32 RADIO-REF Un O. V. 1. Graphie ‘A une époque ott Yon ne parle plus que de superhétérodyne secteur a N lampes, il pourrait sembler ridicule de s'attarder encore a parler d'un simple pilampe accus si la pratique journalire ne se chargeait de prouver qu'un tel montage, convenablement mis la page, est encore a la hauteur de pres- que toutes les circonstances actuelles du trafic ordinaire d'amateur en télé- graphie. Le seul défaut de la détectrice & réaction est son manque de « sélectivité locale », c’est-a-dire qu'un tel récepteur est totalement déficient lorsqu'il s'agit de sépater un signal trés faible d'un signal trés fort de fréquence voisine. II se produit un phénoméne de synchronisation et la sélectivité apparente de- vient nulle. La détectrice & réaction ne convient done pas du tout quand plusieurs émetteurs se trouvent habiter a faible distance les uns des autres. En dehors de ce cas, elle convient encore parfaitement aux circonstances actuelles pour le travail ent télégraphie, comme complement a un émetteur de performance moyenne. Nous nous proposons d’examiner quelques unes des caractéristiques et particularités d'un tel montage destiné, répétons-le, uniquement & la télé- graphie. § 1. — Stabilité Cette qualité est la plus essentielle, La chasse A la stabilité doit commencer des l'antenne : un petit doublet, de réalisation trés rigide, faiblement couplé a la détectrice, est & conseiller. Le choix du montage intervient ensuite et 'Electron Coupled Oscillator, accordé par une capacité suffisante, s'impose dans Tétat actuel de la technique. Pour en tirer le maximum, l'alimentation par accus nous a paru infiniment préférable a celle par secteur... le nétre étant d’humeur trop folatre ! Les pidces détachées du montage doivent étre choisies avec soin, nous y reviendrons par la suite, Enfin les circuits HF et BF doivent étre séparés au maximum ; Je mox tage E. C. 0. s'y préte tous particuligrement, Outre les condensateurs et résis- tances d’usage, on notera 4° L'utilisation du chassis comme blindage entre les circuits HF et BF, Janvier 19352° Les cellules en II situées aussitét aprés les plaques pour éliminer tout résidu de H. F. éventuel. 3° Le transformateur de sortie muni d'un écran électrostatique pour évi- ter Teffet de main, # La commande a distance du condensateur d’acco que ci-dessus. L’ensemble de ces mesures permet de lire d'une fagon parfaitement confor- table 'harmonique 5 métres de stations locales travaillent en Xtal sur 20 ou dans le méme but 40 métres ; ceci constitue une bonne référence de stabilité. § 2. — Sélectivité A propos de la « sélectivité locale », nous avons déja noté plus haut que la sélectivité apparente du récepteur était parfois, en réalité, une question de stabilité. Une détectrice bien stable posséde une bonne « sélectivité & dis- -dire qu'elle permet de séparer convenablement deux signaux amplitude également faible et de fréquence voisine. La sélectivité HF du montage a été renforeée par une sélectivité BF puis- que nous n’avions en vue que la réception de la graphie. Les fréquences acoustiques utiles (de Vordre de 1.000 p. p. 8.) sont favo- risées par un découplage de la grille BF A Vaide d'un cireuit accordé sur elles. tance » c’es Pour les fréquences inutiles, la grilly BF se trouve done automatiquement mise & la masse d'une manigre plus ou moins nette. De plus la liaison « détectrice BH » est faite par un condensateur de 100 HAF seulement ; il a pour réle de défavoriser la transmission des fréquences de ordre de 50 p. p. s. (induction du secteur). Enfin sur le cireuit plaque de la BF se trouve un ensemble capacité-résis- tance destiné & réduire les fréquences aigiies (bruit de fond, parasites, ete..) Liensemble de ces mesures équivaut a un véritable filtre de bande trés efficace puisque les cas de QRM génant sont rares, mémes aux heures d’acti- vité du 40 metres, § 3. - La Détectrice Un tel genre de récepteur ne vaut que par les qualit Nous avons choisi : a) une penthode a chauffage indirect parce que c'est ce type de lampe qui posséde le meilleur coefficient de qualité. b) d pente variable paree que, si une penthode a pente fixe est un peu meilleure, elle exige une tension d'écran bien déterminée ce qui est un grave défaut pour Je cas de sa détectrice.of suse actuel puisque, dans le montage ECO; la réaction est commandée par variation du potentiel d'écran. ©) chauffée par accus . pour les raisons précitées, donc & aussi faible consommation que pos- sible. Pour répondre & ces exigences, nous avons trouvé la nouvelle Philips EF2 dont toutes les électrodes et méme la métallisation sont raccordées a des broches différentes, ce qui donne beaucoup. de souplesse, Ses caractéristiques essentielles sont : : Courant de chauffage : Tension de chauffage ‘Tension anodique max. Pente 28 MA/V. Coefficient, d’amplification : 2200, Avec 120 volts plaque ct une trentaine de volts écran, le courant plaque mest que de 1 mA. environ. L'accrochage est trés doux, trés progressif, rever- sible et sans souffle, § 4. — Bruit de fond Les résultats obtenus sont essentiellement fonction du rapport « signal sur bruit de fond ». Rien ne sert d'amplifier si Yon n’emplifie pas le signal plus que le bruit de fond. Pour avoir le minimum de bruit de fond, nous avons déja noté précé- demment : a) le choix de 1a lampe et de son montage ; b) Valimentation par accus et non par secteur ; c) Yantenne doublet a effet antiparasite ; d) la basse fréquence a filtre de bande ; ¢) le découplage poussé des circuits. Il faut encore : £) choisir une lampe B.F. sans aucun souffle ; la Philips A414 K est tout & fait OK ; 8) choisir ses pidces détachées avec grand soin. Notamment : 1° Les petits condensateurs fixes devront étre 4 air ou au mica et si possible dans le vide ; Les résistances seront soit du type boing, soit du type cathodique dans le vide. h) les contacts seront tras soignés (point tres important). Tout ce qui pourra étre soudé, le sera,Les contacts par pression seront bloqués a force (voir croquis de la fixation de la self 3 j) le cablage sera en gros fil, rigide. D'une facon générale, il faut que tout soit ou bien isolant franc ou bien conducteur franc, Tl faut proserire ces éléments hybrides, a base de halayures agglomerées, qui peuvent étre considérés & volonté soit comme isolants soit comme conducteurs t De plus il faudra éviter 'action des causes d'altération : humidité, électro- lyse, vapeurs acides, etc. 78 Lamu +1800 yok] 120 me ea LEGENDE 4Mo 20.000 Q, 2 watts 50.000 Q, 4 watts 230.000 Q, 2 watts environ 30 Q, 1 watt 10/1000 4 F 100 py F voir texte 100 wy F O14. F voir texte 50/1000 yp F self @arrét selon QRG 5. — Que'ques remarques 1° Le gros condensateur daccord de 100 py F sert & stabiliser Loscillation et le petit, de 30 pp F, a étaler Ja bande. 2° La grille de la At1é K est polarisée en permanence a —2 volts et Ia tension plaque est prise sur un potentiométre. Ceci donne non seulement une encore une selectivité @amplitude en permettant caractéristique. I est ainsi possible, commande de volume mai de faire travailler la lampe au pied de sa36 RADIO-REF par exemple, de faire passer un signal de R8W3 QRMR7 & RAW5 QRMR2 car, dans les conditions précitées, il se produit une amplification préférentielle des signaux forts. 3° On pourrait également monter une autre EF2 en amplificatrice H.-F. U1 en résulterait une augmentation certaine de la selectivité et de la sensibilité car la capacité grille-anode de la EF2 n’est que de 0,001 pp F. : Ref 967 Un tel montage n’a pas été étudié par 1 soussigné car son O. V. 1. actuel suffit A lui faire entendre de nombreux DX qu'il ne peut QSO. Tl a donc jugé inutile d'augmenter ce supplice de Tantale ! Un tel 1. V. 1, est certainement & conseiller pour la fonie, & condition de supprimer l'excés de selectivité BF, chose facile. Pour l’écoute en H, P. on pourrait remplacer la A414 K par une penthode de 5 watts EL1 qui appartient A la méme série que la EF2. Nous signalons enfin lexcellent article de G. Grammer « What about the simple Receiver » — QST. Juin 34 — oi se trouve décrit un récepteur similaire auquel nous avons essayé d’apporter quelques améliorations. Guy H. Grossix FSRJ. Le Récepteur de F8L9 (suite) Pour mettre complétement A jour la description parue sous ce titre dans notre dernier numéro, signalons qu’actuellement la changeuse de fréquence 247 est remplacée par une octode AK1 dont Ie bruit de fond parait moins fort ; en outre un cristal de quarts 465 Kg. (origine américaine) avec un petit condensateur déquilibrage a été adjoint au premier transfo MF de facon & réaliser un montage « single signal » adapté au matériel empl La 2 détectrice a 6t6 remplacée par une 58 détectant par Ia grille. Les selfs illatrices ont été munies chacune d'un fort padding au mica de fagon a étaler trés largement les bandes d'amateur (environ 200 divisions du Tubus par