Radio Digest (Oct 1923-July 1924)

February 10, 192 % RADIO DIGEST — Illustrated fm COIN IN THE SLOT NEWEST NOYRTY "TUNES IN" MUSIC FOR BARBER SHOP PATRONS Dial Is Set, Button Is Pressed andPresto! — There's Your Concert WASHINGTON, D. C— A coin controlled Radio receiver just invented by D. J. Richardson of this city, is causing considerable comment here. The first coin controlled set to make its appearance is in a barber shop. The device presents unique features and ■differs from other vending: machines in that it assures patrons that it is in working operation before deposit of a coin. By setting a dial in accordance with the printed directions and pressing a push button on the box, programs, if any are being received, are heard. The pressing of the button also sets in action an interrupter which cuts off and on reception every few seconds and gives an intermittent effect to the program received. But One Control Used "When it has been ascertained, in the manner thus described, that programs are being received, the deposit of a nickel in a conventional coin receiver permits uninterrupted reception for a limited time. For the accommodation of patrons desiring longer service the device is equipped with an automatic announcer which, twenty seconds before the device cuts off, , flashes a red light and thus permits the patron by the deposit of an additional nickel to continue uninterrupted reception. Only one control or dial is used to "tune" the set. By its manipulation a volume extremely loud or exceedingly low may be secured. In reality the dial "tunes" nothing at all but merely controls the filament rheostat. Necessity Mothers New Wave Trap Invention Oatmeal Box, Pie Tins and Wire Successful WASHINGTON. — Necessity mothered another invention when Irving F. Hand of this city was forced to find an effective wave trap to keep WGY, Schenectady, tuned in while a powerful local station was operating. Mr. Hand is a Union College alumnus and WGY was recently broadcasting addresses by students and instructors of his Alma Mater. The local station blanketed out WGY. He improvised a wave trap using an oatmeal box four inches in diameter wound with thirty turns of wire in series with a condenser fabricated from two pie plates, separated by a piece of paper — and it worked. LISTENING IN FROM 'WAY UP NORTH By Vera Brady Shipman ANOTHER snow, resting heavily on the pine trees before its predecessor has thawed. A house party for the week-end is coming. They come by sled the twelve miles from the railroad station. I hear the sleigh bells as the team turns the last corner over the hill. Laughter as they unload. Greetings to the north woods in winter. You better be sure you wear your heavies, for it's cold up here. Guess I know how McMillan feels. Surely it's not more than 12 degrees from the North Pole here if he is 11 degrees from it. Let's turn on the Radio and dance. Adolph brings in a great log and another lies beside the fireplace, for we'll need it tonight. Tune in on WGY, Schenectady — they're playing a dreamy waltz. There's another — it's Cleveland WTAM, playing "Marcheta." The Drake, WDAP, and WJAZ, Edgewater Beach, of Chicago, play wonderful dance rhythm. You don't know how much you want a perfect rhythm until you try to dance to an orchestra 500 to 1,000 miles away. KFI, Los Angeles, is playing jazz; it's faint, but you can manage to catch its rhythm. WBAP, Fort Worth, offers "The Meanest Man in the World." (It must be the Hired Hand, he admits it — oh, is that the name of a new fox trot? Pardon me!). WMC, Memphis, in its weekly midnight frolic. Let's listen a while to KFAF, Denver, singing "It's a Good World After All" (but it's a cold one). WGR, Buffalo, has a reader giving Ben King verse. WCBD, Zion City, in a piano solo playing MacDowell's Concert Etude. WDAR, Philadelphia, from the Arcadia Caf6 playing "The March of the Wooden Soldiers." WOC, Davenport, has a group of musicians from Muscatine. Their quartette is singing "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes" (regular prohibition number). I tuned in on KPO, Hale Brothers, San Francisco, Monday night. Pinelli was playing an accordion solo, "Do, Re, Mi," by popular request. WOS, Jefferson City, has another jazz. Its Novelty Six has a wicked swing. We'll just have to dance that one. WHB, Sweeney, Kansas City, sends a soprano over the air singing a "Madame Butterfly" aria. And would you believe it? KDKA, "The World's Pioneer Broadcasting Station" (they say so themselves) sends choir and organ of T. Carl Whitmer's Pittsburgh church. I knew him eight years ago down in Arkansas, when he was on concert tour and I was on the same program. KHJ, Los Angeles, has a violin solo, "Nocturne," by Chopin, and a piano solo, "Norwegian Wedding March," by Grieg, followed by the eternal jazz. It's Art Hickman's orchestra — we'll just have to dance that, too! Troy, WHAZ, signs off with "Good morning, good night." WTAS, Elgin, is singing "Sleep" (it's time, too) ; and Cleveland, WHK, is playing "Home, Sweet Home" as a piano waltz. What's more befitting the end of a dance, a perfect day and a Radio night in the North Woods? ReduceTubes by Half Vacuum Alibis inERLKDuo Reflex Circuits Vacuum ^Tubes as Ordinarily Employed •— » With Erla Synchronizing Transformers 1 = 3 2 = 4 3=5 Nation Wide Loud Speaker Reception With Only Three Tubes Greater range and volume with fewer tubes than ever before are attained through Erla Duo-Reflex circuits, using Erla synchronizing radio and audio transformers. In Erla circuits, tubes do triple duty, as simultaneous amplifiers of received radio frequency, reflexed radio frequency, and reflexed audio frequency currents. Through accurate superimposition of currents identical in phase and frequency, by means of Erla synchronizing transformers, this triple function is flawlessly performed, resulting in tremendously magnified amplication without distortion. Even one tube provides excellent loud speaker reception over a wide range; two tubes blanket the zone ordinarily covered by four; while three tubes bring in stations on the loud speaker from coast to coast. Other notable improvements, contributing vitally to the superiority of Duo-Reflex circuits, are the Erla fixed crystal rectifier and Erla tested capacity condensers. Combining advanced characteristics for reflex work with unduplicated uniformity, they are indispensable to complete stability and purity of reproduction. Detailed diagrams and descriptions of Erla DuoReflex circuits are presented in Erla Bulletin No. 1 6. Ask your dealer, or write, giving your dealer's name. Electrical Research Laboratories Dept. A 2515 Michigan Avenue, Chicago Increased amplification and elimination of distortion inevitably follow installation of Erla transformers. Reflex and cascade types. $5 Erla audio transformers add tremendously to the purity and volume of any receiving unit in which they are used. Ratios 3K and 6 to I. $5 Crystal troubles vanish on installing an Erla rectifier. No adjustment required. Proof against jolt and jar. Lasts indefinitely. List $1 Jobbers — Sweeping success of Erla circuits fosters continually increasing demand for Erla products Write for terms and discounts. ZKlk