RADIO AND ITS RECEIVERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 611, 13 March 1929, Page 14

RADIO AND ITS RECEIVERS

Conducted for THE SUN by

R. F. HAYCOCK.

MUSIC AND DRAMA IYA COMMITTEE MEETS A meeting of the IYA Musical and Dramatic Committee was held in the studio of IYA last week. Mr. Karl Atkinson, of the Auckland Gramophone Society, was in the chair. A suggestion to inter-change the minutes of the various musical and dramatic committees connected with the company was made, the committee being of the opinion that in this way they would know where the other committees were aiming. The suggestion would be forwarded to the head office of the company for its approval. The question of the IYA Choir again came forward, and it was recommended to the company to advertise for a conductor for the choir, which is to be composed of 1G voices. It was reported that the relay of a Maori concert from Ngaruawahia could not be proceeded with owing to unforeseen circumstances, but it was hoped to arrange something similar at a later date. Mr. N. M. Richmond, director of the Workers’ Educational Association, outlined a scheme of proposed lectures by W.E.A. speakers. This scheme was heartily received and was thoroughly recommended to the company for their favourable consideration. The sub-committee dealing with the one-act play presented an interim report and stated that it had read 35 plays and that its final decision would be given in the course of two or three days. The matter of representation on the committee was discussed at some length, particularly with regard to performers serving as members.

Before the meeting closed a vote of thanks was extended to Mr. Karl Atkinson on his chairmanship for the past year. The opportunity was taken j of saying good-bye to Mr. S. J. Hayden | on the eve of his departure for Dun- | edin; also to offer felicitations on his : approaching marriage. : Mr * Len Barnes was welcomed as j station director to IYA. It was decided that the next meetj ing of the committee would take place ! on April 5, 1929. NEW SHORT-WAVE VALVE A vacuum valve operating on a wave length of six metres and fifty times I as powerful as preceding short-wave | valves has been developed by research j engineers of the General Electric j j Company. It Is five inches in dia- j ; meter and afout two feet long. It is I j capable of radiating from ten to fif- I [ teen kilowatts of high-freqnency i | power—probably fifty times as much ) as any short wave valve has hereto- | tote been able to radiate. It is con- | nected through a coupling system to ; a three-meter copper bar, which conj stitutes the tuned aerial circuit. ! Several interesting physiological : effects have already been noted in I connection with the new valve. Medi- | cal observations were made of several | men placed near enough to the radiat- ! ing antenna to make possible meaj surements of changes in body temperature. It was found that the blood temperature rose to nearly 100 degrees ! Fahrenheit in about fifteen minutes, ; after which period the experiment was I J stopped.

IYA’S NEW MANAGER MR. LEN BARNES TAKES OVER Mr. Len Barnes has arrived in Auckland to take up the duties of station manager at IYA, an exchange having been arranged with Mr. S. J. Hayden, who is to be station manager at 4YA, Dunedin. Mr. Barnes has had a wide experience in broadcasting. Before leaving Wellington for Dunedin, he was for a term programme organiser and then acting-station manager at 2YA. Following the resignation of Mr. J. W. Webb, station manager at 4YA, and, it being holiday time in the musicteaching world, Mr. Barnes accepted a temporary appointment at Dunedin. Then he agreed to accept a permanent engagement with the company and was appointed to Dunedin. Mr. Barnes is well known in musical circles throughout New Zealand. As a boy, he -was for five years a chorister in the Christchurch Anglican Cathedral, and he has been singing ever since. He was baritone lay-clerk for six years and he sang for choral and orchestral societies in Christchurch and Wellington. In 1919 he went to America and since then his time has been devoted entirely to professional musical work. He studied in America and was extensively engaged in grand and comic opera and cycle work. From America he went to England in 1922 and continued his musical studies there. He was for five months with a concert pary in the Isle of Wight and incidentally it was his engagement -with this party which prevented him from singing for the British Broadcasting Corporation, for which he had had an audition and marked V.G.

Since returning to New Zealand five years ago he has been teaching singin Wellington, W’here he entered actively into the musical life of the city. He was conductor for the Orpheus Musical Society and of the Wellington Amateur Theatrical Society and for four years was choirmaster of the Terrace Congregational Church. For nearly tw r o years Mr. Barnes was a regular singer at 2YA and some of the performances which he has conducted have been broadcast. While In America, Mr. Barnes frequently sang for radio. SYDNEY FROM 200 FEET UP Volunteers have been called by the New South Wales Broadcasting Company, Ltd., for a description of Sydney at the end of a rope dangling from a crane on one of Sydney’s tallest buildings . It is thought that someone with a power of description could give listeners a thrill if he described his own sensations and incidentally the wonders of Sydney, as he was hauled up 3 ard by yard to the top of the crane. Should more than 1,000 people apply’ the name of the winner will be drawn from a hat.

A similar description of Auckland from the top of, say, lY.A.’s towers would be interesting.

NEW “AUSSIE” STATION 3WI ON SHORT WAVE Arrangements have been made by the Wireless Institute of Australia for its experimental transmitting station, 3WI to begin a regular service of experimental musical transmission on a wave-length of 81 metres. The transmitting equipment at the station has been completed and it was expected that from the end of last month the station would be transmitting on that wave-length every Sunday night. It is proposed to install a transmitter at 3WI, working on the ordinary amateur wave-band, between 200 metres and 250 metres. Following proposals that a wireless station should be provided for the broadcasting of educational lectures to university authorities, It is likely, if the necessary permission can be obtained from the Postmaster-Gen-eral’s department, that 3WI will be offered free of charge for this purpose. The Railways Institute’s experimental station, SRI, is shortly to begin a dual transmission on its ordinary broadcast wave-length, and a shorter one. USING POWER VALVES j In their enthusiasm to take full ■ advantage of the characteristics of the CX-310 and CX-350 valves, many experimenters are overlooking importI ant facts which have a bearing upon j the results obtained, according to radio | engineers. | In using the CX-350 valve for instance, it is seldom necessary to use maximum plate voltage for adequate volume for home use. It is a mistake to think that the use of the full plate voltage under such conditions results in improved tone quality, because the tone quality is not affected by plate voltage as long as the signal voltage does not exceed the normal value. Under such conditions, high plate voltage with the correspondingly high plate current may be detrimental as the D.C. current tends to saturate the transformer core, thus reducing the efficiency of the out-ut transformer. In using the CX-350 valve, it is important to have a properly designed output transformer, and it will pay the experimenter to select high quality apparatus for this important service. With a properly designed output transformer and efficient speaker, use can be made of the maximum volume of the CX-350 valve only in large auditorium? "n t 7 similar service. Under aIT conditions, operation at plate voltage from 250 to 350 results in adequate volume with the best tone quality.