métre de longueur d’onde pour la bande des 40 m.). osWhat About the Simple Receiver? The Conditions With Which It Must Contend and a Description of a Two- Tube Receiver Using an Improved Band-Spread System George Grammer, Assistant Technical Editor tumedr.f, receivers it might scem something if 2 problem to justify the home construction of simple regenerative rigs. A two-tube receiver must give something that the other sets don’t or there would be no real justifieation for its exist~ ence, What, then, does the simple receiver have to olfer? First, small cost; seoond, ease of construc tion; third, sensitivity—the once-familiar claim that a regenerative detector will bring in anything, that © more complicated rig ean pick up still seems to be true, given reasonable freedom from. QRM and a fair break on artificial background noise; fourth, s means of covering a wide range of frequencies without a regiment of plug-in evils. ‘This last alone justifies the existence of the two- tuber as an adjunct to the ham-band superhet. Li ‘THESE days of low-priced superhets and seuzonviry ‘These four make & protty formidable list in favor of the simple receiver, especially since the ability to pick up distant signals is there in good ‘measure. The “‘but””—-somehow there always is & “hut”—is the old bugbear, selectivity. A second- ary “but” is that under certain conditions—or rather, lacking certain conditions—the two-tube sot sulfers by comparison with other types of receivers in stability. In discussing selectivity for c.w. reception it is necessary to define some terms. We can conven iently classify selectivity into the “local” and distant” varioty.+ Of all types of receivers exeept the kind having an untuned 1. stage, the deteo- tor-audio type possosses the least ‘local’ seleo- tivity. Signals from near-by stations working on Frequencies considerably beyond beat-note audi- bility with the desired signal can and do cause serious interference of » most annoying kind. Sovoalled “shock” excitation of the detector by a local signal will cause interference-producing. spurious harmonies on bigher-frequency bands than the one on which the signal actually exists. ‘The reverse can happen, too; harmonics of the oscillating detector ean beat with a local signal on a higher frequency band to produce a seeond type of interfering signal which is not the feult of the transmitter. Also, the transmissions of near-by broadcast stations often will be bothersome, espe- cially on the 1715- and 3500-ke. bands. For farther discumion see, *Rationalising the Auto- dayne,” QS, January, 1088. * Distant” selectivity for ew. reception ean be defined as the ability of the receiver to separate two signals of moderate strength operating on fro- quencies within audible beat of each other. The comparison between the two-tuber and prac tically any other type exeept the Single-Signal for this kind of selectivity is not ¢0 unfavorable, The detector-audio set is every bit ws good us the tuned-.f. reesiver, und generally speaking is 28 good as the ordinary 10-ke.” superhet. The ac- ‘tual separation of the signals must be done by the ear through its ability to distinguish between dif- ferent tones. A trained ear ean do u pretty fair job. Although real distant selectivity is wehieved ‘THIS TWO-TUBE RECEIVER HAS A CONTINUOUS EQUENCY RANGE OF 1450 TO 41,000 KILO- CYCLES AND GIVES COMPLETE BANDSPREAD ‘ON FIVE AMATEUR BANDS Ie can be ied with either 2.5. or 6.50 tubes without change in the wiring- The right-hand dal gives weneral ‘coverage nd that at the left goes band-spread, ‘srownd sree for Shick the deneratcoverage dial may June, 1934only in the Single-Signal superhet, the amateur who perforce must use less expensive equipment does not expect 100% reception all the time. 1 questionably such an amateur ean do excellent fork with simple equipment—in fect, he nlays 8. srapmuiry A detector coupled to an antenna is not exactly in a favorable spot for stable operation. With reasonable coupling between the detector and an- tenna o change in the constants of the latter is bound to be reflected as a change in the frequency of oscillation, which in turn causes a change in the beat note. ‘This sort of instabil- ity can be overcome by using a rigidly- strung antenna, pref erably located in- doors so the wind cannot start an un- wanted shimmy. Secondly, a detector operated ‘its most sensitive point—just beyond the start of