NEW RADIO DEPARTURE IN AUSTRALIA

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 30, 19 January 1940, Page 10

NEW RADIO DEPARTURE IN AUSTRALIA

World News Service On Short-Wave

HE Commonwealth Government entered the world broadcast sphere on December 20, says "The Listener In." The Prime Minister (Mr. Menzies) broadcast an address to listeners in Northern Europe through the powerful 16 kilowatt A.W.A. stations VLQ and VLQ2. These transmitters, with VLR and VLR3, the National short-wave stations at Lyndhurst, Victoria, constitute the first stage of the Postmaster General’s Department’s technical plan to provide facilities for Australia to "tell the world of her activities in the fight against Hitlerism." Short-wave transmissions to nine major zones — Europe, North and South America, the East, India, the Pacific Islands, and Africa-are planned, although such complete coverage has not been possible at the start of the service. At the outset, broadcasts were made from the two A.W.A. stations at Pennant Hills, N.S.W., for a daily period of six hours, and for two hours daily from the P.M.G. Depart-

ment’s stations, VLR and VLR3. The Perth station, VLW3, was to go into service on January 15, and be added to the short-wave broadcasting network as the demands of the service increased, The principal transmission will be to Northern Europe (two hours daily). It will cover Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Holland, Scandinavia, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria, Languages used first for this transmission will be English, French, German and Dutch. Others will be added. A second transmission of one hour a day will be directed to Mediterranean countries, including North Africa. Other Languages At first the broadcasts were in English and Spanish, but other languages came into use by January 1. Two separate transmissions, each of one hour a day, are made to North America to reach the Eastern, Middle and Western States, A daily half-hour session is broadcast to South America in English and Spanish. The service in English to India is undertaken by Amalgamated Wireless and was in full operation by January 1. The Netherlands East Indies broadcasts are made in English and Dutch.

‘Arrangements for the service, which will be controlled by the Department of Information, provide also for the use of VLR and VLW, for special services respectively to Japan, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands, and to South Africa, Kenya and Rhodesia. VLR is now providing a shortwave programme regularly and is heard well in many other countries but its power, 2 kilowatts, is regarded as inadequate for the new service, and in the next six months will be raised to 10 kilowatts. Technical services at the studios will be undertaken by the P.M.G.’s Department. The Australian Broadcasting Commission, in collaboration with the Department of Information, will provide studios, translators, announcers and special programmes, Wide Range Planned Transmissions at the outset will be in English, German, French, Dutch and Spanish. Italian, Arabic, Russian, Norwegian and other languages will be added later. Initially, wavelengths on only two of the international broadcasting channels-the 25 and 31 metre bands-are being used, but as seasonal and other conditions call for it, broadcasts will also be radiated on the 16 and 19 metre bands. Beam aerials are used by all the transmitters in order to conserve power and to ensure the greatest possible signal strengths for receivers in the areas it is desired to cover. Although designed specifically to cover nine zones, the broadcasts are receivable in countries other than those to which they are specially directed.