RADIO NOTES

Waikato Independent, Volume XXIX, Issue 3101, 22 June 1929, Page 7

RADIO NOTES

ITEMS OF INTEREST. Many people when putting up an aerial find that they have a tall tree which they could use to better advantage than a pole, because it is sometimes higher, and often they would have to cut the tree down, which is not always desirable; but trouble is often caused by a tree swinging and breaking the aerial wire when there is a high wind. Amateurs, when first building a valve set, sometimes mount their valves on the panel itself. This will shorten the lives of the valves, as they are made to be mounted upright, and if mounted any other way will soon burn out, as the filament will sag and touch the grid, and even if they do not actually burn out they will become inoperative through the elements touching. They may, however, be mounted up or down, for it docs not matter which way they are so long as they are not on their side. 1 If a regenerative set is inclined to go into and out of oscillation with a hard pop, you arc using too high a B battery voltage or too high a resistance grid leak, while if it goes into or out of oscillation with a burr or a rasp, the leak is too low or the B voltage is too high. These should be balanced until oscillation takes place quite smoothly and easily, and then the best reception, will be obtained. ■ B batteries which are running down may give all sorts of trouble, such as howling, distortion, and noises of all types, and you must remember that you cannot get good results if ygu run your battereis to a standstill. A 45-volt battery should not be allowed to go below 34 volts.