oscillation—is readily controlled by a strong sig nal and is often pulled into synehronisin with it. One of the most familiar manifestations of this is the caso of a strong signal subject to fading; if the heat note is set when the signal strength is down,” a rise in strength often will tend to puil in the detector and may cause the beat note to disappear entirely. If the fading is rapid the signal hhas a pronounced waver and is hard to copy. Ham signals do not often offend in this way with the two-tuber, however, unless the recetving an- tenna is quite long. It is interesting to note that @ stago of tuned rf. only makes matters worse since it puts a toowstrong signal at the grid of the detector! ‘A thitd factor is the inherent stability of the detector as un oscillation generator, especially its ability to maintain a single frequency during ‘changes in plate voltage of the order encountered with a rectified-s.c. supply. The proper choice of circuit and constants can do much to improve this sort of stability, and itis not difficult to build arogenerative detector which is quite satisfactory in this respect. Instability of a fourth type is peculiar to the oscillating detector coupled to an antenna, and evidences itself in the form of “body capacity” at the tuning controls, It results from coupling the ‘THE METAL BASE HOLDS ALL COMPONENTS—NONE ‘ARE MOUNTED ON THE CABINET Bandapread condenser C: i atthe lefe, Cx at the right, detector to an antenna system which is approxi- mately resonant, through the capacity of the receiver and power-cupply to ground, st the oper- ating frequency, and is especially likely to be encountered at 14 me. and higher frequencies. A short ground connection, in terms of wavelengths on the wire, is difficult to scoure at such fre- ‘quencies, especially when the “ground” connec- tion is made to a water pipe or heating system. ‘The tuning controls and chassis of the receiver accordingly assume a potential different from that of the operator's body and hand-es pacity effects result, often sccompanied by an a.e. hum if the antenna is near power wiring. Addi- tion or subtraction of a few feet in an- tenna length usually will move the reson- ance spot out of the band affected. Al- though an untuned coupling tube will eliminate this sort of antenna effect, the remedy may be worse thanthe dis- ease because the ‘coupling tube introduecs a background of tube hiss and accentuates eross-modulation and local interference effects. ‘ropes AND cIRCUETS ‘Summing up, then, we find marks on both sides of the ledger for the simple receiver. If the local selectivity is poor, the distant selectivity is at least fair, and the sensitivity is very good. Al- though the stability is not as good as that of a ood superbet, it can, with proper precautions, be made satisfactory. The cost of the two-tube set is, iow, and the frequency range that ean be eovered ‘with comparatively few oils is great. So far as tubes are concerned little, if anything, is to be gained by using special types. A screen ‘grid detector is still the most satisfactory, and for headphone reception nothing larger than a small triode is needed for the audio stage. More gain could be secured from a power pentode—but at the expense of rather high plate current, which in turn calls for the use of an audio output coupling device to prevent buraing out the phones, The ‘small tubes will produce more than enough head- phone strength. For the detector, the 57, 58, 77, 78, 6C6 and 6D6 types are most satisfactory. The results are about the same with all of them. The 56, 76 and 37 are satisfactory audio amplifiers. 10 QST for‘The screon-grid feedback circuit which has had wide application in tuned-.f. receivers ‘is equally satisfactory for the two-tube set. The stability of this type of eirouil is good, and the ooils are con- veniently made. Regeneration control through ‘varying the deteetor sereen voltage issmooth and easy to effect. Essentially, then, neither the tubes nor eireuits are startlingly different, There is no ood reason why they should be. BAND-SPREADING Most band-spreading systems are unsatisfac- tory from one standpoint or another. At the mo- ment two methods seem to hold the stage to the exclusion of practically all others: the parallel condenser and the tapped coil. The first has the advantage of giving both band-spreading and general coverage with the same coil, but suflere the defect