Wireless Freaks

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 27, 15 January 1932, Page 22

Wireless Freaks

nn ys Strange Phenomena ELLARS haunted by ghostly voices, water taps that burst into song and bed-springs that croon a lullaby are among the strange antics of wireless which are puzzling radio engineers. Here are some instances of freak reception which have occurred within the past few months in and near London :- A pot of water on an electric stove in a Highgate kitchen hummed a tune, which was clearly recognised as the item then being broadcast on the national programme, when the water began to simmer. An electric radiator in a Hendjn drawing-room plays a complete 1, 4ical programme loud enough for it {be heard in any part of the room. A kitchen sink in Barnet produced a complete wireless programme with remarkable purity. Ghostly music was heard through a Hampstead dining-room floor from the cellar below. "All these things are possible and capable of explanation if all the factors are known," said a wireless expert to a "Sunday Express" representative. "In the case of the singing pot of water there is probably a leakage between an aerial or telephone wire in the house and the power lead to the electric cooker or the lead itself may be the aerial. "The loose contact between the electric burner and the pot acts as a recti«4 fier, cutting the radio waves down to a frequency low enough to be heard. "Vibrating at that frequency the pot bottom will send out sound waves." Investigation of the ghostly music from a cellar revealed an old water system encrusted with green corrosion. An electric wire was touching the corroded pipe. When it was moved the musical hum ceased. Theoretically the reception of the music occurred because the electric wire acted as an aerial, the waterpipe as an earth, the corrosion as a rectifier, the water in the pipe as a condenser, and the roof of the cellar as a’ sounding board or loudspeaker. All these manifestations are simply explained as variations of the "singing are,’ which is well known to physicists. ra The frequencies on anything that may take the place of an aerial vary with the modulation of the human voice or of music and set up air vibrations which are audible.