THE WHY and Wherefore Or POOR RADIO RECEPTION
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Modern radios are pack ed w ith features and refin ements that add immeasurably to radio enjoyment. Yet , no amount of radio improve - ments can increase th is enjoyment 'unless these improvements are u sed-and used properly . Ev en older radios are seldom operated to bring out the fine performance which they are WITH capable of giving . So , in justice to yourself and ~nninqhom the fi ne radio programs now being transmitted , ask yoursel f this questi on: "A m I getting as much enjoyment from my r ad io as possible?" Proper radio o per atio n re solves itself into a RADIO TUBES matter of proper tunin g. Yes , it's as simple as that . But you would be su rprised how few Hour aft er hour .. da y a nd night ... all ye ar people really know ho w t o tune a radio . In lon g . .. th e air is fill ed with star s who enter- Figure 1, the dial pointer is shown in the tain you. News broad casts ke ep you abrea st of middle of a shaded area . A certain station can be heard when the pointer covers any part of a swiftl y moving world . .. sport scast s brin g this shaded area , but it can only be heard you the tingling thrill of competition afield. enjo yably- clearl y and without distortion- Yet none of the se broadca sts can give you when the pointer is at dead center , midway between the point where the program first full sati sfaction unle ss you hear th em properl y. becomes audible and th e point where it fades That 's where your radio tube s ar e important . out. For tubes are the heart of your radio. So, in sure Mo st modern radio sets are equipped with a complete radio enjoyment, b y changing them tun ing eye indi cato r, better known as the "Magic Eye," which tells visually the exact at lea st once a year-and choose Cunningham position of the ideal tuning p oint . If your radio RCA Building, Radio City, New Yo rk. RadioTubes. Low in price, they is not equipped with a tuning eye ind icator, Home of National Broadcasting Company. assure the best in radio recep- you must depend upon deftness of touch as well as your sense of hearing. However, in The task of locating unknown stations is tion be cause they're built topre- order to a scertain the ideal tuning point, one considerably facilitated once you have jotted ci sion standard s in th e world's thing sh ould be remembered-never reduce down a number of dial settings. These settings greate st radio tube factor y! volume by d e-tuning-that is, by shifting the may then be used as reference points in d eter- dial pointer to the right or left of the ideal mining the relative p osition of the pointer for tuning point . Use the volume cont rol . unknown stations. If you r radio i s not op erat- in g prop erl y, see bac k cov er for re liabl e ra dio servi ce dea ler. Fig . 1. Tune correctly-it will Fig . 3. Above is shown a tun- repay you in increased rad io ing eye indicator or "Mag ic en joyment . Eye" which fac il itates in the Fig. 2. (right) . A modern radio proper tu ning of not only do- dial showing the various mesti c broadcast ing stations bands aver which are tran s- butshort-wave stations as well . mit ted short wave programs, hom aviation and po lice calls . ROUND THE WORLD C..,.;,e VIA SHORT-WAV E RtuJis Mos t of u s have long c heri shed th e des ir e to could onl y have b ee n in vente d b y th e wa rm · vis it foreign lands ... to br ea th e th e cle ar pu re blooded , lo ve -m aking La tin s. Mig ht b e o ne of mo untain air of the Tyro lea n Alps . .. to ru b several station s . .. Mex ico City, Lim a, or elbo'ws with hoode d n at iv es in th e c row ded Havana . here is th e a nno un ceme nt . str eets of Cairo . .. to s niff the pungent odors of "Egree - e y - gah - vay - see nkaw - eeray - say a t eeming Mexica n m ar ketplace ... or t o thrill (YV5RC ) . .. Caracas .. Ve nez uela." at th e weird Zu lu trib al ce remonies in S outh Is it getting in yo ur blood? O kay ... let's try Afr ica. a hard one .. bu t no t no w. Tomorrow morn - To many of us th es e exp erien ce s m ay be ing , earl y. Austr alia, half way aro und the just idl e drea ms . But whil e we' re waiting fo r world! You tri ed it once , and d idn 't get it? Too these d rea ms to co me true . .. let's try a s ub- bad , but that 's pa rt of the game . Let 's t ry stitut e-a s ubstitut e that will bo ost our again. Dial slo wly .. 9. 59 megacyc les . Ther e's im agin ati ons t o th e point where th ese dr eams something! Vol ume up ... Jehos haphat , what will se em like ac tu al re alities . "Wh at," y ou a screech ! It 's VK2 ME, S ydne y a nd the The beautifu l C anary I sland s is a nothe r ma y a sk , "is t his s ub stitute? " Fr ankl y ... the Kookaburra bird! quain t and picturesque stop on your answ er is-s horf-wave rad io. Tired of the regul ar broadcasts? Then "Short-Wave " journey . Soun ds a litt le far -f etched ... doesn 't it? let's switch to an ama teur phone band . Some - But ... here 's another, v ery faint. Tune him Well , let's tr y i t out , a nyway . times these am ate ur s p ut on a real sh ow. Here 's clo ser . There, t hat's better . Spanish ac cent, I Fir st ... le t's sw itc h on the ra dio. Now dial one , prett y po werf ul . 28 .5 megacycles. wou ld sa y. Yes, hear that? Dominic an Repub- slowl y thr ough the 25 -meter b and . Ah! .. What's he sa yi ng ? " Concepcion, Chi le . li c! An d h e's aski ng t he na me of the m an he Wait ... ther e's so mething . Chimes of a Fren ch EARTHQUAKE ... thousands dead and is tal king to i n Por tlan d, Mai ne. He's got the cloc k. Yes, i t must be. " le i, Pare e, Radio injured ... traged y! Help needed immediatel y last name , Jo nes . Bu t the first name . he From t he t epid banks of the N ile t o the Col onia le." Par is, s ur e e nough! Perhaps an ... all other line s of com mu nication disrupted ." fro zen wildernes s of Siber ia-all of this is wants it s pel led out. He's re pea ting afte r him your playA roun d vi a Sho rt-Wave. op era . .. o r a co medi enn e singing a funn y son g Yes, a t raged y the world c an never forg et ... ... "B-i -l-\ . Two 'l's'. Oh, Bee\ ''' (bett er bru sh up on yo ur Fr ench) ... or w orld- and you ar e o ne of the first to he ar of it.' But, our ti me is up, and we haven't eve n Newar k .. Fligh t 69 calling N ewark stirr ing news t hat enve lops histo ry in t he touch ed on aviation . "Flight 69 ca ll ing ack now ledg e," a sl ight pause, "OK Fli ght 69 making . this is Newark . .. Newark ca llin g Fl igh t Turn the d ial aga in . sl owl y . m ore 69 . .. ce iling unl imited v isib ility 30 m il es music? Y es, a pu lsat ing da nce rhy thm that ... ac knowl edge Flight 69 N ewa rk ;" ... or Polic e ... "ca lling all cars c allin g a ll cars ... ho ldup at Bainbridge Nat ion al B ank ... Br oad and F our th Streets ... callin g a ll cars." Yes ~ .. here is s om ething that will gi ve yo u a rea l thr ll\ . Now th at you 've tr ied it , a s ub st it ute for a wo rld cru is e b y short- wav e radio does n't so un d so far -fetched .. does it ? The c ontra st in archite ctural structure i s Areat between the ancient mo sques of Ca iro , Eg ypt (abov e) and th e C athedr al of St. Veit in Prague (riAht), but both are equally as interesting on your world cruise via Sho rt-Wave. SHORT·WAVE LISTENER St..ed /lfJo.w A complete discussion of short waves would Note: Diagrams 2 and 3 show only the west- wave reception.