Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-19
In the Motor World
BY q. ADAMS HOWARD.

am, pm, pm, . pm. ana
pm.
The ferry leaves Claiborne daily
and Sunday, 8 am, 10 am, l pm,
pm, pm. and 7 pm.
The tins across the bay is about
/ hour and As minutes. Eastern
Shore roads are no longer of
oyster shells.
The Auto Radio.
Although the saturation point
has in no way been reached in the
radio industry, there is concert
ed effort to urge automobile own
erS to have them installed in their
cars. Some automobiles come
equipped with them. 1t will mean
more frCnt-Seat takers than
back-seat takers. Whether the
radio helps sell the car, or the car
the radio, is hard to decide.
According to one corporation
engaged in hooking up the radio
with the auto, experimental work
alcng this line has been made dur
ing the last three years, in which
time all of the difficulties incident
TO clear reception in a moving
automobile are said to have been
conquered. How the varying of
the cars direction as it winds in
and around curves can be kept
from affecting the reception is
not explained.
1t is not explained, either, how
the drivers attention is kept con-
centrated on driving his car.
Traffic officials are not in accord
with distractions to the driver.
Radio operation while the car is
being driven may be banned, as
onc-arm driving, in certain States.
It's use, however, marks another
epoch in the comforts of travel.
What wouldn't che of the old
pioneers have given for a radio in
the covered-Wagon days?
One manufacturer describes the
autO-radiO as follows:
Reception is claimed to be as
perfect as that obtainable with
the most expensive sets in the
quiet of the home. Special pat
ented construction completely
shields the receiving set from in
reference by the electrical units
necessary to the operation of the
automobile, which previously had
constituted the chief obstacle to a
satisfactory combination of the
automobile and the radio. With
out this shield construction every
flash of each spark plug would
produce a separate crash of static,
which at high engine speeds
would merge into a continuous
roar. Other new developments
have overcome the difficulties pre-
sented by the movements Of the
chassis and by the impossibility
of obtaining a ground by reason
of the rubber tires, which lnSulate
the car from the earth.
Parts Concealed.
"After installation all mechan-
ical parts of the radio are con-
cealed from view. The only Wis
ible evidence of its presence is re-
vealed by the speaker, which is
placed directly above the wind
shield, and by the dials, which are
carried in the center Of a specially
designed instrument panel, re-
placing the regular panel. Added
utility is provided by an extension
socket on the special panel. Into
this socket may be plugged an in
sulated 100-foot extension wire
connected to portable loud
speaker. This feature permits
use of the car radio at picnics,
camps, Summer homes, etc. The
car speaker and the extension
speaker may be operated either
separately or simultaneously.
IA lock independent Of the CO.
incidental ignition and transmits
sion lock on the car protects the
set from moleStation or tamper-
ing. other details of the inStalla-,
ton include an aerial concealed
within the roof of the car and a
waterproof and interference
proof case of B and c batteries
carried in a special recess under
the floor boards. A battery power
is obtained from the automobile
storage battery, the electrical
flow being so slight that it cannot
be registered by the ammeter..
"Such simplicity of construction
has been achieved in the new
automobile radio as to render it
practically foolproof. And this
same simplicity also is responsible
in great part for the low cost at
which it may be built and sold,
the automobile radio being less
expensive than a majority OF
hCme radio sets"