Produced by Stan Goodman, Earle Beach, Tonya Allen and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
[Illustration: "THERE IT IS!" CRIED JOE, AS THE MUSIC SUDDENLY
BURST UPON THEIR EARS]
It is very appropriate at this moment when radio has taken thecountry by storm, and aroused an enthusiasm never before equaled,that the possibilities for boys in this art should be brought outin the interesting and readable manner shown in the first book ofthis series.
Radio is still a young science, and some of the most remarkableadvances in it have been contributed by amateurs—that is, by boyexperimenters. It is never too late to start in the fascinating game,and the reward for the successful experimenter is rich both in honorand recompense.
Just take the case of E. H. Armstrong, one of the most famous ofall the amateurs in this country. He started in as a boy at home,in Yonkers, experimenting with home-made apparatus, and discoveredthe circuit that has revolutionized radio transmission and reception.His circuit has made it possible to broadcast music, and speech, andit has brought him world-wide fame.
He had no elaborate laboratory in which to experiment, but hepersevered and won out. Like the Radio Boys in this story, he wasconfronted with all kinds of odds, but with true American spirithe stuck to his task and triumphed.
The attitude of the government toward the wireless amateur is wellillustrated by the expressions of Secretary of Commerce HerbertHoover, and is summed up in his declaration, "I am for the Americanboy."
No other country in the world offers such opportunities to boyexperimenters in the radio field. The government realizes that thereis always a possibility of other important discoveries being madeby the boy experimenters, and that is the reason it encourages theamateur.
Don't be discouraged because Edison came before you. There is stillplenty of opportunity for you to become a new Edison, and no scienceoffers the possibilities in this respect as does radio communication.
Jack Binns
March 30th 1922
"How about it, Joe?" asked Bob Layton of his chum, Joe Atwood, asthey came out of school one afternoon, swinging their books by strapsover their shoulders. "Going up to Dr. Dale's house to-night?"
"You bet I am," replied Joe enthusiastically. "I wouldn't miss itfor a farm. I'm keen to know more about this wireless business, andI'm sure the doctor can tell us more about it than a