TECHNICAL TRIUMPH

NZ Truth, Issue 1301, 20 November 1930, Page 10

TECHNICAL TRIUMPH

Radio Device Which Overcomes Irritating Problems For Listeners -in

THE PHILCO TONE- CONTROL

Ptoper tone control' is one of the most complex and baffling of the problems which have confronted radio engineers and designers, .but fully appreciating its importance to the listeners-in, no pains have been spared to overcome the difficulties- by means of exhaustive research.

ONE of the outstanding achievements ln this direction has been that of the radio engineers of the Philco company, who have succeeded m fitting to their new' sets a device which is one of the technical triumphs m the history of radio. The listener-in using a set fitted with this device ha 6 only to turn a knob and the attachment compensates for the differences m the quality of tone broadcast from the different stations, and also for* the differences m sensitivity m the human ear. A simple turn of the control knob gives him any one of the four different tone qualities— brilliant, bright, mellow, and deep. The variation m the tents of - different broadcasting stations is a phenomenon well known to all listeners and has been the subject of considerable investigation. | On some stations the circuits are so operated that high notes are overemphasised and the low notes at the opposite end of the scale are suppressed, with a consequent distortion J of the musical effect of the broadcast. The Philco device, however, all of this can be remedied by turning the knob of the control to "deep," which automatically balances the bass and treble, and at the same time subdues the irritating interference noises which do so much to ruin .the enjoyment of radio items. But to the listener; the chief appeal of this device lies m the power it gives for the regulation of tone to individual tastes. People who prefer a crisp high tone can obtain this In a moment by turning to the brilliant setting qf the tone control, while for intermediate

tastes, there are the two intervening settings of bright and mellow. The Philco Screen Grid Plus models are another achievement of which the engineers of ' the company have good reason to fesl proud, and already are attracting a great deal of attention from radio enthusiasts who* are interested m getting long distance stations. This is a phase of radio more particularly for the enthusiast and the man who has time to give tb the study of the science, but with the new Philco machine, a great number of the attendant difficulties and technical traps are smoothed away. The outstanding achievement of this device is that it enables the listener to get a long distance station m the. flrst place and perform the difficult feat of holding it at a regular volume m the second. Most owners have known the annoying experience of getting on to a good station and then finding that volume is fading right away and ruining the programme. The device works automatically and keeps any station that the set can reach at a fixed volume, despite the fact that a set m a neighboring room may be fading at the same time. This Screen Grid Plus Volume set is a great distance'getter, am} its ability to maintain an even volume is making it: very popular. t