Rele Ss an D RADIO REVIEW (16 'B Year of Publication) R1
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rele ss AN D RADIO REVIEW (16 'b Year of Publication) r1. No. 493, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH, I929. VOL. XXIV. No. 6 two particular patents necessary for the manufacture Editor: HUGH S. POCOCK. of ordinary broadcast receivers. About the same time Assistant Editor: F. H. HAYNES. a similar action was instituted by the Loewe Radio Editorial Offices: 116 -117, FLEET STREET, LONDON, E.C.4 Editorial Telephone: City Company, asking for a compulsory licence to use cer- 9472 (5 lines). tain Advertising and Publishing Offices: other Marconi patents, but as the " user " in this DORSET HOUSE, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C.4. case was restricted to the Loewe multi-stage valves, the Telephone: City 2847 (13 lines). Telegrams: "Ethaworld, Fleet, Loador.' issues involved were of somewhat less general interest. COVENTRY : Hertford Street. The 7'rtegrama: " Cyclist, Coventry." Telephone: Comptroller -General of the Patent Office ruled 6210 Coventry. against the Marconi BIRMINGHAM : Guildhall Buildings, Navigation Street. Company in both actions. In the Telegram.: " Autopreea, Birmingham.' Telephone: 2970 and 2971 Midland. case of the Brownie Company a compulsory licence was MANCHESTER : 260, Deansgate. granted to use the Telegrams: " Ilirte, Manchester." Telephone: 9970 City (4 line.%) circuits of the two patents in ques- GLASGOW: 101, St. Vincent Street, C.2. tion, on the basis of a royalty of io per cent, on the Telegrams: " Ilife, Glasgow." Telep: Central 4957. wholesale selling price of each broadcast receiver, sub- PUBLISHED WEEKLY. ject to a minimum charge of Subscription Rates: Home, 17s. 4d. ; Canada, 17s. 4d. ; five shillings on the first other countries abroad, 19s. 6d. per annum. valve holder and two shillings and sixpence for each Entered as Second Clase Matter at New York, N.Y. additional valve. A s many of the circuits and apparatus described in these pages are covered by patents, readers are advised, before snaking use of them, to satisfy themselves that they would not be infringing patents. The Effect of the Decision. Two points must be borne in mind in considering the CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE, effect of this decision. the PAGE In first place the Marconi EDITORIAL VIEWS 141 Company have now entered an appeal against it in the Two -CIRCUIT Two. BY H. F. Shorn .. .. .. 143 High Court, which is the final tribunal for actions of WHO'S WHO IN THE ETHER .. .. .. .. 149 this sort. PROGRAMMES FROM ABROAD.. .. .. .. 152 VALVES WE HAVE TESTED. TtsE MAZDA 4 -VOLT SERIES 156 In the second place the Comptroller's decision was CURRENT TOPICS .. 159 based, at least in part, upon certain special circum- NEW APPARATUS .. .. .. .. 160 stances peculiar to the Brownie Company. This is em- ONE METER MANY PURPOS CONCLUDED), By A. L. M. SOWERBY 162 phasised LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 164 by the following extract from the official READERS' PROBLEMS.. : .. .. .. .. 166 ruling " Although the conclusion at which we may arrive may logically involve the implication that the applicants (the Brownie Company) have established the MARCONI PATENTS. general case of prejudice to the trade of a class of The Present Position. persons, as well as prejudice to their own trade, we have in fact only one specific application CONSIDERABLE to deal with, doubt appears to exist in the and this decision can go no further than to define minds of manufacturers the of wireless receiving sets relief to which the applicants themselves may be en- and others concerned with Marconi patents as titled. " to what exactly is the present liability in respect of Implications apart, the legal effect of this is quite royalties, and so many enquiries are received on the clear and explicit. The ruling given in favour of the matter that we propose to outline briefly the present Brownie Company cannot be applied to an entirely in- position. Certain aspects of this matter are now sub dependent contract, such as judice, the A2 agreement, in which but a review of the facts in order of sequence the parties, the circumstances, and the considerations may help to clarify the position. involved are different from, and wider Formerly there than, those was a recognised flat rate of 125. 