Magic In the Home

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 404, 12 July 1928, Page 6 (Supplement)

Magic In the Home

THE WORLD AT YOUR DOOR Wireless a Necessity THE magical touch of radio can lead you to the shrine of music, and to the feet of the world's greatest teachers. Are you availing yourself of this miracle of the age?

Radio will not only bring - tlie world’s best in music to your hearth, but will annihilate time and space at your bidding. Shakespeare's prophecy through Ariel in “The Tempest,” “I can put a girdle round the world in 40 minutes,” has proved very wide of the truth. A listener in New Zealand can hear a voice from London one-eighth of a second later, or before those in the back of the same hall possibly can. A listener must bo affected, even though subconsciously, by what he is

hearing in a manner denied to the average stay-at-home, however well he may be supplied with books. Apart from the actual pleasure obtained from listening to music by performers of note, whom it is impossible to hear in person, there is much to be gained by listening to the many subjects dealt with in lectures by experts and talks by famous men. Radio is in a very different position to-day to that of eight or nine years ago when the writer first owned a primitive one-valve set of home manufacture. The only stations audible were those belonging to enthusiasticamateurs, and later low-powered transmitters operated by various dealers*. Gramophone items largely made up the programme, and yet what a thrill it was then to hear the sound of music and. voices. It is wonderful to think how sound reaches us through the ether. To get the fullest enjoyment out of radio we must never forget its mystery and wonder. Conditions have changed since those comparatively early days, and remarkable strides have been made by radio. Yet it is not so very long since a fivevalve set was regarded as a curiosity. Nowadays we have up-to-date broadcasting stations in all parts of the world, and with suitable sets we can pick a programme from nearly any part of the globe, and follow the flights of airmen half across the world, listen to a boxing match in America, or hear Big Ben strike in London. Radio truly brings the world into the home. A gramophone will enable one to hear the world’s best artists without the many difficulties of erecting aerials and charging batteries, but there is not the same personal touch, the greatest charm of radio. Listeners will remember Sir Alan Cobham speaking at Mel-

bourne after his flight from England. To thousands sitting at their radio sets it seemed that the famous airman was giving a personal message. That speech may have been recorded for a gramophone, but the reproduction could not have that same personal charm as did the actual broadcast words.

An expensive set is not necessary to receive distant stations. A good inexpensive set will provide a listener with a host of amusement and entertainment from New' Zealand, Australia, America and Japan on the regular wave band. A short wave adapter will bring in more distant stations. The new-chum to radio, however, must not be too ambitious, and a little device will prove helpful. First and foremost, make sure your set has good components, and that it is a popular circuit approved of by the Post and Telegraph Department. Do not buy a cheap set, perhaps of attractive appearance, but actually of little value. It is better to spend a few shilling on a crystal set and be content to listen to the local station, than to buy an inferior valve set that will give trouble from the start. With three or more valves loud-speaker reception of New Zealand and Australian stations can be obtained, but with five or more valves the volume is naturally much greater, and American and Japanese stations can often be picked up. Too much should not be expected at the start. It is easy with a fivevalve set to tune in New Zealand or Australian stations, but on distant stations the carrier wave is so faint that it can be missed very easily. It is essential to keep all batteries fully charged, o.r long distance reception can never be expected. Radio has come to stay as one of

the most beneficial factors of modern life. Although there has been a fall-ing-off in the number of licences issued here, this is only a passing phase, and this fascinating hobby will become just as popular here as elsewhere. Now is the best time to buy a radio set. The long dark evenings give more time for listening, static is less and conditions generally are much more suitable for reception than later on in the year.