NEWS AND NOTES

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 10, 23 September 1927, Page 8

NEWS AND NOTES

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‘The speech of the Prince of Wales at the dedication of the Peace Bridge, in Canada, relayed from America, was, despite occasional fading, received with considerable clearness in Eugland at 10 o’clock on the night of August 7, and was rebroadcast. The other day 1 saw an aerial leadin neatly tacked down the side of a house. ‘ Appatently the owner of the aerial had. not heard that a lead-in should be kept as far as possible trom the side of a house until it enters the building. This reminds me of a gentleman who was using a ‘I’ aerial, with one side of the aerial 60 feet in length, and ‘the’ other side about 40 feét in length. He complained that he had difficulty in getting his set to tune exactly on any one wave-length. After he had ent 20 feet off the 60 feet eud of his nerial, the difficulty disappeared. When a "I? aerial is used, the lead-in should come from the middle of the aerial. --Recently a listener in Sydney who wanted a dog belonging to a breed almost extinct in Australia, wrote to 3L,0, Melbourne, stating that he had advertised extensively, and sought in vain FTTH NTT OT THT MITE LUISE MeL Lie ttn

7" for one, and asking 3LU, Melbourne, to broadcast an appeal. The result was that within a day 38L0, Melbourne, got in touclr with a man who-had a dog of the breed required, and now thir Sydnev-sider is for ever happy A Wellington listener tried the stunt of using his loop aerial in conjunction with an outdoortaerial But when he found the loop aerial] lost 1ts directional effect, he discontinued the use of the ontdoor equipment, and is now able to cut out "not wanted" stations by revolving his loop aerial so that it is pointed away from the undesired transmitter. An excellent plan 1s to place a twomucrofarads condenser across the plus and minus of your B batteries. ‘I‘he condenser acts as an electrical reservoir, smooths out some of the irregularities of the batteries, and reduces noises in the receiving set. The ‘‘voice" of a dog was recently broadcast by 3L0, Melbourne, during one of the children’s hours, when Miss F Shepherd’s quaint little Pekingese spaniel, ‘Tiny Tots," uttered his charming little "barks’’ to amuse the children, The children are hoping that "Tiny Tots" will be mduced to give another demonstration before the mu1crophone,. 2YA has also broadcast a dog’s whisper Met a man the other day who gets the utimost out of his dry-cell A batteries. When they show signs of senile exhaustion he puncles a few holes in the zinc containers of the cells and soaks the cells for a while in a solntion of sal ammoniac. He says they run quite a while through this rejuvenating operation. Long-distance reception always shows a marked increase in volume in the middle of the night when Australian programmes are being tuned in, Vor reception of the Indian stations three or four hours later means greater volume, This is due to the area between New Zealand and India being in darkness as long as possible,

: "waar The huge sunspots reported ast week coincided with an excess ot sta tic. A scientist states that the sun 18 bombarding our planet with a constant stream of negative electrons. Evidently old Sol was putting up a barrage last week, for long-distance reception was hampered hy mtense peppery static Henry F. Bellows, a membe: of the United States Government Radio Come mission, said recently there was a definite trend among well-established broadcasters toward higher power, and said he saw no reason why this change of policy should not be approved. Mr. Bellows expressed the opinion, based on observations he kad made, that stations using 30,000, 50,000, or 100,000 watts were not likely to cause any more interference than broadcasters using 5000 watts. This had been found to be true, he said, in th. case of the Schenectady experin:ent and with the broadcasting of KDKA, Pittsburgh, which uses 30,000 watts. ' In acting upon applications for power in excess of 30,000 watts, Mr. Bellows said, the commission would give great weight to the character of the programmes furnished and to the mechanical equipment of a station. The Jap station JOAK has been hammering in at Wellington lately. He is just above the wave-length 3LO, Melbourne, Some of us used to have to wait till 8L0 closed down in order to get the Jap., but nowadays it is not at all difficult to separate them. A battery service station man exe hibited to me a radio A accumuuator, the other day, which was returned ag being inefficient. The owner of the battery was surprised when he was shown that half the acid had been spilt ont. His children had accidentally capsized it some weeks before, and as he never examined the interior of his battery he was unaware, of the ‘cause of ifs failure,

JOAK, Tokio, is. a powerful station, for, althongh it is located about 5500 miles dway from Wellington, the music and speech is heard with fair loudspeaker volume, using a 4-valve Brown-ing-Drake. -What do the Japs have so much to talk about? The other evening a Jap was .haranguing his listeners for over half an hour, but it was all volapuk to us barbarians. The jap announcer is most deliberate in his announcements, and he is a veritable Drummond for mellowness of voice, There are certain areas in different parts of the world where wireless signals transmitted on long wave lengths can only be received with difficulty at all, while in other places such siguals can only be received’ at certain hours of the day. With the object of ascertaining to what extent short-wave transmission may be capable of reaching such greas, the British official Press news will be transmitted by Morse for. _two mouths beginning on September 8 on long and short wave simultaneously. The same call sign will be used, and the long wave will remain as it is at present. The short wave will be 22 metres at noon, Greenwich mean time transmissions, and 87 metres at 8 p.m. and midnight. Reports on reception by stations will be welcomed by the General Post Office, London. ens — PTO O

FY TS Se eee -O-OeeeeEeere "How can I reduce the fundamental wave-length of my aerial? I think it it too long for reception of certain Australian amateur broadcast stations," writes ‘‘Puzzled" (Napier). A variable condenser connected in series between the aerial and receiving set will reduce the natural wave-length of the aerial. ‘The smaller the capacity of the condenser the greater the reduction in the natural wave-length of the aerial.

