RECEPTION OF WIRELESS

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 47, 27 March 1930, Page 12

RECEPTION OF WIRELESS

VALUE OF ROOM ACOUSTICS, The acoustics of the room in which home radio receiving sets are to he placed have a great deal to do with the kind of resnlts that are to be expected from the set. The results of a gopd receiver, placed in a position ivhere it has to work an acoustieal disadvantage by either the position in the room or hy placing of the furniture, may he entirely spoiled. Dead spots, or plaees where waves from different directions meet and neutralise each other, and eelio, due to the houncing back and forth from wall, to wall, or from ceiling to floor, or sound waves must be a.voided. To prove that these acoustieal faults exiist, try talking or playing a musical instrument in an nnfurnished house of room. Tlie echo is due to the fact that there are no objects, furniture, draperies, rugs or curtains to ahsorb the sound. A room, to assure the absence of echo, should be well furnisheeU Rugs,

r V^v V/^ V V^V w \» V^ \/^\r w V draperies, curtains and tahle covens help. Paper or cloth walls are best. Otherwise a rough coated wall is hetter than a smooth one, and full dark finish better than a 'glossy liglit one. Beamed ceilings and brick fireplaces are assets, while- tile is a liability. There should he no piano or' stringed instruments in the sanle room as thd radio. Ihe striqgs of such instruments, representing the freqnencies of the^ sonnds emanating from the loud' sgeaker, will vibrate distorting the sound from the radio. If the l'oud speaker is placed near a piano and ttie radio suddenly turned oif, oue may hear the piano strings' quite clearly. If a pialio must he in the same room its soft pedal shouid be pressed. down. The loudl speaker should face a curtain or other ah&orbing material. Since waves go out from the back of the speaker as well, it would do no harm to have tapestry on the wall behind the cane. But pictureS that are liable to rattle in answer to their natural frequencies should he avoided.