Evening star., 1935-05-26

Old Joe Static and His Orchestra" F"
as the Summer programs often were
labeled in the adolescent days of
radio, have been pushed aside-al-
most, at least. There are two main
reasons for this. First, signals emit
ted by modern stations are far more
powerful, for the most part, than
those of a decade ago; and they are
more efficient, too.
Second, the old-time regenerative
set, with its whistles and squeaks,
had nothing like the power that the
up-to-date receiver boasts. In the
ancient squealers the Juice" had to
be turned on to the limit to pick up
the broadcast signal. And as the
power was increased the static came
roaring in louder and louder. Finally,
It got to the point where the hopeful
listener gave up in disgust
Naturally enough, the stronger
broadcast signals sent out by stations
and the increased efficiency OF re-
ceivers in picking them up have
teamed together to cater to the best
interests of the listener. So, with a
comparatively small amount of power
in use, the modern set can produce
highly satisfactory reception except
when static is at its worst.
The old-time listener, more of a
DX-er than the modern fan who en-
Joys the luxury of de luxe equipment,
could dodge lot of static by tuning
his dials just short of the oscillation
point. Such reception. however,
would not be endured by the 1885
listener, who listens for entertainment
and enlightenment rather than to
satisfy the curiosity that accompanied
pioneer broadcasting.
"A TIP to radio fans that will help
~ their Summer reception is
offered by the experts, and it
really is rather simple. They suggest
that the ground be looked after. The
ground connection preferably should
consist Of metal plate, or plates,
sunk deep enough below the surface
to be in the moist subsoil. A length
of pipe will serve sp1endidly if it is
sunk deep enough. OF course, the
apartment dweller still must hitch to
the bathroom pipes or the radiator,
but the house occupant can improve
his ground with little trouble Few
fans realize that most of the good
signals their sets pick up are ground
waves. rather than the sky waves.
With warm weather comes another
radio trouble that usually can be cor
rected with little effort. That is the
interference from electric fans and
refrigerators. Appliance makers are
progressing in their effort to stop
this interference, but there are
plenty of motors around American
houses that produce reception-spoil-
ing sparks.
One way of getting rid of this an
noyance is to attach a simple little
filter, with the outer connections
placed across the motor brushes and
the center connection grounded to
the motor frame radio man can
do this in Jig time.
If the filter fails to do the trick the
next step is to connect an interference
filter to the line cord of the radio set
This will keep noise from entering
through the power line, which is the
usual carrier of such noise. There are
several types of this second kind of
filter and little experimenting us
ually is necessary. Dealers often sell
line filters on trial basis.
THE President and Mrs. Roosevelt
L seem to be the No. / Mr.. and
Mrs. Radio Speaker. Every micro
phone appearance they make seems
to enhance their rating in the eyes of