T have heard several ‘English and American musical items from JOAK, ‘Tokio. One recent night a chorus of girls sangs, "The Red, White and Blue" splendidly, There is one Jap I’d like to electrocute, and that is the joker who sings mournful dirge-like compositions to the accompaniment of an instrument of the guitar species. The transmitting station of JOAK, Tokio, is located on the brow of a hill. The aerial masts are 150 feet in height and 105 feet apart. The aerial, which is 85 feet in length, is of the ‘‘T" type. The counterpoise, three feet above the station roof, is composed of eight wires slighty shorter than the aerial. The transmitter, which was made in America, is of 1000 watts power, but it is proposed to increase this. There is a three-stage amplifier, and the aerial current averages 8.5 amperes. Most Japanese listeners use a crystal set. Valve receivers commonly utilise two-valve reflexcd circuits, with a loudspeaker; though there is a considerable number of five-valye neutrodynes and super-heterodynes in the country. Parts are commonly of Japanese make, although for the finest quality of reproduction, the best American makes are preferable, Japanese yacuum-valve ‘manufacture has been greatly improved, Aerial masts are commonly at y Ld eaane' 2.. BPeaaes

Broadcast listeners are required to) pay three yen (approximately six shillings) quarterly, for the privilege of listening to the programmes, which are splendid. And now 3AR, Melbourne, is about to broadcast on an ultra-short wavelength. A relatively small station is being erected, specially tor short-wave broadcasts. ‘The wave-leugth is to be 65 metres, which, it is claimed, is admirably suited to reception in distant parts of Australia, and in New Zealand. Still, to reach greater distances a slightly shorter wave-length: would have proved more efficient. A short-wave station is of no-use for anything but distant reception, for the short waves have a nasty habit of skipping distances. This is the reason why short-wave broadcasting cannot supplant the broadcasting on the present wavelengths. Anyhow, many listeners are now adding a short-wave receiver to their equipment, and there is a lot ef interest to be obtained from this new avenne. Hitherto the British listener has remained content with the crystal, it has been asserted; but a recent survey made by the British Broadcasting Corporation indicates that over 50 per cent. of British fans are now using valve sets. Denmark will equip its schools with radio equipment, as the result of negotiations hetween the national department of education and the radio control board. Radio instruction, it is announced, will be made part of the regular curriculum in the schools. The fixst broadcast station on a railway train began operations on July 1, on the lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway. The ‘"Mile-a-Minute Studio’? was given a_ special call of WHBL for the occasion; and a wave-length of 205 metres was authorised by the Radio Commission. Because static prevails abont the Canary Islands, the U.S. consular service reports, it is found that the short-wave broadcasts from Europe and America give the best reception on home-made sets. This has aroused much interest in this type of receiver. . The attempt to broadcast a _ programme from the Arctic will be made shortly by Capt. Donald B. McMillan, whose ship, the Bowdoin, carries a short-wave ‘phone transmitter. It is hoped that it will be possible to rebroadcast its transmissions from one of the larger stations in the United States. Barley, in the intense electrical field beneath the aerials of the Government station at Arlington, opposite Wash- ington, grew rapidly until it was higher than a man’s head, says Admiral Bullard, chairman of the radio commission, who ascribes this development to the radio waves. Scepticism as to the cause assigned, however. is expressed

{dy the Department of Agriculture. In most countries broadcasters derive their revenue from the subscriptions of listeners-in. In Zurich, Switzerland, the broadcasting company has rrecently been sending demonstrators about the canton to interest prospective customers in the purchase of sets. ‘Ihe company introduces and sells them for manufacturers; deriving its profit, not from the original sale, but from the licenses which purchasers must take out. The colonial einpire of Portugal is now linked with Lisbon by a chain of five stations, the latest of which was recently opened at Lourenco Marques on the east coast of Africa. Others are at Madeira, the Azores, Cape Verde, and Loanada in West Africa. To eliminate interference with radio receivers, Vienna (Austria) now equips its cars with double trolley pole contacts, about three feet apart. Sparking is thus avoided when joints in the power line are passed. It is also found that a carbon-to-copper contact reduces niuch of the annoyance from breaks in the circuit. ‘"Mike"? (the microphone) demoristrated his versatiljiy by announcing a fire, had his hearers but understood, , during a broadcast in Chicago over WGN. Listeners-in heard but a crackle after a dance programmé was annonneed; then came the statement that the. terrace platform was in flames, Orchestra and dancers fled; and the faithful microphone perished in the flames.