al rule. It isn't wireless ethics. And even
should he be a more skillful radio man he knows he would gain nothing
by hustling the chap at the other end for he would only lose time by
having to go back and repeat."

"Is all the general transmission of messages given such care?"
inquired Mr. Crowninshield.

"Of course cipher communications are fussier," Bob said. "Nevertheless
the rules are pretty strict for all messages. And since accuracy is
the keynote of radio and to get it your outfit must be in A1
condition, every care must be taken to have strong, clear, and
effective sending and receiving power. That means you must constantly
clean your apparatus and tighten it up; test out your detector by the
buzzer intended for the purpose and make sure that it is in sensitive
condition; and assure yourself that every part of your set is OK.
Moreover, an operator who is on duty listening in is expected to wear
the double head receiver all the time, so no sound, however faint, may
get by him. He must also see that his detector is adjusted to its
greatest degree of sensibility and his tuner to the proper wave
length. If your station happens to be near another, or if you are one
of a group of ships and other vessels near yours are sending, you must
watch out and either weaken the coupling of your detector or open your
switch and cut it out altogether when those around you are using
powerful currents for transmission; else you will wreck this delicate
part of your instrument."

"Gee, but there are things to remember!" ejaculated Dick.

"Not so many, really, if you use ordinary brains," Bob returned. "You
just have to think, that is all. A few big principles hold throughout.
The other _don'ts_ are simply to make your own work and the other
fellow's smoother; prevent mistakes; do away with as much interference
as possible; and protect your outfit. For example, I found I could
often lessen the interference by loosening the coupling of my
receiving set after I had heard a call and reduce the sound to a point
where it was just readable. You get your message all right but you do
not get so much else with it. Then you can save wear and tear if you
only run your generator while you are sending messages. That you
cannot transmit at the hours reserved for naval radio stations to send
out the time signals by which navigators set their chronometers, or
when operators are broadcasting, goes without saying. Any dunce would
know that."

"I