RADIO INSPECTORS MAY HAVE SOME TRYING TIMES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 43, 26 September 1949, Page 5

RADIO INSPECTORS MAY HAVE SOME TRYING TIMES

The Radio Inspector for the Bay of Plenty, Mr C. A. Leedon, is now working in Whakatane. A good deal of his time is being taken up checking radio licenses. That is, to see that, all owners have paid the 25s fee. This is not a small job and all sorts of complications arise.

Once a set is licensed it is traced through from owner to owner to ensure either that it has been licensed or that it has been dismantled. Radio dealers are. required to hand to the radio inspector a list of all people who have purchased radio material. This list is checked against the current li :ense to ensure that the purchaser is possessed of a radio license. This procedure i .on unearths the “Pirate” the name usually given to an unlicensed set. Confusion May Arise

Confusion sometimes arises because a set may be purchased and licensed say by Ted Smith.' The next year the Smiths have secured a State house. Mrs Smith goes to the Post Office end corners over all dignified and ngisters the set in the name of Edward William Smith. That sets a problem for the radio inspector. How does he know that Mr T. Smith of Jetty Street is one and the same person as Edward William Smith Esq., of Remuera Rise? And so it goes on. All this could be avoided if the old radio license was kept and taken to the Post Office when the set is relicensed.

It is the radio license fees that pay the expenses of the radio stations, the announcers and incidentally the salaries of the radio inspectors. Radio Interference After he has cleared up all the revenue problems, the inspector turns his attention to interference. This is a job requiring a huge degree of technical knowledge and ability. Actually it takes many years of study to become qualified. Trouble in a whole locality can come from a faulty set, or from faulty power equipment. This can come from transformers, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators or any other electric motor which is not properly shielded. A fluorescent lighting system developing a fault can cause every radio set in a whole suburb to make a noise like frying eggs. When the radio inspector does get the time to respond to a trouble call, he will locate the faulty equipment with an unerring skill.