that the band-spread is not readily ad~ justable to meet the varying widths of different bands, A parallel condenser which tunes across the 1.75- and 3.5-me. bands usually covers en- tirely too mauch territory on 7 and 14 me, unless the padding capacity is inordinately large. Gen- erally, too, if maximum band-spread is given first attention on the higher-frequency bands it will be found that a set of four eoils will not give com- plete coverage from 15 to 200 meters with 100-mufd. padding condensers; there will be gaps at one place or an- other. If the range is made continuous, complete band-spread has to be sacri- ficed. The tapped-coil method has the advantage of giving complete band- spread on any and all bands without special tuning condensers, but as gener- ally used, at least in commercial re- ceivers, requires one set of coils for 100-yafd. main tuning condenser, the induetances of the coils are chosen co that overlapping ranges, are secured over the whole spectrum covered, an amateur band falling somewhere within the range of each coil. ‘This is thoroughly conventional. ‘Then, for band-spreading, a second 100-wifd. ‘tuning condenser is connected to an experimen- tally determined tap on the coil to give complete band-spread on this condenser’s dial when the main tuning condenser is set at the proper capac- ity. Both condensers are bronght out to pane! con- trols, The method, it will be seen, is simply a logical extension of the tapped-eoil band-spread system. A PRACTICAL RECEIVER ‘The circuit diagram of o reveiver built along these lines is shown in Fig. 1. Several views of the set are given in the photographs. ‘The actual lay- out used is not particularly important except that, as always, itis desirable to have short leads in the rf, cireuit. Metal chassis construction is strongly recommended, since the shielding thus afforded is, helpful in reducing capacity effects and in cutting out hum pickup from the induction fields which permeate most homes having a.c. wiring. For these same reasons a metal cabinet is advan- ham-band coverage and an additional set for the in-between frequencies on ‘which there is no band-spread. Since the two-tube receiver isa simple affair, we can do some things which right run into the reaim of the cumber- some when applied to receivers with ‘moro than one tuned eireuit. One of the things that can be done isto incorporate ‘tuning system which not only will give continuous coverage over any range de- sired, but which also will give as much or as littlo band-epread as may be wanted on any amateur band—and this without any extra coils. The receiver pictured herewith has a continuous range from approximately 7.5 meters to 205 meters 11,000 to 1450 kiloeycles—and gives practically 100-division band-spread on ach of the five smateur bands included in that range. And it is done with only five plug-in coils, using four-prong coil forms. ‘The system is quite simple. Using a ete eeeoe wecrat on ree ev orrea arya Secaocucn foneenssen teeren san wareecia htgangflenet being th and Se seomenended Speration sultcbie detectors are the PPS OC und Bor audi. Berrien mel Seen See ey oe Toe Si mg erie Giemmarend BCLf008 eee i ee ree (eran Tape vi60) SSS pee eo ane FST peemcomee een mal ste Paes terrors tio Batelco carrer ciate ome aaa, M Sahace aver by 500 hemos Cu 0l nfs Re 0.5 megohane ates sje i eee! figs egret AIL coils are wound with No, 24 dsc. wire on {inch diameter rot she Lng ofthe cll being 194 tachex im all gases, The Rawre alc each rgueneyranae Indep the stigter band ("The tape are counted ff fromthe loer or round terminal. Assuming thot the tuning dials hawe 100 divisions ‘ind thet the O end of the ssale represents maximum condenser carter 1 he acing of Chie tee cma band covsrags ow Cal bg or as follows, using tecolla: 173 men 44 3 sreer 38,7 me 28 £4 m4 2 mee 78, See fest on col construction: roster esate enie June, 1934tageous, and since it is now possible to purchase metal boxos for less than the cost of the alu- ‘minum that would go into one of the same dimen sions—to say nothing of getting a better mechani- cal job unless the builder is particularly handy with tools—this set was made to fit such a box, in this ease « National Type C-SRR. The aluminum ‘base or chassis on which all the parts, including the tuning condensers and the regeneration con trol, are mounted measures 754 by 7}4 inches. ‘Quacter-inch square brass