RADIO'S EVOLUTION

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 807, 30 October 1929, Page 16

RADIO'S EVOLUTION

GROWTH IN DECADE THE ELECTRIC BOOM Many a memory can hark back to | the . earliest type of phonograph, an unsightly device with an exposed revolving drum to carry the wax cylinder, and an ugly tin horn which projected over the greater part of an ordinal"’ table. \Yhai a contrast may be found today in the neat portable, or the imposing cabinet that is ,an ornament as well as an instrument. A full quarter of a century has gone j into the evolution of the modern ! gramophone. In the modern home j it must be a piece of furniture, bar- i monising with surroundings, and as ! much a delight to the eye as its j earliest prototype was an offence to j the ear. A parallel has been estab- I lished by the radio set, but its evo- j lutionary processes have been more j rapid, for the lead given by the i gramophone designer has been easy to follow. The earliest radio sets, usually the product of the amateur constructor, were weird contraptions, fearsome in size and design, even though they were of only the humble crystal variety. A ten-year-old receiver raises today the c ntemptuous smile given by the owner of the latest sedan to the motorcar that ushered in the century. Design, and the catering for artistic taste as well as efficient performance have worked wonders in so short a time. Console or table model, a radio set has been changed by the technical man from within, and by the artist from without, so that in these times it appeals to both ear and eye. Faithful Service But it is thi’ough faithfulness of service that the receiving device has won triumph after triumph. Commencing as a freak, astounding from its novelty, and tantalising from its u reliability, it has grown to an instrument as reliable as the telephone, as entertaining as the gramophone, and almost as serviceable as the newspaper. Progress in wiring circuits and in types and capacities of valve has been continuous, but basic principles have remained, and it may be said that now the radio set has reached that stage in design and construction which has been attained by the motor-car. Each year brings little refinements, newer models, but no revolutionary changes. Older types become convertible for latest additions, for even the wonderful screengrid valve, with its astounding powers of amplification, can be adapted to sets built before this valve was conceived, and the utilisation of household current can be applied, directly or indirectly, to the receiver which originally functioned with accumulators and dry cells. Electric Era Today, however, the demand of the public has swung most emphatically toward something that will give performance without preparation, and so the Incidental worries of recharging batteries and replacing dry-cells have vanished. Research has produced the alternating-current valve, and with it, what is termed the "electric" set, though it has no greater claim to this title than its predecessors. So long as domestic current is available, the mere pulling of a switch brings the set into operation. It is fool-proof; but greater still in appeal, it requires : no technical knowledge to ensure its satisfactory working. This fact, more than any other, has accounted for the recent astonishing growth of the manufacture of broadcasting receivers. But a few years ago they demanded the care of the man who knew all about them, or, more often, who said he did. The man, in many a household, was barely in liis 'teens, and the set suffered in consequence. The rooted objection to introducing a receiver in a home has in most cases been the attention which it demanded, or was believed to demand. Even all that broadcasting could bring into the house would not weigh in the balance. Experience Unnecessary No longer does such objection hold good. The owner need know no more of the construction of his set than his wife does of the internals of her vacuum cleaner. The manufacturer has realised his goal—he has produced something that will do all demanded of it, and do it faithfully, for anyone who knows even nothing of its interior economy. So there has come the “electric” boom in radio. For three years it has swept America, it has carried its triumph through Britain and Europe, and now it is making its effect felt In New Zealand. That It has delayed so long in reaching these shores is fortunate for us. j The efficiency of the electric set, and its reliability, have been proved beyond doubt, and we are spared that stage of being experimented upon which is inevitable in the introduction of any new device. With the set itself has also developed that necessary adjunct, the loud-speaker. It too, has had to conform to the inevitable demand for tone and taste. The tinniness and harshness, of days gone by are with us no more, for the radio loud-speaker of today reproduces far more faithfully than *■’ es the average gramophone. The speaker too has become “electric.” supplied from the same source of household current, capable of all niceties of regulation in volume, and delivering truly the full range of musical tones that the ear is capable of appreciating. Thus, at one end of the wireNss wave, experiment and the application of its discoveries have produced an apparatus marvellous in its efficiency, ad fulfilling in its many styles, the requirements of every home. At least twenty-five million radio receivers are functioning in the world today, and this total has been reached within a decade. It will not be long ere the instrument which is both the ear and the voice of the globe will claim a strength fourfold its present one. Truly such achievement is worth chronicling by the historiap of the future. Ceuwnander Bryd, at Little America, in reporting on reception of programmes from various parts of the world, states that items from the broadcasting stations of Siam, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are fairly well received, but those from America and Holland are 25 per cent, superior to those of any other country. The former group of stations would be transmitting on the broadcast wave-band, but the American I station W-2XAD and Holland, PCJ, j would be transmitting on short- | waves.

him a host of explanation, and establish his reputation for veracity. The motorist armed with a movie camera can travel far afield, film his tour, and return home and show his less fortunate friends a living picture of his trip. On the beaches and on yachting and launching tours the amateur movie man will find much to record in a lasting manner, and in after years, when screening his efforts, he will recall with pleasure his holiday joys. AUCKLAND AMATEURS AT WORK FILMING AT WAIHEKE An impetus to amateur movie work in Auckland will be given by the news that in the near future there is a strong probability of amateur productions being shown in Auckland. Two enthusiastic amateurs, who possess a cinema camera, are reported to ijie engaged in producing a pirate picture, the scenes of ■which are laid at Waiheke Island. Another group of film enthusiasts is also making preparations to produce an Auckland picture. The scenario is now being written, and preliminary arrangements are in hand. It is expected that the preliminaries will be completed shortly and the actual shooting of scenes will then commence.