Radio Wonders

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18235, 2 November 1933, Page 10

Radio Wonders

ACCORDING to writers in London newspapers Olympia recently proved the magician’s cave of radio once more. Automatic volume control, the leading feature, came from America. On! the eve' of the show came the surprise J that a later American craze, that for j the- “midget” set, had also crossed flic Atlantic. A new British set, Sin. high and HU in. wide I ,' was shown. More noteworthy is the fact that it is a universal electrical model, working * directly off’ alternating or direct cur- j rent mains.

For years now listeners have tuned, their receivers by means 'of coil den- • sers. Another development in eounec-1 tion with the show threatens this system. "Permeability” tuning is a. sequel to the coming of iron-cored coils —the movement of the iron inside, producing the same effect on wavelengths as that brought about by rotating a variable condenser. Advantages claimed are an immense simplification of construction and increased selectivity. Among the "stunts” a faked set of the future was the most diverting. The user stands in front of the loudspeaker and says '‘Sydney—Test Match.” Ho touches nothing, but his voice does the trick, and there comes on the television screen a picture of the field at Sydney and in the loud-j speaker the voice of the commentator on the gallic. j Finally this was a battery set show. ] Portables have improved out of all knowledge—not in becoming more , portable but in the quality and the' power of reproduction. 1