The Paris Wireless Exhibition

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 26, 11 January 1929, Page 9

The Paris Wireless Exhibition

Remarkably Different from English

THE French national flair for the artistic is greatly in evidence at the fifth annual wireless exhibitiun Which was officially opened = ut. the Grand "Palais des Champs Kelysees by the President of the Republic and -which closed on Sunday, November 4. M. Doumergue himself is an enthusiastic listener, and he found much to interest him. He was also very much struck by the picture broadcast demonstration arranged by the Compagnie Francaise de Radiophonie from the Radio-Paris station, standing by the receiving set in the exhibition for the four minutes while his photograph came through. He then congratulated those concerned. The members of "Spir’ (the Syndicat Professional des Industries Radio-Electriques-the. trade body which is the equivalent of the National Association of Radio Manufacturers and Traders in England) went to particular pains to give their products the utmost fineness of finish. Coloured inlaid woods, lacquers, and the most orilliant of varnishes had all been applied with elegant care on cabinets and consoles of the best woods, carved in striking shapes. The same eye ro beauty was apparent in the disposition of the panels, the shapes and colours of frame aerials and loud speakers, and even in the case of such supplementary apparatus as rectifiers. One is, however, forced to wonder whether this ideal has been developed at the expense of mechanical perfection. Perhaps it has, for in the course of the past five years I have heard the performances of a very great number of French manufactured receivers and one is forced to the admission that, generally speaking, they do not by any means excel those of British manufacture in reproduction. Except for a few furtive demonstrations of portable sets by salesmen, no dem-. onstrations were allowed in the hall. Incidentally the "Spir’ do not permit at their exhibitions the showing of foreign manufactured apparatus. Other novelties like those which created so much interest at Olympia and Witzleben were the moving coil loud-speaker and the pentode valve. Of the moving coil loud-speaker there was one exhibited by a leading French manufacturer who was making much of his "sensation of the exhibition" and veiling it in mystery in spite of the fact that its price is £82, and it was impossible to say when delivery could be made. THE French, however, have almost from the beginning favoured reed(riven cones, and many new features in the way of diaphragm inertia reduction and the shape of the reed were noted. These give excellent reproduction of the high and low notes and can handle a large volume witliout distortion. It was noteworthy ziso that the French are dropping the fallacy that 80 volts anode current are sufficient for good reproduction, and one hears more now of higher yoltages.

Of examples of all-from-the-mains receivers, which have definitely come into their own in Englard, and sets which might dispense altogether with batteries of any kind, not a single one’ could be found. As a compensation, however, there is a good range of apparatus which permits listeners freedom "rom H.T. batteries and other difficulties. Of rectifiers, too, ‘theré is an outstanding range, as might be anticipated in a country in which the most humble of habitations has its electric light. HE French manufacturer as well as the home constructor in this country has always had an incomprehensible love of knobs on the panel of his receiving set, and there is no remarkable tendency to simplification of manipulation. : The gramophone-wireless marriage is in evidence, but the products containing complete apparatus is usually housed in most elaborate cabinets which sell at commensurate prices. An improved standard of quality in the components on exhibition was noticed. Of the special exhibits it may be said with perfect safety that the model studio in the salon d’honneur attracts the most attention from the crowds who are flocking to the exhibition. It is impossible to pass over without mention the Belin exhibits of picture transmitters and the receiving apparatus which is to be found on the stand held by Radio-Toulouse, another example of this station’s enterprise.