With Dealer and Customer

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 28, 27 January 1928, Page 2

With Dealer and Customer

Getting Together To Solve Radio Problems

iigeraseey ADIO dealers of -experi(aR Nail ence are looking forward. Wl to a first-class boom in radio throughout New Zealand during the ensuing winter. It is in winter that radio comes into its own. The summer months possess so many counterattractions that broadcasting has to | struggle against odds. The warm summer evenings entice people out of doors, and many folk will go to theatres and concerts in the summer, whereas in winter they prefer to remain in the comfort of their homes. Then it is that broadcasting provides a delightful diversion, means of enterfainment, hobby-or call it what you will, The wise dealer will now put on his thinking-cap, and decide what stocks he will require. Past seasons offer a good basis when he is drawing up his buying plans. It is poor policy to be caught short on some lines, and the dealer must now exercise good judgment unless he is to have cause for regret. Strange though it may appear, practically all New Zealand has experienced famines in. some lines during past winters. The trouble is due, sometimes to the wholesale houses not sending forward their orders soon enough, and consequent late delivery leaves the retail trade high and dry. Some lines of eliminator valves have been sold out lately, just to cite one instance. A BRINGER OF BUSINESS. A GOOD opportuniity is offered some of the larger radio houses in the cities of New Zealand to advertise that they will give absolutely free advice on all radio troubles, by personal interview. The experience gained in the answering of correspondents’ questions, and, where special conditions make it necessary by letter, the questions sent in by harassed :et-builders, show that some method of personal contact with the inquirer is often desirable. This is due to two things. Firstly, the querist does not always possess sufficient tech"nical knowledge adequately to state his troubles; and, secondly, many who wish to avail themselves of technical advice find great difficulty in writing sufficient cata upon which the extent of the trouble can be based The personal interview is the most expeditious and satisfactory means of helping the radio public, and a radio house which employs an efficient man will find a steady increase of business by adopting this plan. Some _ radio —

dealers in the United States are doing a roaring trade through giving personal free advice to- the listening-in public. Here’s a good bringer of business . Radio reception for many listeners is spoiled by . trifling maladjustments of the receiver. This state of affairs is ucually very easily remedied, but the ‘set owner is often puzzled to determine the location of the trouble. If he were encouraged to call at a dealer’s for free advice he would gladly avail himself of the offer. CORRECT NEUTRALISATION. NO doubt exists in the minds of experienced listeners that much of the "howling"? valve nuisance is due to neutrodyne or Browning-Drak2 sets which are incorrectly neutralised. It kehoves every radio dealer to see that | each mneutrodyne or Browning-Drake set- which ne sells is correctly neutralised with the valves he sells with the set." Some neutrodynes have arrived in New Zealand with ‘their neutvalising condensers soldered in position so that they will ‘"‘stay put.’? Now, this is clearly an error of judgment upon the part of the makers, for it is well known that owing to the system of mass ptoduction valves of the same make and type vary in characteristics. Therefore if a set is correctly neutralised under test in the factory it is not probably that it will be properly neutralised when it is sold in New Zealand with a different set of valves in it. Before a set is finally handed over to a purchaser the dealer should see that it is correctly neutralised, and he should also warn the purchaser not to change the positions of the valves. Some buyers are intelligent enough to be shown how to neutralise their "sets if through some emergency it has been found necessary to place different valves in the radio-frequency stages. It is doubtfess true, however, that the majority of those neutrodynes. or Browning-Drakes which create the "howling" vaive nuisance are home-built. AVOID TECHINICAL TERMS. } S a plain matter of common-sense radio dealers and their salesmen should rigidly avoid the use of technical terms when discussing their goods with a prospective buyer who admits he 1s a complete novice. Some of the most experienced men in the radio business are the worst offenders in this respect. There is nothing more likely to put a possible buyer off purchasing than to be inflicted with a long string of incomprehensible terms which are meaningless jargon, confusing and ¢al(culated to give the impression that radio is a highly technical affair necessitating deep study and abnormal abil- — i

ity. To a novice, radio talk should be readily understandable. ‘There is really nothing necessary for a beginner to understand which cannot be couched in the plainest terms. An "expert" whose thoughts habitually run along highly technical lines should climb down from his pedestal, put himself in the place of his prospective customer and speak in the "baby"? language of radio. It wiil.mean no loss of dignity to him, and will capture a customer. The other day a city radio shop was the scene of an incident which bears out the above. The salesman was intormed by the novice that he ‘‘knew nothing about radio." ~The salesman produced a radio set and then cut loose on ‘neutralising condensers," ‘‘anode potential,’ "C battery bias," etc., etc. After listening to about ten minutes’ fload of this sort of oratory the wouldbe purchaser meekly asked, ‘What do you mean by the ‘A battery’ ?" CIRCUIT DIAGRAMS. OOD business methods should prompt radio deajets who sell "kits to provide a circuit diagram with each. Many a purchaser of Browning Drake kits has been disappoiuted on opening up the parcel at home to find that the makers have not enclosed a diagram of the Browning Drake circuit. A "block" of the Browning Drake circuit can be made for a few shillings and some hundreds of prints from the "block"? would cost a few shillings more. If the trader is disinclined to give the printed diagram of the circuit free to each purchaser of a kit he will find that no buyer will refuse to pay sixpence for the print. Those who stock kits whose tuinover

