Radio broadcast .. (1922-30)

(Continued from page 289) placed the series cathode resistor the noise cleared up." Safes Dope for Servicemen BRUCE J. WOODWARD, service chief with Burcher's Battery and Electrical store in Honesdale, Pa., sends the following tip on how to replace antiquated receivers with the help of diplomacy: "In this territory most of our custom- ers are people of limited means and it is very difficult to sell a new set to a person who already has a set. No matter how obsolete the set may be they will not trade as long as the set will pick up stations. If a salesman calls on a person who has one of these old sets he will be told that the present set is satisfactory and sounds bet- ter than many of the new sets. It is a fact that a person will become accustomed to a peculiar kind of distortion and believe it to be perfect reception. "As soon as something goes wrong with one of these obsolete sets and a serviceman is called in, he has a good opportunity to make a sale without entering into any argument with the customer as to the rela- tive merits of radio sets. "When I am called in to service an ob- solete set and find something wrong which cannot be fixed in a few minutes, I always take the set to the shop and loan the cus- tomer a modern set until the old one is fixed. In many cases this results in a sale. "To illustrate, here is a typical example —A lady owned a Model 20 Atwater-Kent set. She called me in to service it. I found that her storage battery was worn out. She had electricity so I suggested that she buy an up-to-date electrified receiver. She told me she could not afford a new set and anyway she was well pleased with her old set. I sold her a new battery and forgot the incident. Less than two months later I was called to service the set again. This time I found the by-pass condenser shorted and the 'B' batteries ruined. Without saying anything about a new set I told her how much the job would cost. She said fix it. I told her I was very busy and would not be able to fix it for a few days, but that I would loan her a set while hers was being repaired. " I brought her a late model electric set, explaining it was much easier and quicker to hook up than a battery set. I showed her how to operate the set and left with- out giving any sales talk at all. Two days later the lady called the store and said she wished to see the serviceman. I called and sold her the set. She told me she had not dreamed there could be so much diff- erence in radio receivers. BOOK REVIEWS PRINCIPLES OF RADIO, By Keith Henney. Published by John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1929. 477 pages, 306 il- lustrations. Price: $3.50 Speaking as an occasional reviewer of radio books, the opinion is offered that adverse criticism does not necessarily arise from the mean motives which fill the yellow papers and the green maga- zines. Some books are so badly written that comment must be either adverse or dishonest, and most of us prefer not to lie publicly. It is, therefore, very pleasant when one is so lucky as to come upon a book which permits speech that is both honest and favorable. The writing of this review of the Principles of Radio is accordingly a pleasure. The author's viewpoint from the labora- tory and editorial desk of RADIO BROAD- CAST seems to have been unusually favor- able for he has avoided altogether those standard defects which vitiate the useful- ness of nearly all radio books. Thus we are spared the customary platitudes; we need not yawn through a rehash of the wonders of radio, we are spared an intro- duction, and the preface is 16 lines long. Even more! We are not (this is really very hard to believe)dragged to the edge of the traditional frogpond and made to observe the ritual ripples on its ancient and scummy surface. Having decided to speak of radio—- which is electronic—the author forthwith does so. The electron appears in the sec- ond sentence and remains through the en- tire performance, not in an unseen chorus behind the scenes but as an active member of the cast, along with the rheostat, the ammeter, the tube socket, etc. Plainly, a moderate amount of well- explained mathematics can replace a huge quantity of talk about radio theory. Most books have instead slunk swiftly through the subject under cover of a thin fog of generalities called a "non-mathematical treatment," or else have solemnly buried the subject past all hope of resurrection under a ponderous mass of obscure calcu- lations. The present book is mercifully free from either extreme. The mathematics are as simple as is expedient. Where it is convenient to show the derivations that is done; where it is better to show only the final formula as a working tool that is done without apology and with the mean- ing of the symbols clearly slated, a practice so novel in the troubled literature of the art as to be almost heretical. Furthermore, the same system of electrical units is used throughout the book, the author not find- ing it necessary to demonstrate either erudition or indolence by the usual un- profitable variety of standards. The illustrations are numerous, clear, pertinent, and (again your credulity is to be taxed) placed adjacent to that part of the text which discusses them. For this alone many sins could be forgiven, al- though there is no need. The problems and examples are alive and not fossiliferous. One meets the ux- 227, not the obsolete vx-14 or the obscure p-20. There are a great many such prob- lems and examples, nor are they of the variety sometimes used as filler. Where there is a curve it relates to some- thing existant, not to the customary un- known or "purely illustrative" device. ' It is hard to express the elevation of the spirit which results from this transfer out of the area of the academic and bygone to that of the actual and existant. Indeed, if adverse criticism were to be offered it would be in the mild form that the title of the book might well have been extended to read "Principles of Badio and their Practi- cal Application."— BOBEHT S. KBUSE. New York-Chicago Circuit The Universal Wireless Communication Company announced late in January the opening of a New York-Chicago circuit. The New York Office is located at 130 West 42nd Street. Rates are arranged on the same basis as domestic telegraph com- panies with the exception that the mini- mum is 15 rather than 10 words. Service Companies Merge QRV Radio Service, Inc., 155 West 72nd St., New York City, recently pur- chased the service business of Rossiter, Tyler & McDonnell, Inc., of 136 Liberty St., New York City. The business and good will of Factory Radio Service in New York City has also been acquired by QRV. NO NOTE CAN ESCAPE Thordarson POWER AMPLIFICATION Realistic reproduction for all occasions . . . and in every circumstance ... that's what Thordarson's new line of complete Audio Amplifiers means to the listening world. And noth- ing short of actuality in sound reproduction will be accepted today. Thordarson Amplifica- tion Equipment Means Consistent Audio Excellence The engineering laborato- ries of Thordarson ... with years of research and expe- rience behind them ... have succeeded in solving the problems of sound repro- duction. And with the utmost in manufacturing facilities, the most exacting specifications are faithfully and effi- ciently fulfilled. Why not make use of Thordarson engineering service in your work? We can give you installation suggestions that will make your work easier and more profitable. Transformer Specialists Since 1895 THORDARSON ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY Huron, Kingsbury and Larrabee Streets Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A. «ie • RADIO BROADCAST FOR MARCH • 291