RADIO AND ITS RECEIVERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 391, 27 June 1928, Page 8

RADIO AND ITS RECEIVERS

Conducted for THE SU N by

R. F. HAYCOCK

Rotorua Makes a Haul

Mr. D. W. Tapp Hears 131 Stations 45 Americans on Broadcast Band THE suggestion made in these columns that listeners should co-operate with the writer by forwarding information as to what they are getting over the air has been received very favourably. Last week was published the very interesting log of Mr. Mark Chur ton’s “bag” of 114 stations. To-day I am able to publish the log of Mr. D. W. Tapp, of Rotorua, together with an interesting account of his work. His list of 131 stations, including, as it does, 79 on the regular broadcast band, must be regarded as exceptional, and as 45 of these are American and Canadian stations the list is all the more remarkable. Mr. Tapp does not say what sort of set he is using, and T have written'to him asking for a full description of it. With his letter and log published below, Mr. Tapp forwards letters from several American broadcasters which support his claims. Listeners will agree that he must have a very efficient set and that receiving conditions in his district must be excellent. Readers will join with me in congratulating him on his wonderfully successful results.

MR. TAPP’S LETTER “In response to your appeal for logs, I submit mine. Although I have not made any special effort in logging amateurs on short-wave, I have heard quite a few of them. On the broadcast band I use a five valve receiver, and the remarkable point about my log is the number of American stations I have heard. More remarkable still is the fact that quite a number of the American stations are on low power. As you ■will notice, KFUP and KGER use only 100 watts or five times weaker than IYA. Indeed, so unusual has been my success, that I have sent reports to some of the lowerpowered stations to have my reception verified. There is always an atmosphere of “the fisherman’s catch” about such logs, so I will enclose one or. two QSL’s I have received, if you will be good enough to return them to me. I do not log a station unless the call sign is heard, and one or two items received. Other stations where doubt might exist have been written to and reports sent, but there has not yet been time to receive replies. As I write, KFQB are on the air. They are giving a special late programme, and just at the moment are playing “That Dreamy Melody,” with a request for “Baby, Your Mother” to follow. Johnny Banks is the special artist at the piano. Fading is bad, but most of each item comes through on the loud-speaker. “Just to give you an idea of what I hear, I left this and ran round the dial once, logging the following on the speaker: 3DB, 2UW, 208, SDN, JOFK, 2BL, 3LO, JOIK, JOGK, 4QG. SCL, 2FC, 3AR, 7ZL, and, of course, KFQB. Last Sunday, quite early, between 4.55 and 5.30, I heard the following: KFI, 2FC, COMPENSATION I should be glad of loneliness And hours that go on broken wings, A thirsty body, a tired heart. And the unchanging ache of things. If I could make a single song As lovely and as full of light. As hushed and brief as a falling star On a winter night. SARA TEASDALE. SCOUTING Chaliapin, the great Russian singer, pays a warm tribute to Scouting in a book he has written. Referring to his visit to England in 1914 he says: “I was much struck by the good work done by the Boy Scouts at Newhaven, London, and Glasgow. The boys came to every car of the trains to offer assistance to foreign travellers. The attention they paid to one Jewish family was quite touching. They amused the children, who were in tears, reassured the distracted parents, joked and laughed with them, looked after their baggage, and did it all so adroitly and with so much humanity that it drew tears of admiration to my eyes. I reflected once more what a wonderful nation the English are.”

