GAS FOR H.T. SUPPLY

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 28, 27 January 1928, Page 5

GAS FOR H.T. SUPPLY

WXPERIMENTS IN PROGRESS. The chief trouble of most valve users is the high-tension, or B, battery. Nuwadays, with valves that are heated with an absurdly small current, the old, heavy and objectionable accumulator has almost disappeared, and with it the constant nuisance of recharging. instead we have a two, four or six-volt accuniulator of very small dimensions that will light the valves for perhaps @ month. But the high-tension battery is still, for many people, a big problem. One of the best solutions so far is the rectifying device which takes electricity from the house lighting mains, rectifies and transforms it, and then passes it to the receiver for application to the anodes of the valves. ‘This instrument (battery eliminator) consumes very little electricity indeed, and is in many ways a succesful solution of the problem, but unfortunately there are still people who haye no electricity supply in their homes and cannet, therefore, make use of the device. Iixpetiments are now being conducted with an instrament that may enable listeners to obtain adequate B battery supply from gas. ‘The principle on which the device works is thermo-elec-tric. Two electrodes of dissimilar metal are placed in a gas flame, and a potential difference is created from which a current of electricitv is obtained suitable for heating the valve filaments.