WIRELESS NOTES.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 20 December 1926, Page 5

WIRELESS NOTES.

WAITING- FOR IMPROVEMENTS

Radio broadcasting lias become such a well-known thing to-day that one hears opinions doncerning it on every hand, very often, be it said, by people who do not know much about the subject. The writer heard one person say recently that he did not propose to purchase a set at present because there were all sorts of improvements shortly to be made and anj 1 * set bought now would soon be Out of date. A few questions elicited .the fact that the speaker had not heard an up.-to-date set, and knew nothing about the theory of radio. We pointed out to him-/that his attitude was rather unreasonable, since if everyone took the same stand no motor cars, gramophones, sewing machines or machinery of any kind would be sold. There is no intricate machine of any kind that sprang fully developed from the brain of its inventor —in fact there is none that can be said to be fully developed. We live in an age of rapid progress, and if one waits for the ultimate he will never be satisfied. Of course there is a difference between the early experimental stages of an invention and the development of it which reaches ' the public. It can definitely be said that radio broadcasting is out of the purely experimental stage and is now a practical proposition. Improvements will be made, and a set bought to-day will be in some ways out of date in a year or two, but to-day's set will give good results now, and will continue to give them for years to come. The best sens to-day have amplifier systems capable of delivering highly satisfactory quality, and the latest loud speakers have amazing capabilities. The 'essential circuits of receiving sets to-day may be divided into three or four classes, of which there are only minor variations. Most of the improvements made affect individual parts of the apparatus, and .these can easily be altered. New types of valve can bo adopted to almost any set without trouble. New loudspeakers can be purchased if they are worth extra outlay. Battery eliminators are still somewhat in the experimental stage, but dry cells can bo used until a satisfactory eliminator is found. Improvements are'all the time being made in broadcasting stations and every receiving set owner gets the benefit of these improvements without trouble to himself. ■ For these reasons we say without hesitation that any purchaser _ of, a good set, to-day will get worth-while results, and he has little to gain by waiting for further developments. He might as well “refuse to ride in a motor car, because he thinks that perhaps some day there will be no bumps in the road, and he will postpone his riding until these are eliminated. vJf course he will be wise to choose nis set carefully and to hear as many as possible in actual operation before making a final choice. All sets sold to-day are not of the same quality, and in this respect only careful inspection and trial can guard the purchasers. But to hold off purchasing a set because of possible improvements is quite unnecessary.