WIRELESS NOTES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 3 August 1929, Page 9

WIRELESS NOTES

VARIOUS TOPICS New Zealand listeners may look forward to poor reception of distant stations about the end of this year, owing to great sunspot activity, according to Professor Stetson, of the astronomical laboratory of Harvard University, U.S.A. Professor Stetson is a strong supporter of the theory that sunspots have a marked effect upon longdistance radio. The Auckland Comedy Players have promised something special for the evening of 23rd August, when they have arranged to produce the mystery play "The Monkey’s Paw.” Later in the same evening they will take part in the "Trial Scene” from "The Merchant of Venice.”

Amateurs an Asset “In the United States of America amateur radio is looked upon as a. great national asset. The amateur pays no license fee, and is encouraged to experiment, study, and to handle .messages of any harmless kind so long as lie sticks to’ the international amateur wave band and docs not accept a fee for handling messages. That is, the U.S.A. Government treats the amateur as a scientific enthusiast, and not as a potential criminal. America can supply many notable instances of amateur emergency service when, the lines of communication were down, e.g., during the. Florida floods in 192(5, and the San Diego storm of 1927. Australia lias one instance to its credit, when, after much formality and great reluctance on account of possible public criticism, amateurs were permitted in an emergency to handle Press and urgent private telegrams. The occasion was tlie North Queensland cyclone of February, 1927. F

The Psalm of Radio Radio is my hobby; I shall want no other. ft niakcth me to stay home at night. 'lt leadeth me into much trouble. It draweth on my purse. I go into the paths of debt for its sake. Yea, though I understand it perfectly, it will not oscillate. Its concerts and speeches, they comfort me. Yet it will not work in the presence of my friends. I anoint the coils with shellac: But the tube spilletli over, Surely the bug will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of a radio fan for ever.

Frequency Tests Constant frequency gramophone records have been produced in England, and it is now possible with these re-

cords to deternlino the audible limits of any radio set and speaker. The records contain four to eight notes of a given frequency, and the set’ (lifted) in all) ranges from a frequency of 25.5 cycles to 84(50 cycles. Let it be explained to the uninitiated that all sounds arc a matter of so many vibrations per second and that the higher the frequency, or, in other words, the greater the number of vibrations per second, the higher the note. The audible limits are roughly 15 to 10,000, the former being so deep that it would hardly be recognised as a musical note, and the latter so shrill that it would be more like the scratch of a diamond on glass. The average cone loud-speaker begins to respond to a low note of about 100 frequencies and ceases to respond at about 4000 frequencies.

Tile full recording range for gramophonel records is 40 cycles to 5000 cycles, and the electrical reproducer 50 cycles to 4500 cycles;

When reproducing gramophone records by use of a magnetic pick-up such us is now in common use, the piek-up itself very often limits the range, and as one cau only test a wireless set with these records by using au electrical pick-up, this point is impoTtant.

A leaflet giving full particulars of these records could perhaps be obfrom any dealer who stocks U.M.V. records. Apart from their use for testing wireless and gramophone instruments, they should have a definite value from a scientific point of view. In fact, Professor A. M. Low mentioned recently that they should be useful to engineers when they do not wish to go to the trouble and expense of employing a synchronous cinematograph, or a similar device. CORRECT ENGLISH INFLUENCE OF BROADCASTING Many of us recall that, during our childhood, it was necessary for us to look to the schoolmaster and to the vicar for correct speech, and, when corrected in respect of some utterance, wfe were wont to retort that the schoolmaster used it or the vicar used it, says a writer in “New Zealand Radio.” Evidently the broadcasting announcer is now also regarded as one whose speech is beyond question. Recently a mother corrected her young daughter as follows:

“You must not use that word, Doris. Call it ail act or a trick; there is no such thing as a stunt.”

“The announcer calls it a stunt, mother,” was the quick reply. Poor announcer! He cannot be too careful in his choice of words. Of course, stunt, used as a noun, is not correct English; it is a North American slang word, and should not be used. Had the North American coined an entirely new word for use as a comprehensive expression for act, trick, and feat, we might have adopted this word readily for addition to the English language. But he did not coin a new word. He showed a lamentable lack of originality in stealing an established English verb for use as a noun having no relation in its intended meaning to tlio meaning of the verb.

stunt, IIH a noun, in slang; and it in very, poor slang, because if is 'levoid of originality. There are some who chum that “static,” is slang; but this claim is not justified. Certainly the word is now used ill too broacl a sense, insular as it is used with the intention to convey a much wider meaning than the word implies.. Strictly, the word implies local atmospheric electricity, and by no means covers all electrical interruptions and interferences. However, it conveys much more to the mind than does the loose expression “x’s,” which may mean anything or everything or nothing. It may be construed to mean crosses or exes as an abbreviation for “extras.” If it is intended for the latter it is clearly a false description. These interference waves arc not necessarily additional waves received; they may merely distort the waves sought; but, frequently, they succeed in blotting out or absorbing entirely some of the waves sought. Therefore, instead of being additions, the interference waves may be replacements. “Static” cannot truly bo termed slang; it is an abbreviation for the term “electrostatic waves,” although it is now generally given a much wider meaning.