RADIO AND ITS RECEIVERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 640, 17 April 1929, Page 15

RADIO AND ITS RECEIVERS

Conducted for THE SUN by LISTEN TO BYRD

SATURDAY NIGHT BROADCASTS K.D.K.A. AND W.G.Y. ltadio set owners desiring a bit of diversion from the regular broadcasts can now tune in on special messages j and music flashed across 10,000 miles j to the "Byrd Antarctic expedition through stations KDKA at Pittsburgh cn Saturday nights, beginning at 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and WGY, Schenectady, at 10 p.m. The stations broadcast on alternate Saturday nights. WGY, with its associated short-wave transmitters, plans j to have prominent men and women | actuate the microphone during the proi grammes. Messages from friends and j relatives of the explorers are also j broadcast. i Station KDKA operates on the 306 ! meter wave, while its short-wave transmitters are assigned the following channels, 24.5, 26, 63 and 65 metres. The short-wave outfits associated with WGY operate on 31.4 and 21.96 metres. Shut Off From the World ! “KDKA has again demonstrated that i there is no spot on this earth where I it cannot lay down a signal and furi nish news and entertainment. Those who listen to KDKA on Saturday nights when the transmission to the J Arctic and Antarctic takes place exI perience a thrill which comes once in , a lifetime,” said C. W. Horn, Director of Radio Operations at KDKA. “They hear direct conversation with the most distant points on earth' and such isolated and remote regions as the great ice cap in the Antarctic. Removing Isolation "KDKA some years ago began fur- ; nishing a service to people stationed I in remote and isolated localities, par- 1 ticularly in the Arctic regions,” said Mr. Horn. "These people, shut off from the world for periods of six months to a year at a time, with sup- j plies and material reaching them very infrequently, have realised that the ; greatest terror for them was the 1 dreary isolation and lack of communication, especially with their most in- ! timate friends and loved ones. Radio ( has done away with this by transmit- 1 ting on both broadcast waves with ; high power and on the short waves’ j messages from those at home to the j men guarding the outposts of civilisation. During the last year a great expedition under Commander Byrd sailed t * for the Antarctic and carried with I them radio receiving and trans- j mitting equipment which would en- j able them to remain in touch with civilisation. The service which radio is furnishing those in the Arctic re- < gions is now supplemented by a special 1 service to Commander Byra and his i men. ] "By special arrangement schedules i are maintained whereby personal mes- f i sages and information are forwarded t to the men by voice transmission. Fre- J i

R. F. HAYCOCK. quently friends and relatives speak directly from tlie studio, in which case the listener on the ice cap can recognise and receive a message as no letter could give it,” said Mr. Horn. Messages Flashed Back By means of the telegraphic transmitting equipment which Commander Byrd has erected, acknowledgment of reception and messages are forwarded back directly to KDKA. Believing that the general listening public would be interested, KDKA has arranged by means of special receiving stations and circuits to have the broadcast listener hear-the replies from the Byrd expedition. The apparatus on the icecap is not equipped for high-powered speech transmission, and therefore the messages coming back are in the telegraphic dot and dash code. These dots and dashes are retransmitted through KDKA, so that the listeners can hear how this communication is carried on. Those of the listeners who read the telegraphic signals readily understand the messages, and for those who cannot do so the announcer reads the translation of the messages. Several Waves Used The public interest in this achievement calls for a description of the equipment used. Some fifteen miles east of Pittsburgh a special shortwave receiving station is located, which has been conducting tests with Europe and other distant points. At this location there are specially constructed receiving antennae which cover acres of ground. This receiving station is connected to KDKA and the studio by suitable telephone line circuits, so that any signal received can be forwarded to any point desired. These facilities are utilised in carrying on communications with Commander Byrd. The transmissions from KDKA studio are sent out on several Avave lengths, including that of the broadcast band. It is the short-wave transmitters which those in the distant parts of the globe receive best and on which they depend for these messages. Signals from Commander Byrd’s station are picked up at the receiving station above described and forwarded through to the control station by wire, where an experienced telegrapher and broadcast man handles the communications. It is he who speaks directly to the operator near the South Pole, and also receives the replies almost instantaneously. Those who listen to KDKA hear the operator speak to the Antarctic station and immediately hear responses come back in dots and dashes. He does not have to repeat his messages, as the circuit is said to be as good as any local telephone line. |

One of tlie advantages of the use of wooden separators in an accumulator is that they not only separate the negative from the positive plates, but provide a barrier which prevents fragments of active materials belonging to one plate from coming into contact with its neighbouring plate, and thus setting up local action.