RADIO NOTES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 67, 10 November 1931, Page 7

RADIO NOTES

"Kathode."

By

Diiring the international programme from 1YA this ©vening, Mr. P. L. Soljak, M.A., of the Auckland University College, will lecture on "English; as a World Language." The Singing Gircle of the Pioneer Club, in conjunction with the salon' orchestra, will provide the programme from 2YA this evening. The soloists will be Mr. P. ,E. Gooder (baritone), Mr. Edgar Swain (tenor) , Miss Ella Fair (soprano), Mrs. Downer (mez-zo-soprano) , and Mr. A. S. Mitchell (mezzo-cohtralto) . 3YA will broadcast a eoncert given by the coloratura soprano, Margherita Zelanda, assisted.by the 3YA studio orchestra. A session of oldtime dances by Peter Bryson's Band will follow. 4YA's programme will.be proyided by the St. Kilda Band and assisting artists. Conditions during the past week have been exceedirigly bad for broadcast reception. Static has been almost continuous ajid had it not been for the fact that the New Zealand stations have maintained good strength on most nights, reception would have been almost. impossible. The Australian stations, with the exception of 2FC, have Been very wealr until 11 p.m. The American. stations continue to arrive with good volume, and KFI has been logged at 7 p.m. with almost the same strength as 2YA. Owners of radio receiyers were abie to listen to a description of the Melbourne Cup race direct from the racecourse. Mr. Erie Welch described the race- with such vividness -that listeners could follow each horse almost as well as if they were actually eye-witnesses. The -quality of the relay was excellent and goes to show the high standard of perf ection reached in modern radio engineering. The tiny electric currents set up in the microphone on -the Melbourne racecourse were first of -all amplified and passed over land lines to-the short wave transmitters 3ME in Melbourne and 2ME in Sydney. Here they were once again amplified and monitored before being fed to the giant modulator, oscillator and radio amplifier valves. From the transmitters, the high powered modulated radio frequency currents were fed to the transmitting aerials, to set up electromagnetic waves, which travelled with the speed of light to the four corners of the earth. Small reeeiving aerials in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin intercepted these , extremely minute currents and handi ed them on to radio frequeney amplifiers, where they were once again amplified to suffieient strength to be detected. After detection, further stages -of amplification were used to provide suffieient strength to operate I the transmitters amplifiers, which in turn once again modulated the carriers of the four New Zealand stations. Receiving aerials in Rotorua intercepted the small currents sent out from the YA transmitters and once again the process of amplification and detection was used in order that suffieient volume could be secured to operate loud speakers. Through this complicated process, every word was received clearly and distinetly, going to show the thoroughness and skill used by the engineers over the whole chain. Conditions on short waves have been very erratie during the past week. The broadcast stations on the 40 metre band have been very mueh below average- strength and those on shorter wave-lengths have been almost inaudible. Local transmitters on the short wave bands complain of being unable to work long distance stations on account of heavy static and fading signals. This, of eourse, refers to the 40 and 80 metre bands. Below 30 metres static is almost unlcnown, though intense fading is usually evident when the higher waves are suffering from static.

Though not common in New Zealand, automobile radio has been in vogue in the United States for two or three years. Receivers have now been made that make automobile re- . ception possible, and "Kathode" in-' spected such a receiver recently imported by a local motor service eom- r pany. This receiver is very compact; and extremely sensitive. The set itself can be installed in any convenient part of the car and the tuning is done on a small panel fitted to the steering column, just below thewheel. The iniportant charaeteristics of an automobile receiver are sensitivity, selectivity, compactness, ruggedness and economy. The problem of sensitivity' is particularly important on account of the limited space available for a receiving aerial. We are apt to think tpo often that radio is purely a means for providing . entertainment, when, 'as a matter of fact, broadcasting is only a small phase of radio transmitting. During every hour of the day and night, the ether is pulsating with. morse eode transmissions, carrying out the business of the world, and radio telephone services are continually in operation linking up one country with another. The time is not far distant when one will be able to step into a bo'oth on board a train and ring up a friend or business colleague, not only in one's oWn country, but also in any part of the world. Radio telephones are installed in some of the Transatlantic liners and it is .possible to hold direct telephonic communication ; from mid-Atlantic with persons in either England or America. Speed of eommuunication to a great extent 'indicates progress. Radio communication has been responsible for beating down more barriers to speedy communication than any other agency since the world began. Radio is found playing a leading part in most modern advancements. Broadcasting, exploration, aviation, television, radio beacons, marine beacons, world-wide telephony, talking pictures all owe a huge debt to radio research.' It is little wonder, then, that most governments .throughout the world haye set aside wave-lengths for the exclusive use of experimenters, usually known as radio amateurs.