Anyone Read French?

[ms660]

Anyone read French? It's vintage radio related, hope I've put this in the right forum section:

I've got copies of two documents plus the cover, original printing as it were, nothing too long but I'm trying to find out in effect what the documents say, I don't need a word for word translation, I've tried that with several online translators and it doesn't make complete sense to me.

So what's required is the general jist of what's written highlighting the general technical points, it concerns the term C-119 which is often referred to concerning early regenerative receivers in France, I have a feeling it has something to do with a circuit or component/arrangement/topology.

I'll upload them anyways for folks to take a look at they include a poster for a receiver of the period (1920's) that uses the term C119 in its advertising.

Many thanks.

Lawrence.

[AndiiT]

Hi,
I can't read French all that well but there is a reasonable free on line translator here the only trouble is you would have to transcribe the text from the documents.

Regards

Andrew

[emeritus]

It's a tuned regenerative amplifier of a type that was used byarmy signals units during the (first) world war, characterised by the replacement of a 70,000 Ohm resistance in the amplifier stage by a tuned circuit. Said to reduce re-radiation from the receiver's antenna, compared with usual receivers. A modification of a receiver described previously in the journal "Antenna", no.25 issue, in response to a reader's enquiry.

Just back from helping my son fit some plaster coving and about to have a shower. I can do you a comprehensive translation later this evening. I often had to read French technical documents before I retired, and could do with some practice.

[ms660]

Thanks for that, I'll await further at your leisure.

Lawrence.

[emeritus]

Here's my translation.

*Translation starts*

Foreword


This book, we say it straight away, does not have the object of giving amateurs a general understanding of radio telegraphy, which is easy to obtain from a large number of specialist publications. It is merely intended to explain what happens in a tuned radio frequency amplifier and to show a practical way of constructing one.

This type of apparatus, very sensitive, and at the same time, very powerful, has a quite remarkable peculiarity, its name: C.119 had been given to it by amateurs themselves, and ever since, its popularity having become very great, constructors who had previously met it, have adopted the same name.

This term C.119 is the identifying characters of a reply that we had made in the journal L'Antenne No. 25 to a question of a reader of that journal, asking how he could modify a receiver comprising a radio frequency valve having a resistor, a magnetic reaction detector, and two transformer [-coupled ?] audio frequency valves.

The reply C119 disclosed the modified circuit diagram, having for its object the replacement of the 70,000 Ω resistor of the original receiver by a resonant circuit tuned to the receiver's wavelength.

Subsequently, to all questions identical with that one, the reply had been - "See the reply C.119 in issue 25". From that, the circuit became identified by the characters C.119, there was only one step, and this step, the amateurs jumped over it, because it was quicker to say "C.119" than "Tuned radio frequency amplifier", which is the technical name for such an apparatus.

Now we should explain that the reply had, for its object, simply the replacement of the 70,000 Ω resistor by a resonant circuit, the other components being left as constructed in the original apparatus, apart from the reaction which has been coupled to the resonant circuit in order to reduce radiation from the antenna, which considerably reduces interference with neighbouring receivers.

However, it should not be thought that C.119 constitutes an invention. The theory of it existed under its technical denomination well before L'Antenne was published, and by disclosing it to amateurs, we have done nothing but show a practical means of transforming, in receivers of short waves, an apparatus using resistances which does not reduce so much with wavelength, apparatuses of this type having previously been built during hostilities by the services of the Central Establishment of Radio Telegraphic Materiel of the Army.

Further, it should not be thought that, by it, we wish to disapprove of amplifiers with resistors. That [type of] apparatus allows the effective reception of relatively short waves, but it is essential that it should be properly constructed, which is not the case with the vast majority of present-day amplifiers which, it has to be said, have been constructed any old how.

The C.119b , instead of being constructed with a clear separation of the tuning coil with respect to the resonant coil, provides on the contrary a variable coupling between these coils. The efficiently might be slightly superior, but only under certain conditions of the resistance of the tuned circuits.

R.A.

*Translation ends*

The wording in the advert under the illustration reads

"Tuned receiver with interchangeable biscuits, allowing the use of Tesla coils. C.119 - C.119 Basic [literally, bare] price 500 francs."

[ms660]

Brill...Thanks a lot.

Lawrence