RADIO NOTES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 284, 26 July 1932, Page 7

RADIO NOTES

Kathode.)

(By

Local reception has been fair during the last weelc Signal strerigth has been good and this is fortunate, as the noise level is now very high in Rotorua. Under summer eonditions the noise level would be equal to the signal strength of local stations and reception of Australian would be out of the question. Something will certainly have to be done before long or listeners in the town area will not renew their licenses. The Australian stations have been coming over very strongly after 6 p.m., and several American stations have been heard to advantage. WFAA and WOAil were exceptionally good from 1 to 6 p.m. last Sunday evening. American stations may be logged as early as 4.30 p.m. in Rotorua, providing, of course, the noise level is low, and one only ■ finds that condition present on oecasional Sunday afternoons. The tonal quality of lYA's transmission has shown a marked improvement during the last few days. The base notes are now full and round, yet the high frequencies retain their brilliancy No doubt this improvement is part of the Broadcasting Board's plan to give listeners better service, and license holders will appreciate their efforts. ihe old Broadcasting. Company was never anxious to spend money on new equipment, so listeners had to suffer inferior transmissions. "Kathode" as an official of the now extinct Broadcasting Company, wrote to the manager on several occasions, pointing out the poor tonal qualities of each of the YA stations, but on each occasion the reply was to the effcct that the transmissions were up to the highest standard, therefore the receiver must have been out of order. "Kathode" felt that such a reply was not playing the game, so tests were taken from every well known make of receiver in Rotorua and the results 'sent to the company's manager. The reply was to the effect that every receiver must have been out of order. Those days are now over, and at least we can look forward to quality in transmissions even if quantity and programme quality is lacking. Although "Kathode" is all for Bri-tish-made goods every time, he eannot allow an article in The Wireless Construetor by J. English, under the heading of "The Passing of the Triode," go by without some comment. Mr. English accuses the Americans of turning out valves of mediocre performance and then goes ahpad to announce the "new screen grid" valve. This is nothing more than a version of the American variable mu tube which has been on the New Zealand market for some fifteen or eighteen months. The a.c. version of the old d.c type penthode was also produced in Ameriea about two years ago, yet it is just appearing on the English market. From a long experience with all types of American' and English tubes, "Kathode" would be inclined to give the Americans the preference when it comes to actual performance. Mr. English presumes the American tubes are mediocre because the average American receiver is a "multivalve instrument," while the average British set uses about four valves. The explanation, of course, is that the number of stations operating in the United States make it necessary to have several tuned stages to obtain selection, and the average American listener is able to reach out over thousands of miles and bring in programmes from another state. The average listener in England has a number of stations dotted about within a few miles and the use of short, medium and extra long waves make selectivity of no great importance. "Kathode" has used three of the best known British, four-valve receivers in Rotorua, and has been exceptionally pleased with the results obtained, but he has also used several American four-valve sets and fails to see that the American tubes are "mediocre." One must be fair when making comparisons, but evidently Mr. English has not given American valves a fair trial. Speaking of valves, one frequently notices that some of the best known English receivers employ Americanmade a.c. tubes. Short wave enthusiasts are looking forward to the completion of the British short wave stations now under way to provide programmes for the Dominions. When these transmitters are on tlie air, short wave listening will become popular and the up-to-date set owner will have short wave adaptors or a special short wave receiver Owners of a.c. receivers should be careful to keep all valves in their proper position in the set. The usual 245 type output valve will fit the socket of the rectifier, but if one is placed in that position the set will not operate and a perfectly good tube will probably be destroyed. The reversed positions of screen grid and variable-mu valves will also cause poor reception, and in some cases no reception at all.