Another "Olympia"

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 17, 8 November 1929, Page 9

Another "Olympia"

Again, Held in England TTOWARDS the end of September the British Wireless Exhibition opened at Olympia, dnd from reports the tremendous improvements revealed in every exhibit mark the past year of radio development one of the most progressive ever experienced. This is perhaps due to the fact that nowhere has radio reached saturation point, and the, limits of ingenuity, research, and general progress are by no. means yet attained.

Last year saw the screen-grid valve take its proper place in the repertory of radio, and its popularity has grown steadily since, until no amateur building himself a really first-class, up-to-date, modern receiver would dream of designing a set without considering a screened-grid valve. Another development during the past twelve months has been in connection with the portable set.. Great improvements in design have been obvious, and with reductions in price the portable set has at last claimed its rightful popularity. At the exhibition many first-class examples of portable sets are said to have been on view, and it is stated that many people who had hitherto considered this type of set as unsuitable for efficient gentral use, were amazed at the extraordinary strides which have been made in the general design, particularly in the compactness and efficiency of these receivers. Loudspeakers of all types, and movying coil models in particular, are reported as being much in evidence, and although it is practically impossible for the organisers to allow individual demonstrations, it is, unfortunate that some arrangement cannot be made for a special auditorium to be hired where loudspeakers can be switched, one after another, to a regular programme, so that visitors can really have an opportunity of judging their respective merits. From the point of view of appearance, loudspeakers have, at any rate, definitely improved, and the visitor to the exhibition should be given some sort of an opportunity of realising that not only appearance but quality has been improved almost beyond belief. Of complete sets, mains units, and general accessories there are, as usual, a bewildering variety. In fact, it is probably doubtful whether. the average visitor te the exhibition this year will be able to ta®¥ in all that Olympia offers in one visit. New Zealand, by reason of her. remote situation and her small population, could.not hope to have a radio exhibition #alf as insiring and varied as that at Olympia; but, if all allowances were made, 2 comparison between a British exhibition and, for example, the’ one recently concluded at Auckland, would reveal the fact that, though small, New: Zealand is by no means far behind ‘any country in the world as regards radio ‘development.