THE WORLD'S ADVANCE 



129 



Figs. 3 and 3a. Two Views of the New Rotary Spark Gap Which Has a Total of Eight Separate Gaps 



Connected in Series. 



addressed to H. B. Williams, Secretary 

 of the Central Radio Association, Cha- 

 nute, Kansas. 



A TRANSMITTING RECORD DUE TO 

 FREAK CONDITIONS 



A few days ago the writer received a 

 letter from H. Danner, a wireless ama- 

 teur in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., who claims 

 he and several others heard my transmit- 

 ting set in Boston. Any radio expert will 

 certainly state that it is impossible to 

 cover that distance with the power em- 

 ployed except by freak conditions. That 

 the distance covered was remarkable is 

 evident from the fact that under normal 

 conditions my set will not carry more 

 than ten miles. 



The feat mentioned will probably 

 not be repeated again, yet it indicates 

 the remarkable carrying powers of even 

 a small transmitting set under abnormal 

 conditions. Although the writer has 

 spent more than two years on board ship 

 where freak conditions have not been 

 uncommon, yet this was his first encoun- 

 ter with an amateur station record. 

 FRANCIS C. JUSTICE. 



MEETING OF RADIO CLUB 



The last meeting of The Radio Club 

 of America before the summer holidays 

 was held on Saturday evening, May 2Qth, 

 1915, in Room 301, Fayerweather Hall, 



Columbia University. 



Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, of the Col- 

 lege of the City of New York, presented 

 a most interesting and instructive paper 

 on "Foreign Radio Apparatus." The pa- 

 per was plentifully illustrated by lan- 

 tern slides. The Telefunken, Gold- 

 schmidt, Lorenz and Poulsen, Berliner 

 Poulsen, and Compagnie Generale Ra- 

 diotelegraphique systems' apparatus were 

 shown and discussed. Mr. R. H. Mar- 

 riott, Dr. Zenneck, Dr. Wheeler of the 

 Crocker-Wheeler Co., Dr. Goldhorn, Mr. 

 P. F. Godley, and others participated in 

 the discussion regarding the paper. 



A SUGGESTION FOR INCREASING 

 RECEIVING RADIUS 



In talking with an old operator recent- 

 ly, the writer was told that if a variable 

 inductance is shunted across the primary 

 of a transformer, the incoming signals 

 are increased about 25 per cent. On put- 

 ting this suggestion to a test it was found 

 to work extremely well, bringing in sig- 

 nals that were formerly barely audible 

 to a readable loudness. 



Almost any sized single-slide tuner 

 may be used as the inductance ; in the 

 instance of the writer a i3O-meter tuner 

 was employed. The tuner is an excel- 

 lent substitute for a variable condenser, 

 and the suggestion will therefore be of 

 particular interest to amateurs who are 

 not so fortunate as to possess those in- 

 struments. HOWARD S. PYLE, L. R. O. 



