Radio Digest (July 1924-Apr 1925)

RADIO DIGES T— Illustrated February 14, 1925 LICENSES FAIL WITH LISTENERS AVOIDING ENGLISH ARE PUZZLED BY NON-PAYING LISTENERS Believe Three Times as Many Set Owners Exist as Pay — Problem Irritates Officials LONDON, England. — How many "pirate" listeners are there in Great Britain? That is the question that is puzzling the British Broadcasting company, which relies for its entire revenue upon a percentage of the license fees. Radio "pirates" abound in their thousands. The estimates of people who are supposed to know, place the number of persons using receiving sets without a license at no less than 2,000,000, or twice the number of persons with licensed sets. "While this may perhaps be going too far it is undoubtedly a fact that there are many towns in England where for every licensed listener there are two unlicensed. Only a few days ago a station director found out of 1,200 letters on a certain broadcast topic only about sixty were signed, indicating that they had come from license holders. Conscientious Objectors Object It is felt that the enactment of new legislation covering this contingency is needed. Many fans are refusing on principle to pay the license fee, declaring that strictly in the law broadcast licenses are illegal under the particular act of parliament by which they were brought into being. But it is unfair that one section of the Radio public should be paying for the entertainment of another section that refuses to admit its liability to pay. One fan, however, points out that he would willingly take out a license if he listened to British programs, but states that as he only listens to Continental programs, he owes the B. B. C. nothing. (Note. — At present the annual license fee which all British fans must pay is $2.50, one-fourth of which is retained by the post office.) French Lessons Swell Class CINCINNATI, Ohio. — Madame Ida Tcimpidis, teacher of French at Crosley WLW, has a number of interesting letters from her pupils in all parts of the land who have been following her lessons. LAST TUBE PATENT EXPIRES NEXT WEEK THE second and last basic patent on the three electrode vacuum tube expires Wednesday, February 18. What will happen to tubes as a result of competition will be the source of much delight to Radiophans, it is believed. In this connection what is believed to be the first Radio tube is shown in the above picture. It is being held by C. W. Mitman, curator of engineerirg at the U. S. National museum at Washington, and was made in 1898 by D. McFarlan Moore of New York city. Radio impulses from this tube ignited a bomb a city block away and blew up a miniature of the battleship Maine. New Broadcasting Chamber for Station WHA Musicians MADISON, Wis. — A new broadcasting chamber in the music hall has been fitted up for broadcasting musical programs from Station WHA, University of Wisconsin, in addition to the regular broadcasting room in Sterling hall. The choral union and the university orchestra are now using the new music hall room, and regular programs are being also sent out at the station headquarters. Why it is Better 'TWT ASTER of Every Note in the Orchestral Range" is the proven claim of the Federal No. 65 Audio Frequency Transformer ! Volume without distortion is the basis for the beauty of Federal Tone. From its oversize locking nuts to its heavy brass mounting feet the Federal No. 65 Transformer incorporates the same engineering skill that has made Federal the recognized leader in electrical communication apparatus since 1890. Insist upon Federal parts for your "pet" hook-up. 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