RADIO DE LUXE.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19285, 14 April 1928, Page 10

RADIO DE LUXE.

: . .LATEST. IN RAJpiO SJ2TS. RADIOLI; MODEL 17.' By courtesy of Messrs Chas. Bennett, Ltd/, of 619 Colombo street, the writer y. wabble to'inspect ,the first model to - arriv.e in Ghristchurch. ; RCA RADIOLA 17 i REQUIRES, .NEITHER BATTER LEV NOR BATTERY ELIMINATORS. It operates directly from the lighting socket by means of the new "AC itad.otrons. That is one of the reasons why Radiola 17 is the year's,outstanding achievement in, radio. , Siinplicity of operation, sturdy construction and excellent tone quality are outstanding, features of this "'new receiver. Tuning is accomplished entirely by one knob. In addition there is only a volume control to regulate, the, output and, a switch to turn the curient on and off. • In ; Radiola-17,'; the owner finds all of the refinements- that •reqent';deve!opments have contributed to ; the fadio art. Its compact cabinet, beautifully finished tin mahogany, contains all the mechanism necessary for " Over the tuning control there is a small electric light which not only illuminates the station selector but also serves as an indicator that the current • is on or off. Radiola 17 -.employs the perfected RCA tuned radio frequency circuit which consists of three stages of radio frequency amplification,- detector and two .stages of audio frequency ampli-; fication. The power Radiotron DX-171 is used in the last audio ..stage to ensure substantial, volume without distortion. This Radiola is the culmination of years of research in set and tube design to produce, for a moderate price, a completely socket power operated receiver.

A NOVEL THEORY. DO BIRDS USE RADIO ? The somewhat startling theory is put forward by M. Georges Laklioirski,. of Brussels, that the orientation of birds and insects h due to their unconscious utilisation of ~ radio-electric currents. Hitherto such phenomena as are presented in the flight of migratory birds, of homing pigeons, and of bees flying long distances straight to their hives, have beerf' a profound mystery to the spientific world. Various theories have been advanced in explanation, but none has been convincing. But M. Lakhowyski. by a process of elimination, has fixed upon tKe instinctive use by these creatures of precisely the same electromagnetic waves that ar6 employed in wireless telegraphy. This audacious hypothesis is based by him upon the physical facts Of the anatomy of the animals in question. These possess, he declares, collectors and detectors of waves ; coresponding to those, in a radio station. In insects these instruments are in the antenna, while in birds and other creatures they are' inl. the semicircular' canals which form nothing less than an ensemble of three rectangular radiogoniometric frames. The seat of the electro-magnetic vibrations is in the living cell, which acts as both an emitter and a receiver of . waves. Ihe most marvellous featureof the whole' case is that .the cell contains a conducting liquid filament, included within a mass of electric matter, and thus forming an oscillating system which _is both, as may be required, an oscillator and a resonator of very short wave lengths; Thus, the homing pigeon ahd trie industrious bee are; in fact,, guided .by; wireless , telegraphy without being aware of it.