KGO, KFWM, 2BL, KNX, KSL, 4YM, KFON, KFWM, WOWO, KMIC, KGER, KFWI, KFSG KFAU and KFPR. “I use an antenna 75ft long and 40ft high at the free end. The lead-in end is about 35ft high and situated far enough away to give me a lead in the same length as the horizontal span. This, I believe, makes the aerial absolutely undirectional. I believe in having my aerial a straight run through from free end to the point where it enters the house. That is to say, the ‘roof’ and lead-in are continuous—running through the insulator and not even twisted to keep the horizontal span taut. The arrestor outside my window is taking all of the aerial strain. I find a good earth is equally important. I have tried many, but have had most success in using two or three really good ones. I use a cold-water pipe, a large copper plate buried several feet, and watered occasionally with ‘bluestone’ solution, and a length of galvanised piping, driven as far as possible into the ground. These three earthing points are close to the set, and run parallel to the ‘roof’ span of the aerial. During the past four years, I have experimented with every kind of aerial and earth system possible to the average amateur, and the above has been the most successful. I should mention that I use ‘Electron’ wire, and the aerial is the inverted L type. To any listener keen on DX work, I would give the following tips. “Providing your receiver is efficient, concentrate on perfecting an ‘aerial earth’ system. “Keep your batteries in good order. An engine won’t pull on a ‘nearly all-air mixture,’ and your valves won’t pull on ‘starved’ batteries. “Keep your detector anode voltage as low as possible. By so doing your set will be more silent in action, and if you like reaction, oscillation will be smoother.

When a set will slide into oscillation smoothly, it will not be necessary to annoy the neighbours. If you are searching for a weak station, keep one hand on the reaction control, allowing the set to hiss softly just at that point before oscillation commences. At this point, one feels that one has a grip on the ether. • Now do your searching, and if the station can be heard it will make its presence known. If no music or speech is being broadcast at the time, you will hear a soft ‘yawn’ as you pass over the station’s frequency. There is a silent point in the ‘yawn,’ just the same as there is in a carrier picked up when the set is oscillating. Find the silent point and wait. If you have patience, of course. If the station cannot be heard at this point, just pass on to the next ‘yawn,’ because you are using your set at its peak sensitivity and all the oscillation in the world won’t make it better. ! “And don’t expect to do DX work if static is bad. The barometer is a fair indicator. I have never had much success when it registers anything below 30. “Keep all ‘dry joints’ clean. Use fine sand-paper on your valve legs occasionally, and see that all battery connections are clean and tight. “I’m afraid I’ve been wearying you so 1 won’t encroach on any more of your time. If any of the above will be of interest to listeners you are at liberty to pass it on. MR. TAPP’S LOG New Zealand.—lYA, 2YA, 3YA, 4YA, 3ZC, IZQ, IZB, 2ZF, 4ZB, 2AQ, 4ZL. Total, 11. Australia.— 2KY, 2LIE, 2GB, 2BL, 2FC, 2UW, 3BY, 3DB, 3LO, 3AR, 3UZ, 4KG, SCL, SDN, SKA, 7ZL. Total, 16. United States and Canada. —KFVD, KEX, KFON, KFWM, CNRV, KSL, KFWB, KGO, KPO, KFWI, KMO, KFSD, KOIN, KFWO, KYA, KMOX, KGER, KFKB, WBBM, KGA, KHQ, KFI, KNX, KNRC, KOMO, WRVA, KFRC, WOWO, KFAB, WRAM, WFAA, KFSG, 9XF, KFUP, KHJJ, KTSA, KQW, WLAC, WRHM, KJR, KFQB, KMIC, KFAU, KFPR, KELW. Total, 45. Japan. —JOAK, JOBK, JOCK, JOGK, JOFK, JOHK. Total, 6. India. —7CA (Calcutta). Total, 1. Grand total, 79 short-wave. Amateurs. —4NW, 4MS, 2YG, 2YM, 2AQ, 3AR, SAL, 3BK, 1 AT, 2LG, 4 80, 3KR, 7CW, lAN, 2AP, 2RT, 2NM, 2DY, 6FA, SDX, IAP, 3AT, 2IT, 280, 3AU, 2 AC, 2AB, IFT, 2GK, 2GA, SAP, IAL, 2BY. Total, 33. “D.X.” —2XAF, 2XAL, 2XAD, 2XB, KDKA, 3ME, 2ME, 2BL, PCJJ, PCLL, SSW, RFN, JHBB, 6AG, 2NM, 3XL, LWF, also Southern Cross from Honolulu to Brisbane. Total, 18. Total of all stations, not counting the Southern Cross, as it was on morse, 129. I forgot to mention the whalers C. A. Larsen and Sir Jas. Ross. That makes a final total of 131 stations.