is not big enough to warrant the cost of a "hlock" and printing of the diagram could, instead,. have a_ welldrawn diagram on view in their shops so that "‘kit?? purchasers could draw their own copy of the diagram. Such details as these are invaluable aids to business popularity, which means goodwill and incidentally profit to the deate1, OUTPUT UNITS. No conscientions radio dealer will sell a set with more than 90 volts B battery without advising the purchaser to use an output unit between the londspeaker and the radio set. One of the finest and probably largest loudspeakers yet sold in Wellington bad the wiring in the cctls burnt out thiongh excessive B battery veltage. The loudspeaker unit is now ou absolutely necessity for horn-type as well as the cone-type loudspeaker. The ontput unit prevents the voltage from the B battery passing through the coils in the loudspeaker. One maker contends: "Just as fuses are placed in an electric circuit to prevent undue load being carried by the conductors, so should a filter circuit of an output unit be an integral part of every radio set, in order that only the useful speech enrrents reach the loudspeaker. Such an addition is a refinement which becomes an absolute necessity with a cone loudspeaker, or if a super-power valve is used in the last stage " SOLDERING WARNINGS. VE serviceinan should exercise great care in attending to his customer's set. Faulty soldering will destroy or permanently weaken a paper condenser very quickly. Acid soldering flux or paste should never be used, as_ the slightest trace of acid may result m chemical action which will weaken the condenser. Condensers should not be |allowed to become too hot from the | soldering iron, and they should also be | kept cool and well ventilated while in ‘| operation. ‘They should not be operated jat a heat beyond 110 deg. F., as the Jleakage mounts rapidly with the ini crease in temperature, and this in turn

; reduces the resistance, and therefore | ‘| passes more current through the con‘jdenser. A little precaution will prevent many breakdowns. WIDE RANGE OF PARTS. : MENTION has already been made in these columms to the advisability ‘| of radio dealers stocking the widest range of parts.and accessories. ‘Last i} week," ‘Angus’? (ower Hutt) writes, "T went into one of the big Wellington radio houses to purchase nearly £4 worth of radio goods,. but as one of the items was not stocked, I went round to the firm in the next street and bought my whole ontfit there. My order obviously was not large, but what I would like to emphasise, is that the second shop I went. to had a sinall- crowd standing at the counter, while there was not a customer in the shop of the first com- | pany. I expressed my surprise at the husy state of affairs in the second busv state of affairs in the second shop toa friend Imetthere. His reply was, ‘Well. these neople stock a wide range. and the public have became arcustomed to being sure of getiing what they want here.’ Comment is superfluous!"

SEMI-PERMANENT CRYSTALS, THE New Zealand market now appears to be plentifully supplied with semi-permanent crystals, and sevral of these lines are strikingly efficient. Some makers do not include the necessary brackets for mounting these semi-permanent crystals. Retailers should stock suitable brackets for the crystals, as purchasers are not infrequently disinclined to buy an incomplete article. Anyone who has employed the better class of semi-perman-ent crystal detector would never go back to the less costly catwhisker type. THE QUESTION OF SERVICE. Fair business principles commend the practice of charging for the erection of aerials, testing old sets at the premises. of their owners, etc., etc. Nevertheless, in New Zealand servicing is not a lucrative department. The manager of a big American radio company recently stated :- "For the last two years we have been working to make our service department self-sustaining. We have calls for about every sort of radio service it is possible to think of. ‘The work of the department includes installing new sets, remodelling old ones, replacing batteries and tubes, putting in extension cords for speakers, hooking up socket power units and trickle chargers, and trouble shooting of all kinds. We have all of the many demands for free service which other stores have, and possibly a few more every month. "In one way our store is similar to stores in smaller cities in. that we have

a large number of steady buyers rather than selling to transient trade which bitys once and doesn’t come in the store again for years after, if ever. Competition, particularly in the matter of free service, is keen. To sell a certain customer a set, we are all apt to extend our ‘usual term cf free service inuch longer than we can afford to, ABOUT AERIALS. NEW ZEALAND radio traders will find that many of their customers have exceedingly crude ideas about aerials. They should be informed that an indoor aerial is usually satisfactory for local stations and. eliminates much static and interference. It also gives greater selectivity than an outdoor aerial. However, an. outdoor aerial gives range and volume, and therefore should be used for getting distant stations. If the aerial is only a few feet above the roof of the building, the height of the building has little advantageous effect. It is therefore advisable that the aerial should be as high above the roof as possible. All connections outside the house should tte soldered to prevent. corrosion. The lead-in wire should make as direct a line as possible from the aerial to the set. If the total length of the aerial and the lead-in wire from the aerial to the set is greater than 100 feet the sclectivity of the set may be diminis":ed. Loop aerials can only be used with sets which are designed for them, excepting, of course, mneutrodynes, which may be successfully operated on an indoor loop, although an indcor acrial gives better results than the loop.