LOCAL NOTES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 203, 16 November 1927, Page 14

LOCAL NOTES

Conducted for THE SUN by

C. M. Taylor,

B.Sc., M.I.R.E.

Readers will be interested to know that Tricity House is carrying on under new management, and Mr. Gerald Brandon will be pleased to meet his old friends again with this newly reorganised business. A meeting of the executive of the Auckland Listeners’ League is to be held on Friday to discuss the proposals for a local advisory committee to help broadcasting in Auckland. Some time ago some such scheme was suggested, whereby the Broadcasting Company might work in with the listeners through the medium of tlie league executive for the general benefit to broadcasting in Auckland. CANTERBURY AND DOMINION LEAGUE When the conference was held some time ago in Wellington, the Canterbury listeners were not represented, and the reason is given in a letter published in the Christchurch SUN, and written by the secretary of the Canterbury Listeners’ League. The reason is that, while agreeing with the idea of a Dominion organisation, the fear is expressed that some people believe it to be a North Island scheme to get the Government to take over broadcasting, and for this reason the Canterbury Listeners’ League did not attend the conference. In the correspondence a certain Wellington man has evidently badly upset the Canterbury people by base insinuation that the Broadcasting Company rules the Canterbury League. The Canterbury secretary sums things up very nicely when he suggests that there is a great deal too much Mr. Jones about the conference. It is a pitv that the extravagant actions of one man should cause any ill-feeling, particularly as the present holds much in front which can be got by co-opera.tion between the whole of the listeners of New Zea- j land and the Broadcasting Company. ! In this respect the Auckland director should be of much service to the company, and the writer wonders if his experience as ex-secretary of the A.L.L. has been made use of by the company. UNIVERSITY RADIO COURSE Mr. C. R. Russell, M.Sc., M.1.R.E.. while passing through Auckland last j week, told the writer that a course in radio engineering has been started at | the Engineering School of Canterbury College. This development is interesting in view of the disapproval expressed by the Minister of Education on the teaching of subjects which would only interest a few enthusiastic people, who looked on such subjects as a hobby. The authorities at Canterbury are to be congratulated on their realisation that radio is a definite branch of electrical engineering, and deserves consideration. Any dealer will tell of his difficulty in getting mechanicians who understand j a radio set and. the smaller dealers particularly in the country, are trying |

to sell radio sets like pounds of tea, and their simple difficulties make the need of trained radio men a necessity from many points of view. Still, it is an ill wind that blows no one good, and the freights on sets returning to the centres for simple adjustments must be quite a nice source of revenue to the transport authorities. A GIANT RECEIVER The chief engineer at 2BL uses a 14-valve receiver for his distant reception. Built on til*3 super-hetero-dyne principle, this set has three detector valves. With this set stations can be heard whose existence before was never suspected, while those which were just audible are received with tremendously increased volume. For re-broadcasting purposes, as this set is used extensively, it has the advantage of amplifying the signals without distortion. DRASTIC ACTION Owners of sets in the Austrian province of Carinthia, and the members of the Carinthia Wireless Club, recently handed to the director of the Austrian Broadcasting Company a formal ultimatum declaring that they will cease to be licence-holders from January next unless the Government deals drastically with the nuisance of of electro-medical apparatus. There have been continual complaints of disturbances, amounting at times to a complete cutting off of wireless signals. The writer wonders what they would do if they lived in Remuera Road, near Mount Hobson, where IYA cannot at times be heard above the din of interference; and if they too would appreciate the wonderful display of liarsh spark transmission that has been a feature of the afternoon sessions of late. RADIO LISTENERS DIVIDED INTO ELEVEN CLASSES The Earnest Listener.—He uses radio to obtain useful information, crop reports, news items, sporting broadcasts. He patronises a few stations, usually those nearest at hand. The Entertainment Seeker.—He wants lively music, jokes, the wise (?) sayings of the announcers and those ;in charge at various entertainments, i He will roam the whole field to get i what he wants and complains if the programmes are too “high-brow.” The Music Lover.—He scans the programmes to find the highest class of instrumental and vocal music, and revels in it, hanging on each note and criticising more severely than a reviewer at a “first night.” He com- | plains if the broadcasters do not inj vest heavily in high-priced artists. The Hero Worshipper.—He wants to hear his favourites. It may be a favourite M.P., a clog-dancer, singer, announcer or entertainer. This listener will follow’ his favourites from station to station, watching the calendar and j the clock so as not to miss a single ; syllable. The Dance Hound.—He must have

jazz, hour after hour of it. When one station switches off it he goes to another. The Static Dodger.—He hasn’t a very good set and is continually twirling tne dials to see if he can possibly arrive on some spot which gives a fairly clear sound, no matter what it may be. The D.X. Seeker. Programmes mean nothing to him. Anything that comes from far off is good enough for him, so long as he can identify it and boast about it. The Permanent Listener.—He adjusts his set to the first station that comes to hand, settles down in his easy chair with paper and pipe, and sticks to that station until it blow’s up or runs out on him, regardless of what else is coming across the ether. The Casual Dial - twirler.—He doesn’t know exactly what he wants and shifts a dozen times in the course of the evening, sampling this and that. Not a bad sort of a devotee of radio. The Henpecked Listener.—He buys the set and then listens to what his daughter, son, wife and aunt want to hear in the way of programmes, renewing the batteries occasionally and tightening up the aerial. The Nut or Fan.—He builds sets, tears them apart, builds them over again, then builds more. Occasionally he stops long enough to tune in a station or two usually far distant. What comes over the ether bothers him very little; it’s how it comes that he cares about.