The remainder of the week sped quickly by, and almost before the boys realized it the holiday had arrived. Larry spent the morning at Bob’s house, where he watched Bob and Joe working on the new set, and kept his promise to ask questions.
“It doesn’t do me much good, though,” he said, fairly puzzled at last. “That’s about the most mysterious looking box of tricks that I’ve ever had the hard luck to look at. What are all those dials and knobs for? Do you keep your money in there, or what?”
“You must think they are combination locks,” laughed Bob. “This knob here controls a condenser, and this one a transformer.”
“But how do you know what to do with them?” asked the bewildered Larry. “How do you know which one to turn and which one to leave alone?”
“You don’t,” laughed Bob. “You may have an idea about where they should be placed, but it’s different every evening.” 186
“Yes, and during the evening, too,” added Joe. “You have to keep adjusting all the time to get the best results.”
“Well, if it depended on me, I’m afraid I’d only get the worst results,” said Larry. “It all looks terribly complicated to me.”
“You don’t have to worry much about it, anyway,” said Joe. “All you have to do is whistle into the transmitter, and it’s up to us to hear you. We have to do all the work.”
“It’s a lucky thing for me that it is that way,” said Larry. “If I had to learn all about radio before I could give my act, I’d probably starve to death first.”
“Radio is just like everything else,” said Bob. “It looks very mysterious and difficult to an outsider, but when you get into it a little way and understand the rudiments, it begins to look a lot simpler. It wouldn’t take you very long to catch on to it. Especially a smart lad like you,” he added, with a grin.