6d. brought into issue during the hearing at the Patent per valve stage payable to the Marconi Company under Office. the so- called " A2 " agreement, this amount being based For instance, one of the points on which the Brownie on the use of all or any of some thirteen patents relat- Company relied was the fact that under the A2 agree- ing to broadcast receivers. ment (which was offered them by the Marconi Com- A few months ago action was taken against the Mar- pany) they were required to pay a its. 6d. royalty on coni Company by The Brownie Wireless Company, who all valves, including those used alleged for low- frequency am- an abuse of the patent monopoly and asked for plification -which does not fall under relief in the any Marconi form of a compulsory licence in respect of patent. As the Brownie Company were already large A 19 www.americanradiohistory.com 742 `wApAsoo FEBRUARY 6th, 1929. WodIC manufacturers of this type of amplifier, it is obvious legal obligation of the signatories of the original Az that such a condition would press hard upon them. agreement to pay patent royalties on the scale set out This argument, which undoubtedly helped to influence in that document. Pending any further developments the decision in their favour, could hardly be urged with the Marconi Company, we understand, are declining to equal force by all the other licencees who have signed accept payment of royalties on any but their old basis the A2 agreement. of its. 6d. per valve stage Finally, the Brownie Company fought their case on O O O two patents, and two alone, namely No. 13,636 of .1913, ETHER CONGESTION. known as the " high- frequency reaction " patent, and No. 147, 148, covering the principle of grid -leak recti- Suggesting an Alternative Remedy. fication. The compulsory licence which they have N our last issue we referred to the proposals which gained (pending the result of the appeal to the High had been put forward for the special design of aerials Court) therefore applies only to the two patents specific- for broadcasting stations so as to endeavour to con- ally brought into question. Before it can be extended centrate radiation within the neighbourhood of the trans- to cover any or all of the other patents contained in the mitter, and we suggested that many of our readers might A2 agreement, a number of other considerations must consider that any advantages so gained would be offset be brought into account. If and when this is done, ff . by the disadvantages of inability to receive distant may be found that arguments which have been held stations, in the event of such a scheme being found prac- sufficient to justify the issue of compulsory licences with ticable and coming into use generally. respect to the two particular patents in question will not It would semi to us that if the number of stations in necessarily apply with equaFforce to all the other patents Europe is the cause of the (present congestion, then we embodied in the general Marconi licence. should endeavour to reduce the number and permit an On the whole, therefore, it would seem that the de- increase in power of the remaining stations. By so doing, cision of the Patent Office Court, apart from any in- and provided that the power was adequate, it would fluence it may have on the result of future litigation,, or surely be possible to give alternative British programmes as forming a possible basis for a new agreement by com- to this country, whilst leaving the foreign stations free promise between the Marconi Company and its licencees of interference so that they also could be listened to if as a body, cannot so far be held to have avoided the desired. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE PROGRAMMES ? lüiieüüürmniü IOU It.AAc nr.W.,soti Our artist suggests an answer to the question. A 20 www.americanradiohistory.com FEBRUARY 6th, 1929. WL'®11,so 143 G"/opMl By H. F. SMITH. Selectivity without Loss of Signal Strength. N the design of sets for amateur construction, there is aerial connections, the grid circuit will be recognised as too often undue reluctance to introduce refinements, the popular I combination of "` Hartley " detector and which, though desirable in themselves, may tend throttle reaction. Sensitivity is determined by the rela- slightly to increase operating difficulties. It is not the tive values of the semi -variable feed condenser and the purpose of this article to enter a plea for complicated reaction control capacity R.C. ; as the latter is reduced a receivers : on the contrary, the writer holds that no effort greater proportion of the total oscillatory energy should in 'the be spared to eliminate every complexity that fails anode circuit is passed back to the grid, thus stimulating to justify itself by conferring a definite and clearly per- reaction. The aerial circuit comprises ceptible the loading coil benefit. As the well -informed readers of this L and the coupling turns between the tapped connection journal are aware, there is no royal road to better recep- on L, and its earthed centre point ; these turns are tion ; improved results must be paid for, either in hard common to both aerial and grid circuits, and the coupling cash or in some other way. To take the question of between them is loosened or tightened as they are selectivity -an acute problem to the average wireless decreased or increased in number. In order that user the -there is probably no better way of improving the amount of energy transferred from L to L, may be fully performance of any set than by fitting a loosely coupled under control, an earthed metallic screen is interposed and separately tuned aerial circuit, which was included between the coils.