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Show THINGS THE RADIO NOVICE WILL NEED Tools and Materials H3 Should Keep on Hand Advantages of Keeping a Log Book. We are going to pause in explaining the "theory of radio receivers and get dowu to practical things for today. There are many novices building their own sets, or making additional parts, who are In doubt as to just what tools and materials they will noeu. Naturally there are tools and tools. Some cost more than others. Then, there are people and people. Some people need more tools than others. Some folks are Just naturally handy with tools, and others find that tools won't behave and lead the user Into all sorts of complications. The tools and materials following are such as are necessary, and which will be useful at all times. No prices are given for the buyer will have to look to his pocketbnok for guidance in this respect. Tools that will come in handy ; large, medium and small screwdrivers; flat, three-cornered and round file; hack saw, miter saw and box and cross-cut saw ; a small plane, a vise, a bit and auger, pliers, a square ktd yardstick or tape rule, dividers aud hammer, preferably a small one. Materials that will be convenient to have on hand are as follows: Sard-paper, Sard-paper, emery paper, wire of all gauges, round and flat-headed screws, a supply sup-ply of brass nuts aud washers, paraf-fine paraf-fine and sealing wax, bakelite, cardboard card-board and fiber board, tinfoil, porcelain por-celain Insulators, binding posts and terminals, sheet copper and sheet brass and adhesive tape. Tape Is possibly the most useful article ar-ticle in the vrh&le layout, for it will be found to have many uses. It Is lu short a versatile piece of material in the electrician's kit. Those of our readers who are building build-ing sets may find that it is good policy pol-icy to keep all the odds aud ends of wire, tape, copper, etc., that they may have. It seems that uses for these short bits are always to be found just when it is discovered that they have been thrown away. So, therefore, hoard all small pieces. One thing we want to stress In building build-ing radio apparatus'. Use care in your work, and put a good finish on your sets. Not only does it greatly add to the appearance of the set, but It also eliminates odd corners and stray ends of wire that catch dust or catch on surrounding objects and will hamper the efficiency of the set, either by shorting the circuit or causing It to be dragged off a pedestal and thrown on the floor. Those who have vacuum tube sets know that usually a fall means some new tubes. To those radio novices who desire to go skipping blithely through the ether, picking out a station here and a station there, as fancy directs them, we recommend a log book. Just any sort of book will do, or rather any book will do In which one can jot down records of the evening's broadcasting. broad-casting. The reason for the log book Is thnt It prevents a lot of unnecessary fussing fuss-ing with the dials when a certain sta-t'on sta-t'on Is desired. Say for Instance, DKA was going nicely, but that here was a certain concert going on In New York at WUZ or WCY, or naybe WGI up in Boston. Let us make the problem even harder and say that there were two addresses in one evening, both especially good, and one of the addresses In New York was scheduled to start two minutes after the one in Pittsburgh was over. As won as the one address is over, the enthusiast starts playing with his dials to catch New York. Sometimes It takes two minutes and sometimes it takes a great deal more time to catch tire desired signal, and more often than not, the lecture Is half over before be-fore it Is tuned In correctly. To assist the enthusiast to tune in quickly on any desired station Is the mission of the log book. In this book should be entered the necessary data about all stations .that have been picked up. Here should be noted down the exact position of the dials where the station was tuned in the best and other pertinent remarks. All these remarks should he entered, of course, the first time a new broadcasting broadcast-ing station is picked up. Wllh the information in-formation before him, the enthusiast needs but a glance at his book to tell him how he set his dials the last time he heard WBZ. The oft heard remark to the effect that RNU was heard last night but cannot be heard tonight, should be a thing of the past If a log book is ; about, that Is, providing one's set has range enough for the distance. No directions are set down here for making a log book as It Is thought that each one of the radio folk will have his own Ideas on the subject. However, space should be left to Inscribe In-scribe even the minutest data about Blgnal reception. |