is concerned, was the an
nouncement of WRC last week
that it's engineers are engaged in
installing a master crystal oScil-
lator in the transmitter equip
ment.
The new oScillator should i'm
prove materially the quality and
clarity of the stations signals and
keep them from wandering away
from the assigned 950-kilocycle
frequency. The crystal oscillator
is SO designed that as soon as the
signals go off the frequency 70
which they are adjusted, the
tranSmitter automatically ceases
to function.
1t may require a week or more
to complete the installation.
Some day man made static"
may be in a class that will put it
beyond the 12-mile limit as far as
the United States is concerned.
In many cities and towns local
lawmakers are looking aSkance at
disturbances that mar radio re-
ception with clicks and crashes.
They are passing ordinances max
ing it unlawful to operate within
certain hours electrical devices
which generate unwanted radio
frequency current because of de-
fects in equipment or because of
the nature of the apparatus.
Beatrice, Nebr., has been expert
encing difficulty with power line
noises whose source it had been
unable to find. Listeners there
appealed to the mayor and steps
have been taken to have the city
council adopt an ordinance cover
ing such interference.
x x x x
1t is generally known that GER
tain household and industrial
electrical appliances affect radio
reception. Among these disturb
ing elements are power lines,
trolley lines, small motors, eleva-
tors, X-ray machines, vacuum
cleaners and other such devices.
When the disturbance consists
of buzzeS, clicks or similar noises,
either steadily or at intervals, the
first thing to determine is whether
it is in the set or comes from out
side sources. A fairly reliable test
for this purpose is to diSconnect
the antena and ground from the
set and note whether the noise
continues or stops. II it diScon-
tinueS when the aerial and ground
are disconnected, the trouble
likely is due to some outside
source, otherwise it is in the set
or in a power line.
In many cases poor connections
in the receiver or the use of low
grade tubes may be responsible.
In such instances a thorough
checking up of the Circuit and con-
nectionS and the substitution Of
good tubes are the only remedies.
i X X
The influence of radio upon the
musical interests of the country is
revealed in statistics just made
public by the Census Bureau
covering the productionof musical
instruments.
The organ alone has retained
it's popularity in spite of inroads
of radio into the American home.
The production of organs last year
showed an increase Of 81 per cent
over 1925. The value of the out
put at the factory was $l4, ,262, ,688.
Pianos, on the other hand fell
off 20 per cent over the preced-
ing census of manufacture.
The outstanding barometer of
radio influence, however, is shown
to be the phonograph record. AS
was true with the publication Of
sheet music, records show all
enormous increase. Last year the
American public spent more than
$5O,Oc0, 900 for records. The census
report shows that more than
100,000,000 records were manu-
factured-an increase of % per
cent over 1925.