rods, drilled and tapped for 6-82 sorews, are fastened slong two edges of the base to furnish a convenient means of securing it-in place in the cabinet. The tivo tuning condensers are mounted along the front edge of the base with their shafts pro- Jjecting beyond the edge so the dials ean be fast- ened to them when the set is put in the box. Behind the tuning condonsers is the socket for the plug-in coils, an. isolantite socket mounted on taetal pillars so the soeket prongs clear the base ‘The grid condenser and leak are just behind the right-hand tuning: condenser, the far end of the condenser being supported from the base by a ‘small piece of bakelite drilled and tapped to serve 8 mounting. ground—is thus made to serve as the antenna ‘coupling coil as well. Experiment has shown that this method provides just about the right amount of coupling, keeping antenne effects to a mini- ‘mum while providing plenty of signal strength. PORTHER CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAMLS Parts mounted below the base include the re- generation control, the plate by-pass condensers and plate choke, and the screen and audio eathode by-pass condensers. This last, is @ double eondensor having two sections of 0.5 uid. each. Inereasing each to 1 afd. will reduce regencration- control resistor noise and aid in amplification of the lower audio frequencies. The audio cathode resistor and the sereen dropping resistor also are mounted underneath the base. The regeneration control resistor is mounted on a bracket made from half-inch brass strip, from which it must be insulated. An extension shaft gives the necessary Tength so that this resistor ean be controlled from the panel. ‘Fitting the set to the box requires a little care, but presents no particular problems. The back and bottom of the box should be removed, after ‘whieh the receiver ean be pushed "To the rear of the grid con eed. Wcupode in from the rear. A space of denser is the detector tube about two inches between the socket, and in the rear right- oO bottom and the base will be suf- hand comer the binding posts ficient; lines should be ruled for the phones. ‘The andio tube °. slong the inner sides of the box socket is next, and occupying, ne Nc, fas guides so the chassis will be the rear left-hand corner is the ae square with the box. ‘Then the audio coupler. ‘The antenna and conconnecnons(fem tse) points at which the shafts of the ground terminals are along the Jeft edge of the base. These ter- minals, incidentally, are an as- sembly of two push-type binding posts mounted on bakelite strip, a convenient gadget which ‘can be purchased at most radio stores. A similar terminal was first used for the headphone con nections, but tho push-posts proved to be unsatisfactory for holding phone tips and regular binding posts were substituted, retaining the insulating strip. The coil socket is mounted 80 that the leads to the tuning con- densers are short and conven- ent. Tho rear right-hand socket terminal (No. 4) is connected to the cathode of the detector tube; the wire from the coil socket drops down through a hole in the base and runs underneath to the tube socket. A wire from this same prong also runs through an- other hole in the base to the sntenna post. The conneetion to the ground terminal is similarly made to the rear left-hand terminal (No. 2) on the nil socket. The feedback coil—the part of the coil included between the cathode tap and FIG. 2~COML SOCKET CONNEC. TIONS AND THE METHOD OF BRINGING OUT. COIL "TERMINALS tuning condensers and regenera- tion control go through the front should be marked and holes drilled to correspond. These may be made fairly Iarge, and small inaceuracies will not matter. ‘Phe next step is to drill small holes slong the sides of the box for the serews which fit into the brass- rod mounting strips. Drilling and tapping of these rods for the side seroves should be loft until after the holes in the sides of the ox have been drilled, so that ‘their exact location ean be easily spotted when the set is in its final position. The dials should not be fastened in place until all the other mechanical work has ‘been finished; if dials similar to those shown (Na- tional Type B Midget) are used, the drilling template should be lined up with the condenser shafts after the receiver is securely mounted in the box. This will avoid the embarrassment of having condenser shafts and dials refuse to line up. The only precaution to be observed in eonnee- tion with the rexeneration-control shaft is to see that it does not touch the box as it comes through. 