Radio age (May 1922-Dec 1923)

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22 RADIO AGE— "THE MAGAZINE OF THE HOUR" Questions and AnsAvers Free Special Service Department, Conducted by Frank D. Pearne For prompt replies by mail, readers should enclose self-addressed and stamped envelope with their inquiries. C. P. J., St. Louis, Mo. Question: I built a Reinartz receiving set, as per your diagram in last months Radio Age. I am not having any results with it on long distance stations. If I get any long distance stations, there is a howl or whistle in the coil or tube all the time. If I put my hand near the dials, or tuning switches, it makes the noise worse. Sometimes I can put my hand in a certain place and if I hold it there I can tune the stations in, but rs soon as I move my hand, it will start to whistle. I have a two-strand aerial about 30 feet long. I have got the 23 plate condenser on the ground side, with the rotating part hooked to the ground and I have got the 43 plate on the aerial side, with the rotating part hooked to the aerial. I have got a .0005 grid condenser hooked between the grid and the coil and I am using a U. V. 200 detector tube. I am not using any amplification at all. Could this be my trouble? If I use a crystal coil in series with the aerial to the tube set, I can get pretty good results. If I do not use this coil, there is a howling noise all the time. I get KSD loud enough to hear all over the room from the phones, without the crystal coil. The crystal coil just works good on long distance stations. Answer: I think that you can stop some of the howling by lining the back of your panel with tin foil and connecting it to the ground. You can cut away the tinfoil at any place where the instruments on the panel might touch it. Nothing should come in contact with it but the ground wire. If you put your hand near the coil, the whistling would probably cease, but it should not be necessary to use the hand at all. You will find that in getting long distance stations, the rheostat of the detector ube is the most sensitive of all the adjustments. This really should be of the vernier type. I have found it impossible to get distance with these sets without turning down the filament rheostat to a much lower point than that used for local stations. Your statement about the addition of the crystal coil is interesting. This of course adds inductance to your set and would tend to show that there are not enough turns on it. The fact that you don't need the coil when getting local stations means nothing, as at close range the tuning is so broad that you could get them even though there are not enough turns on your coil, but with distance stations it is different. Here you need sharp tuning and if the wave length of the coil was too low on account of not enough wire you would have trouble. You do not need your amplifier to bring in distance, as it will only intensify those sounds which are brought in on the detector. If you are sure your winding is correct according to the drawing, I would advise you to wind another coil, using a few more turns in the aerial and grid coils. F. L. G., Chicago, 111. Question: I have been doing considerable experimenting using the Reinartz circuit described in a late issue of the Radio Age, and have obtained some wonderful results on short wave work. What I would like to know is, can I load this circuit sufficiently to get the large commercial stations, say from 5,000 meters up. If so, where is the proper place to insert the proper inductances? I am planning on using honey-comb coils. Will I need an extra coil in the feed back circuit, that is, in the 60 turn coil? Answer: This tuner can be loaded very nicely. It is best done by adding a switch point at the beginning of the aerial coil. This is just adding one more contact which is not connected to the coil. Another extra switch contact is added on the extreme end of the grid switch, but not connected to the coil. A honey-comb coil is then connected across these two contact points, with a tap taken off about three quarters of the way from the end on the aerial switch. This tap is then connected to the ground. No additional connection is used on the plate, or tickler coil. With the two switches on these new points long wave reception can be obtained. The length of the waves so received will depend only upon the number of turns in this exterior coil. Several of these may be made, making it possible to tune in on several different wave lengths. F. G., Pittsburgh, Pa. Question: Can a spider web Reinartz tuner, as given in Radio Age in September, be used with a Galena Detector and W D 11 tubes (2 of them) as amplifiers with loud speaker attached? If so, what distance would this tune up to? Give hook-up, stating what batteries, kind of transformers, etc., I need. If Reinartz tuner won't work, with crystal detector and W D 11 tubes, what tuner would you recommend? I have at present a double slide tuner, ' with fixed condenser and Galena detector. What would the probable life of the batteries be for WD 11 tubes? If Reinartz tuner works, with WDll tubes, would it improve it to have a WDll tube before the Galena detector, as well as the 2 after? I am told that the WDll tubes give a smoother tone than the regular vacuum tubes. Is that so? Answer: The Reinartz tuner can be used for this purpose, but I would advise the use of the long distance crystal set described elsewhere in this issue. The volume will not be so great as would be obtained with the larger tubes but it could be used with a loud speaker. The wave length could be anything you want, depending upon the number of turns on the yario-coupler, and the distance might be anything up to 100 miles, or more. By putting one of these tubes ahead of the crystal, greater distance could be brought in. The WDll tubes do give a very smooth reception and many users say that they are much better than the larger tubes for detectors, but as amplifiers, they work well, but do not have the volume of the larger tubes. One dry cell will run a tube of this kind for about three months if used for one hour every day. If you use three tubes, three cells connected in parallel would run them for the same length of time. W. S. J., Ouincy, 111. Question: I am much interested in the Armstrong super-regenerative circuit built by Mr. Paul B. Coats, as described in the September number of Radio Age. I have had but little experience in building sets and fear the chances for success would be very small, unless I had the assistance showing the arrangement of instruments on panel, etc. Could you give me a sketch of same? The circuit looks very simple on paper, but I learn from wise heads that such is not the case with anything super-regenerative. Would it be feasible to build the circuit with unit panels, such as Sears Roebuck & Co., adding the extra condensers, etc.? Answer: I am very sorry that I have no panel layout for the Armstrong super-regenerative set which you mention. There are some two or three dozen of these circuits out, and the panels for each one would have to be different. I am sure, however, that if you would write to Mr. Coats, he would oblige you with a sketch of the panel which he is using. His address is 336 W. 47th St., Chicago, 111. Very few amateurs have been able to make this circuit function, or very few experts for that matter, and those who have done so, say that there are many other circuits which are better for receiving distance than the Armstrong super. The panel arrangement which you mention, would be a very good idea, as it would enable you to try out many different circuits by changing the units about. Send $1.00 to Radio Age, 64 W. Randolph Street, Chicago, and receive this middle-west radio periodical for six months. Regular subscription price is $2.50 a year.