Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-31
COMBINATION SETS
PROMISED IN FALL
Broadcast and Short Wave
Receivers to Have Slight
Additional Bulk.
BY MARTIN CoDEL.


Mysteries Of those upper reaches Of
the radio spectrum, the short waves,
i will soon be revealed to the average
radio listener when combination broad
cast and short wave receivers appear on
/ the market. At least one radio manu-
facturer has scheduled such receiver
for production this Fall, and others are
expected to follow the example of Euro
pean and even Canadian makers of
| radio sets, who for some time have
sold receivers coiled for wider tining
| ranges.
Home radio receivers now commonly
| in use are made to tune to the wave
lengths within the so-called broadcast
band which covers the frequency range
| from $500 to $50 kilocycleS (545 to 200
| meters). The new sets would tune in
| these channels, on which all program
| broadcasting is normally carried on in
| the United States. and also to the fire.
quencies from $50 to 10 kilocycles GOO
| to 10 meters). Extra coils and switch
over would accomplish this very simply
| and with very little addition to the bulk
of the receiver.
Vistas of Reception.
Entirely new vistas of reception will
thus be opened up for radio fans seek
! ing novelty and variety, for it is in the
| latter band that most radiotelephone
and rsdiotclegraph services exc conduct
| ed Since secrecy in radio comm mica
lions still awaits the perfection of
'scrambling" devices that will render
incoming signals unintelligible to all but
! the specially equipped, the curiosity
| seeker will find much to interest him on
the short waves.
If he knows code, he will be able TO
listen to telegraph conversations between
| ships at sea, ships and shore, Govern
ment radio stations in the United States
| and its Territories, etc. Except that
automatic high-speed transmission car
ries the messages so fast that the hui
! man ear cannot catch them, he would
] be able to listen to code messages be-
/ tween American stations and those of
| foreign countries.
| On the wave lengths reserved for ra-
| diotelephony he will be able to hear
| aviators talking to their ground stations
and the ground stations to them, police
stations sending instructions to squad
| cars, programs sent out via short waves
| from American and foreign stations and
destined for far-away reception, anna
| teurS converSing with one another, con-
| verSations over the transatlantic radio
telephone, ETC.
| However, unless he equips himself
with two Short-wave receivers he will
! have to content himself with hearing
I only one end of each conversation, for
| 1t always takes two wave lengths for
! two-wave telegraphy or telephony.
Moreover, he will not find the short
waves constant and free from such at
| mospheric effects as static and fading.
| In addition to that, short-wave listeners
in one part of the country will tune in
entirely different things from those in
| other sections because of the so-called
skip distance" effects of the short
waves.
Relay Broadcast Feature.
One of the most interesting features
of the short waves Is the relay broad
casting program. In this country there
| are 30 stations sending out programs for
reception abroad, Almost invariably
these stations are auxiliaries of broad
| cast tranSmitters and transmit the same
! program simultaneously on both an in
termediate and short wave Short
wave listeners out of range of the broad
| cast waves might be able to hear far
away broadcasting stations on the short
waves. Moreover. since the short waves
carry far, they will often be able to hear
the short-wave programs coming from
| foreign countries.
Radio Industries has long been urg-
ing radio manufacturers to step into the
combination broadcast and short-wave
receiver field. Says this periodical of
the radio industry:
There are too many good things and
thrills now on the air in the short-wave
band for set manufacturers to ignore
short-wave tuning. 1t is no serious en-
gineering feat to include a short-wave
tuner along with the usual broadcast
| tuner. And now that the super-hetero-
dyne circuit promises to gain greater ac-
ceptance among set manufacturers, since
r. c. A. has decided to grant patent
rights to licensees for this circuit as
well as for others, the possibility of in
Guiding short-wave tuning is all the
simpler.
For years past combined broadcast
and short-wave super heterodyne has
been made and sold in Canada. It has
had wide acceptance. Many American
radio fans have cast longing eyes on
their Canadian friends who could pos
sess one of those combination sets.
Here's hoping that some of our set man
ufacturerS also get to work on a combi-
nation broadcast and short-wave set,
thereby offering new receiver that will
be irresistible even in a hard-boiled
market"
--~-~-----------@-----