12 QST forcom consrRUCTION Fig. 2 shows how the connections are made on the ooil forms, while the specifications are given under Fig, 1, Inall eases the grid and ground ends, of the coils come through the forms directly over their respective pins, and the tap specifeations ‘are given in tums and fractions of turns from the ground end, The length of the winding should be exactly 134 inchos on all coils, and on all but the 1.75me. coil the ‘turns should be sepa- rated to give an even spacing throughout. ‘The 1.75-me, coil is close-wound with the wire specified. Different brands of wire vary a bit in insulation thick- ness, 80 if the completed close-wound 14-inch coil has tun or two more or less than indi- cated in the eoil table it, is quite in line with ‘what would be expected. Avsmall variation in the total number of turns on this coil is unimpor- tant so Jong as the taps sare counted off from the ground end as specified. °4, while moving the tap toward the grid end will make C cover 4 wider frequency range. Unfor- ‘tunately the position of the tap for a predeter- mined amount of band-spread cannot be readily caleuluted, and the work must be done ex perimentally. ELECTRICAL POINTERS So much for the mechanies of the set. Elec ‘rically, there are only two pitfalls to. avoid. ‘The first is to make sure that the part of the coil included between the eathode tap and ground end is as close to speci- fications as possible. It does not take much ““Giokdler"” in this eireuit to provide all the needed feedback, and too much feodback’ not only re- duces the sensitivity but also may lead to howls of astonishing proportions, Variation in the other direction is likewise bad, although there is of course some leeway. ‘The second: thing to avoid ig the use of makeshift audio cou- ‘The tur spacing on the B.5-me. coll is adjusted by putting another winding of the same size wire between the the auxiliary winding ‘THIS UNDERNEATH VIEW SHOWS THE RE- GENERATION. CONTROL RESISTOR. AND THE VARIOUS BY-PASS..CONDENSERS AND RESISTORS “The posisive “B” terminalis ona small picce of Fre switch Eerste fom the bate” Back fataent Toad in thesteavive cable congiats of to wires soldered together fe Tower the voltane drop./All ground conncetions from the tuning condensers and colf are bonded together. pler between the detec tor and amplifier. While audio transformers often have been pressed into service as coupling impedances, a good many of them show being removed after the coil terminals are soldered in place. Spacing on the higher-frequenoy coils is adjusted by hand. ‘Taps are made by drilling a hole through the form at the proper point, cutting off the wire and run- ning it down to the proper pin. A new piece of wire with its end fastened in the same pin eon- tinues the winding. When finished, the windings should be given a coat of lear Duco or coil dope possessing good adhesive properties. With the coils epecified, the band-spread is be- ‘tween 80 and 100 dial divisions on the band- spread condenser on’all except the 3500-ke. coil. In this case the tap has been adjusted to spread the 400-ke. e.w. portion over the whole dial. Good spread on the ‘phone portion is obtained by ro- setting the main tuning condenser, C, 60 that the high-frequency end of the band is eovered on C'. Any desired dexree of spread can be obtained by changing the position of the tap. Moving the tap toward the ground end will increase the spread—decrease the frequency eoverage—on pronounced tendency to produce fringe howl. This is not to say that an audio transformer eannot be used, but simply to point out that if one é used and the set has a fringe howl, the audio transformer is very likely the cause of it. ‘Trouble of this sort. can be side- stepped by acquiring a coupler made especially for the job of coupling a sereen-grid detector to an. audio ampli. ‘There are several of them on the market, ‘The receiver can be used with either 2.5- or 6.3-volt tubes of the types previously enumer ated, and is euitable for either a.c, or storage-bat- tery operation of the filaments of 6.3-volt tubes. Plate voltage ean come either from a “B” pack or batteries, with voltages from 90 to 250 volts being satisfactory, Somewhat greater signal strength will be obtained