RADIO RECORD

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 December 1937, Page 9

RADIO RECORD

.NOTES FOR LISTENERS-IN

(By

“Reception”)

HUMAN RADIO SETS.

SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS

Can the human body act as a radioreceiving apparatus? asks a German writer. Two young Czechoslovakian factory workers have convinced coldlj impersonal unimaginative European scientists of their ability to receive radio waves through the electricity m their bodies, which can be heard merely with the aid of a loud-speaker. IMo complex mechanism/ no tools, instruments, or paraphernalia, of any kind fust an ordinary loud-speaker. Moreover according to innumerable newspaper reports, they can even choose whatever station in Europe their listeners wish to hear! Being a somewhat sceptical newspaperman myself, I determined to conduct a few investigations on my own. I got in touch with a friend of mine who was acting as foreign correspondent for a German paper in Prague, and asked him about the authenticity of the reports. Fired by his enthusiastic substantiation of everything I had read or heard about these “miraclemen,” I hopped a. plane and flew t« Prague from Vienna without a mement’s delay. My friend and I arrang-. ed a joint interview with two wellknown university professors, who had witnessed experiments of the livingradio sets, and were convinced that there was no possibility of trickei y involved. ‘ XT Dr. Ernest, chemist; chairman ot the largest radio organisation in Czechoslovakia, a courteous man about 55 years of age, and Dr. Jaroslav Schafranek, physicist, slightly younger, received us in the former’s laboratory in the Chemistry Institute of the Prague University. We were surrounded by retorts and test tubes and bottles; I felt immediately that here were two men who hardly gave the impression of people who could be easily duped by a clever swindle.

“You are asking us for an explanation of something we ourselves can’t explain,” were Professor Ernest’s first words to us. “But in any case the newspaper accounts are true.” He went on to tell us of tests he had made on the two young men with the voltmeter and the oscillograph; both of them showed a definite electric potential, one a stronger, one a weaker, so that it was possible, relatively, to speak of a positive and negative potential. Years spent in the practice of muscular contraction, it would seem, have created this electricity in their bodies, by which they able, among other things, to illuminate alternating current bulbs.

“What type of men would you say they are?” I asked. “Frank Sykora is 21 years old, a. welder in an iron foundry, and has never been out of Marisch-Ostrau in his life. Rudolph Vltavsky is 35, an engine fitter in the same foundry. They are both poor, know little about radio in general, and haven’t tried to make a cent from their unusual talent. They scarcely seem the kind of men who would be able to conceive and carry out a hoax of such gigantic proportions.” “What precautionary measures did you take before witnessing the experiments?”

“We searched their clothing, insulated both as much as was possible in that' little room, made sure there was no hidden apparatus, and recorded the whole thing by phonograph . “And then. . . ?”

“And then,” broke in Professor Schafranek, “music began to resound fi-om tlie loud we had brought with us ourselves!” They asked us what station we should like to hear, and we got them all in order as if we had turned the dial on a radio. As a physicist I say the thing is incredible, incomprehensible! And even if it is. a trick, then the trick itself is a miracle!”

We departed with the feeling that there were more things in heaven and on earth than were dreamt of in our philosophy. . . And as we packed our bags for the trip to Marisch-Ostrau we mused about the time when the whole radio industry would become superfluous, and a simple muscle contraction and thought concentration would bring in New York, Paris, Berlin . . Eight hours later we were in Marisch-Ostrau, an industrial city of 125,000 people, where we were joined by Frank Kittler, the radio dealer who had “discovered” Sykora and Vltavsky. Soon we were on our way to watch one of the miraculous experiments with our own eyes.

The modern three-story dwelling in the cellar of which the two young, men conduct then* experiments stands on the edge of the town near the great Witowsky iron works where they are both employed. We entered the roopi; it is about 14ft by Bft, has a cement floor, and plastered, unpapered walls, and is illuminated by two mediumsized electric lights. One of the walls slopes a little, and is covered with strange caballistic symbols. “That was done during some of their former spiritualistic seances,” said a local man who accompanied us, seeing me eye tlie queer letters and designs curiously.

The room was almost bare of furniture, except for a few wooden chairs brought in for the occasion, a small sofa, and a table on which were several loud-speakers, devoid of any apparatus. I examined everything thoroughly to preclude the possibility of any hidden mechanical devices. And then the two “mediums" appeared. Vltavsky, the elder, has a pale, furrowed face that bespeaks illness. Sykora also looks as though he were suffering from some malady, with his incredibly white face and lustreless eyes. 1 Eight hours per day in an iron foun-j dry doesn’t seem to be doing cither of'them any good. A few words of greeting, one or two inconsequential queslions, and they took their places on two stools, then they began breathing exercises with which they always pre-; face an experiment. ; First they inhaled as deeply as possible, and then exhaled very slowly; ' (at this period of the exercise their j bodies seem so relaxed that their chests threatened to cave in altogether). Apparently the longer they breathe in this manner the higher is their electric potential. At the cud of 20 minutes or so, light beads of perspiration began to form on their forej heads. Suddenly one of them - reached towards his headphone obviously as a receiving apparatus. But he resumed his breathing exercises. A second attempt with the earphone, and he seemed satisfied with the results.

