Evening star., 1934-06-17

static by very thoroughly shielding
the receiver. However, they can do
nothing to help the listener If the
interfering noise is picked up on the
antenna or lead-in wire. That part
of the installation is up to the listener
or the service man who is installing
the set.
Short wave receivers have come
into popularity in recent months
Such receivers are extremely sensi-
tive to disturbing influences and it is
almost an absolute necessity to pro-
vide modern antenna system to per-
NIT good reception with these receiv-
ers. This is particularly true in multi
family houses or in apartments and
especially SO in built-up sections of
the city. In some cases it is ques-
ton of no reception possible or very
good reception, depending upon
whether the transmission line an
tenna is used or not The writer lives
on the twenty second floor of a thirty
three-story apartment building with
many hundreds of refrigerators and
electrical appliances in the building.
Short wave reception was absolutely
impossible until a transmission line
antenna system was used. Now 1t Is
possible to receive clear and undis-
turbed programs.
"Broadcasting stations have expended
great deal of effort and money, with
frequent replacement Of apparatus as
the art progressed. for the purpose of
furnishing high quality transmissionS.
Also better talent and finer renditions
are being offered year by year. They
are therefore doing their share in
making radio more enjoyable to the
listeners. but it is a depressing fact
to realize that such large propor-
ton of radio installations are inca
pable of benef1ting by these improve
ments because the installations are
faulty. In many cases, of course, the
receiver itself may be the limitation.
1t may be of an obsolete type and in
capable of reproducing the fine quail
ity of the world-famous symphonies
and other talent. There is but one
solution in this case. and that is a
more modern receiving set.
Many Improvements Made.
During the last year or two many
Improvements have been made In
quality reproduction and therefore the
older receivers are failing to that ex-
tent. A very good way of testing this
Is to place modern receiver alongside
of the receiver under test and make
quick changes from one to the other,
noting the difference. You will find
that the new receiver has a wider
spread Of frequencies and reproduces
the lows with better fidelity as we'll
as brings in the overtones and higher
frequencies. The quality of a tone
depends upon the distribution of sound
energy between the fundamental fire.
quency and its harmonies, or over
tones. Therefore any cutting of of
frequencies by the receiving set will
impair the quality. Great strides have
been made along these lines in order
TO remove that differential between
the original sound and that which is
reproduced by the receiving set. With
modern receivers it is possible to dis
tinguish between Stradivarius and
an ordinary instrument.
1T is also a well-known fact that
with the increase in quality of repro
duction, it is necessary to cut down
the amount of interfering noise. A
high quality receiver is really more
susceptible to some noises than the
old type narrow audio band receiv-
erS. This can very effectively be
taken care of by substituting a mod
ern type of antenna described.
We hear much of the so-called
new deal To me this does not
only refer to our economic and polit-
ical life, but also to every factor
which concerns our lives. We need a
general house-cleaning once in
while during which We get rid of the
old junk which has been accumulat-
ing, both mental and material, and
start anew by utilizing ideas and
equipment which is modern and up
to-date. I feel that we need the
new deal as much in radio as in
other lines and believe the time is
ripe for general overhauling of the
radio installations, especially so as
the more progressive broadcasting
stations have already done their share
and have improved their quality
greatly. 1, therefore, suggest that we
have a Spring cleaning day during
which time it would be advisable to
put in modern up-to-date antennae
and check over equipment It will
amply repay time and effort ex-
pended"