at the higher “B” voltages. ‘The set should first be tested with the antenna disconnected to make sure that it goes into oseil- lation smoothly, and, incidentally, to make sure (Continued on page 88) June, 1934 13A.R.R.L. EMBLEM Insignia of the radio amateur I] Env tho January, 1990, tnve of OST th 4p editorial requesting suggestions forthe RERL saben a davico whereby every sxateur |] could know ht brother anateur when they met, an Ie ‘weer proudly wherever he. went. row each other Inthe Jal, 1930, hsue the desien was announced — the faaillar,disnond thet sreot, so] you-stthe top ofthis paso — adopted by the Board of Biractors at fy annual macting. le net wih univeral ‘retour athored, « sate of i Of that thing which we call Anstour Spit Fovered,Idealzed. ‘wouutes, DO YOU WEAR THE A.R.R.L. EMBLEM? THE LEAGUE EMBLEM, IN HEAVY ROLLED GOLD AND BLACK ENAMEL, IS AVAILABLE IN EITHER PIN. OR BUTTON TYPE. There are three special colors for Communications Departaent appolntoes. . > Red background for the SCM D> Blue background for the ORS D> Green backsround for the RM fed and graen avilable tn pin tyo0 only blue imty be hed tn eth pin or button iio. All Emblons priced hesama. » » = $1.00, postpaid. American Radio Relay League West Hartford, Connecticut ALUMINUM BOX SHIELDS “4 «K SPECIAL $415 "58" I Sareces QUetene Bde i iingamopda Locka Sree, aoe eee tes se uaPAWOOD GieLe CUTTER Be songs eee ESET, uae ‘Etter, far ue in band race or dri Gate a She ee eerie ee SEVIS TE Of RB on tee remora EAUBED RIDDEN SHE? gO ae BLAN, the Radio Man, inc. Fs} to the voltage drop across the resistor and the grid will be negative by this amount in respect to the filament. Neglecting grid current. which also flows through the resistor, the voltage drop across the resistor, in other words the grid bias voltage, will be equal to the produet of the value of the resistance in ohms and the plate current in amperes. ‘The actual bias will be somewhat higher than this calculated value due to the grid current previously mentioned in the case of all but Class-A amplifiers. ‘The calculated value, will, however, be satisfactory for all practical Purposes, ‘From the above, it follows that bias to complete plate current cut-off cannot be obtained, since at, cut-off the plate current is zero and with zero plate current no voltage drop could be developed ‘across the biasing resistor. The proper resistance in ohms for Class-C operation will be equal to the biasing voltage necessary for Class-C operation divided by the plate current in amperes; and the neoessary wattage rating for the resistor may be determined from the product of the plate current in amperes squared and the resistance of the rex sistor in ohma. ‘This method may be used, of course, for either transmitters or receivers, For transmitters, itis usually advisable to make the resistor variable for final adjustment, It should be remembered that, when using this system of biasing, the available plate voltage is lowered by the amount of biasing voltage used. —D. HM. What About the Simple Receiver? (Continued from page 13) ‘that the plate power-supply, if an eliminator, is free from tunable hums. If the receiver is quiet and stable throughout the entire range, the an- tenn may be connected. If hum and body capae- ity now appear at some part of the range, the an- ‘tenna length should be investigated, as deseribed previously. It should not be dificult to find a Jength which will permit stable operation in the amateur bands at least. Resours Despite inherent shortcomings, particularly with respect to selectivity, the service-per-dollar ratlo of a two-tube receiver of this type ean be satisfyingly high. Listening in on the gadget restores one’s faith in the ability of inexpensive apparatus to do a good job for the amateur who makes up in enthusiasm and operating ability what he lacks in cash. The operating ability, in fact, is bound to be acquired; one can’t do the concentrating required to pull a wanted signal out of a mess of QRM without learning something, ‘There are plenty of times, though, when QRM is not much of @ problem, and st such times the two-tuber can hold its own with the best of them. ‘Don’t be surprised if the signal strength is con- siderably more than “comfortable” headphone volume; modem receiving tubes have a real punch, And the DX still rolls in on ® detector- and-onestep. Say You Baw It in QST— Tt Identifies You and Helps QST