"Don't Do It"

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 33, 2 March 1928, Page 4

"Don't Do It"

See aes | CAMPAIGN _-_-_ JOINT ACTION ADVOCATED The prospects of a joint cam_paign on the part of all interested to educate the public in the prevention of howling are promising. Last week a deputation from the Wellington Amateur Radio Society waited on the executive of the Radio Dealers’ Association in advocacy of joint educative action. Mr. D. G. Wyles, chairman of the meeting, welcomed the members of the Radio Society and said that their interests were bound up together. He hoped that there would be definite co-operation between the trade and the Radio Society in future in matters demanding their joint attention. ‘Mr. Owen, president of the Radio Society, said that the principal object of their visit was to deal with the question of howlers. It was one which touched them all very much indeed. In England it was a notable fact that, by -dint of perseverance, public opinion had been aroused to the nuisance of howling valves. By means of education, a great improvement had been effected, one slogan in parti¢ular having been very effective. In the midst of programmes a voice came over the air, "Don’t do it." Illegal circuits and home-made sets wrongly wired, both contributed .to the nuisance, and interfered with broadeasting. He would suggest that a deputation of the trade and the Radio Club wait on the PostmasterGeneral with a view to eliciting his assistance in connection with howling valves. Mr. Morgan said that the more you popularised broadcasting the better for the trade, the broadcasting company and the listener-in. The difficulty with howling valves, especially in the small towns, was that the in-

‘ spectors had to do the work in their spare time, and as a result it was not done efficiently. Mr. R. Leslie Jones, secretary of the Radio Society, said that they all knew that the home-made sets and the one and two-valvers were the cause of the trouble. They did not suggest that responsible firms were causing the trouble, but there were some who encouraged purchasers of small sets to push them beyond their limitations. Dealers should tell customers the limits of the one and two valve sets they sold. He thought the idea of a deputation to the Post-master-General was a good one. | Howling could be alleviated if not altogether eliminated. The Post-master-General should circularise all listeners on the subject. There was no appliance for locating howling valves and electrical leakages in Wellington, and he thought that, when the deputation met the Minister, they should insist that the necessary appliances should be purchased for finding electrical leakages. Mr. Wyles said that they realised the value of co-operation between the Society and the trade. There was not the slightest doubt that the howling valve was a very great nuisance, and the trade were feeling the effect of it. The howling valve menace could be handled only by means of education, and he thought the idea of the slogan: "Don’t do it" coming in suddenly in the midst of a programme was an excellent one. He would like to put the views expressed by the Radio Society before a representative meeting of the trade, and see whether it would be possible to fall in with their wishes regarding the deputation.

FOR NOTES ON NEW DEVICES AND NEW EQUIPMENT SEE PAGE 2.