Radio Broadcast (May 1927-Apr 1928)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

w; 'ITHOUT repeating the old arguments which earn for radio the title "the ideal Christmas gift," we are certain that more people select a new radio at this season than at any other. The fundamentals of good selection do not change from year to year, but the improvements which come with each new season always bring with them new factors to consider when purchasing. Indeed, the constant improvement of the radio receiver leads some to await new developments, expecting some sort of radio millennium. Improvement will always continue in the radio art, and he who awaits perfection will neither purchase nor enjoy radio. Were the same policy followed with respect to the purchase of motor cars, some forty million people would still be walking because the ultimate automobile, after a quarter of a century has been devoted to development in this field, is not yet here. The radio receiver of to-day is a product which, both from the musical and technical standpoint, is capable of many years of service. I twill not be greatly outclassed in the musical quality of its output for a long time. In sensitiveness, selectivity, fidelity of reproduction, simplicity of control, and convenience of maintenance, it has reached high standards. In appearance, efficiency, compactness, simplicity of installation, and automatic operation, considerable progress may still be looked forward to, but none of these factors mean great changes in the fundamental output of the radio receiver, that is, reproduced musical programs. We have passed through the period of revolution and have come to the era of refinement in this radio world of ours. There is no longer any excuse for delay in purchasing a high-grade manufactured receiver. Maintenance convenience is the keynote of 1927's advances. The last word in installation instructions now is: "Plug the cord in the light socket, turn the set switch, and tune." This is indeed a contrast to the requirements of former years. There were antennas to install, batteries to connect with multi-colored cables, chargers to wire, power amplifiers to plug in, and loud speakers to attach. Between these two extremes, there are several stages of convenience, each of which is still represented in this year's products. The term "light socket operation," for example, is applied to power systems varying considerably in convenience, and is a very flexible term. It is advisable, therefore, to ascertain exactly what type of receiver and what degree of convenience you buy. There are several ways of powering a receiving set "directly from the light mains." Filament power might be supplied from a storage batterytrickle charger unit and plate power from a rectifier unit operating directly from the power mains; or both filament and plate power may come directly from the mains through a rectifier unit; in another case the filament power may be delivered directly from the line to a set using alternating-current tubes, through a step-down transformer, and plate power obtained through a rectifier unit. The field of usefulness for the storage battery receiver is far from exhausted. Its lower manufacturing costs give it a price advantage, at no sacrifice in attainable performance, over the alternating-current powered receiver. Because of lower cost, it is destined to remain in the SET SHALL I BUY? By EDQAR H. FELIX radio market for a long time to come. Magnetically controlled trickle chargers, which turn on automatically when the set switch is turned off, reduce the maintenance responsibility placed on the user of a storage battery to a minimum. Precautions against overcharging, and occasional filling of the cells with distilled water, are the only attentions required. Indeed, this type of storage battery receiver is often sold to the uninitiated buyer as the last word in socket power operation. Large storage batteries, used almost exclusively with receiving sets four and five years ago, are likely to require replacement after two to five seasons, the period of service depending upon the care taken of the storage battery by its owner, and the quality of the battery itself. Bear in mind, when such replacement becomes necessary, that the reliability of many an old receiver would be greatly improved by the purchase of a trickle charger outfit, a suggestion which may be of value to many persons desiring to give a Christmas gift costing twenty to thirty dollars. A device of interest to every storage-battery set owner is the "Abox," which may be substituted for the storage battery or trickle chargerstorage battery combination. The "Abox" requires no maintenance attention and operates on an entirely different principle from the storage battery-trickle charger combination. Other manufacturers are marketing devices similar in principle to the "Abox." Balkite might be cited as an example. A comprehensive article on A-power units, in which twenty or so A units were listed, and their characteristics noted, appeared in the November, 1927, Radio Broadcast, beginning on page 30 of that issue. TUBE POWER UNITS D ECEIVING sets having A, B, and C power supplied from vacuum or gas-tube rectifier units incorporated in the set, require nc maintenance other than renewal of rectifier tubes. There is no periodic adding of distilled water to battery or chemical charger, nor is there any other maintenance problem in connection with 21 1