Sykora grasped an electric bulb that was lying on the table, took the ‘llla-

I ment between his thumb and linger, extended his other hand to Sj- | kora, who placed his index linger on I the contact, of the bulb. It lit up at i the first touch. “Now they are, sufliiciently charged with electricity, said lone of the initiated guests behind us. 1 Several fellow boarders of the two men I had entered the cellar room and were iwatching casually. They had seen it jail a hundred times and were little im--1 pressed. , T I I must confess that till now I myself was slightly disappointed. But when they oegan their experiments with radio reception, a thrill of anticipation [surged through me. The loom ivas absolutely quiet. They held the loudspeaker contact, in their left hands, and their right hands were interlocked, thus establishing a conducting communication. I picked up one of the loudspeakers —brought here previously by Professor Ernest —and waited. Suddenly it began to vibrate and the room was filled with soft but perfectly distinct Czechoslovakian conversations. (Later, we learned that we had heard part of the children’s programme from the local station). Sykdra and Vltavsky released hands: there was silence again. But as soon as their hands touched, the programme continued. “What would you like to hear now?” asked Vltavsky, obviously, the mouthpiece of this strange pair, after we had listened a few moments longer to the station. As a matter of fact, I felt so sorry for them that I would have been willing to take their word for the rest of the experiment. They made a pathetic figure with their perspira-tion-laden brows, their white faces, and sunken eyes. But my companion was made of sterner stuff. “Let’s hear Breslau,” he cries enthusiastically. _ Renewed deep, laboured breathing exercises. Then: I take the loudspeaker again, and the air is suddenly filled with beautiful music.. The heavier Vltavsky breathes, the clearer the reception. Such depth of tone and felicity of sound! Every voice, every instrument could be clearly distinguished. Outside, a thunderstorm was hovering over Marisch-Ostrau, but here was absolutely no hint of static. All of us who heard that music were wholly enthralled by its unusual, I had almost said, unearthly beauty. And somehow it did sound like a message from another world.

Until the two men let go of the loudspeaker contact —and brought us back to reality.

RADIO RENTING.

SETS AT 2/6 WEEKLY.

LONDON, November 27

Renting radio sets at 2/6 a week pays handsomely. At least, that is the fortunate experience' of an English company. During the past year its trading profits were £91,162, and a dividend of 12A per cent., less income tax, was" paid. It is stated that a consistent policy has been adopted in regard to the depreciation of sets hired to subscribers under rental agreements and during the current year £63,800 had been written off. At the recent annual meeting, the chairman said that the company’s service areas now cover the greater part of England. Forty-one branches and depots have already been opened, and it is the board’s policy further to extend as favourable opportunities occur..

The company, the chairman continued, is succeeding in providing the public with a reliable and efficient radio service for which a real demand exists in England. The board venture to think that the company will attract increasing numbers of subscribers as the benefits of its service become more widely recognised. Radio receiving sets require adjustment or repair sooner or later, and an increasing number of the public will wish to have the security of the company’s organisation in which, in return for a small monthly rental, coni; petent engineers are available within a few hours to install a set, and, should occasion arise, to repair the set itself or to replace it with another similar set. As to the current year, the company’s business is expanding satisfactorily, the number of subscrib-’ ers showing a steady increase. RADIO LICENSES

An increase of 47,103 in the number of radio licenses in force on November 30, 1937, compared with the total at the same date last year, is revealed in a return issued by the Director-General of the Post and Telegraph Department (Mr. G. McNamara). The total number of licences of all descriptions in force at the end of November this year was 274,348, compared with last year’s total of 227,245. During the 12 months the number bf receiving licenses increased by 46,916, the total now standing at 271,277. Dealers’ licenses increased by 43 to 1272, and an additional 27 experimental licenses were issued to amateurs, the total number for this- class now being 991. Broadcasting licenses decreased by one, while one license w r as issued for an experimental research station in Wellington. Wellington still heads the list, with a total of 96,984 receiving licenses for the province, Auckland being a close second with 86,645. Canterbury has 50,499 receiving licenses, and Otago 37,149. CONCENTRIC TRANSMISSION Since the development of the “concentric" or “coaxial” transmission line, broadcast engineers have been deI bating whether it is worth while using lif or not. One of the main reasons for : Ihe slow acceptance of this type of line ! has been the difficulty entailed in ils 'installation, as the commercially avail- ! able types have only been obtainable in short, straight lengths. This has meant a. number of .joints in a line of i even moderate length, and, as these joints must be electrically perfect, borides being watertight if the cable is ■buried, the average engineer has been j inclined to leave the coaxial cable 1 severely alone. These “installation” ■ difficulties have now been largely eliminated, as an American manufacturer i has announced a one-kilowatt concentric cable in lengths up to 50(1 feet, and ! sufficiently flexible to be supplied on 'cable reels.