STATIC VERY BAD

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 36, 23 March 1928, Page 12

STATIC VERY BAD

HULEECT OF SUN SPOTS. A very bad bout of static is reported covering several days last week, and synchronising with the development of a series of sun spots. It is now generally established that there is a connection between static and sun spot activity, and apparently listeners last week were subjected to a specially bad spell. Reception of Australian stations was badly affected, and most listeners were obliged to close down on occasions. Country listeners also report that New Zealand Stations were somewhat affected. In some cases blame for the ungodly medley of sound that came from the speaker was fastened on the station, one instance coming under our notice being that of a visitor to Palmerston North who found 2YA suffering in reception there, aud blamed the transmission. Experienced listeners, of course, can readily detect static from faulty transmission. One country reader wrote: "One minute 2YA roars in, ond the vext minnte a chap goes black in the face through straining his ears. Surely something can be done to rectify this trouble." Inquiry of the station shows that transmission has heen normal, and the difficulty experienced up-country is not due to transmission, The trouble in some cases may be due to batteries being run down at the end of the sununer. A good overhaul is necesSary in most cases to meet the heavier demands for the winter season ahead. .The following points mar have some value for some listeners :- Undesired Noises. If you have troubtesome interference in your receiving set, such as humming, crackling, crashing, or other noises, the source of the noise can be found most easily by a process of elimination. The first thing to do is to discover whether the noise originates in the set itself, or if it comes from some outside source. To do this, disconnect the aerial and ground from the receiving set, and tune the set over its entire range. If the noise is still present and as loud as before, it is in the set, and proper steps to eliminate it can be taken. In most cases where the noise is in the set a worn-out A or B battery will pe found to be the source of the troule, You can get your batteries tested free of charge at any radio store. If the noise is not in the batteries, a poor~or a dirty connection may be the cause of it. If the interfering noise stops when thie aerial is disconnected it comes from an outside source, and will have to be traced down with a portable set, using a loop aerial. The interference can be found by trying the portable set in several different locations, getting the direction of the noise with the loop aerial in each place, and then plotting the whole thing out on a map of the neighbourhood, Where the lines drawn through the plane of the loop in each location cross is the point where the interference will be found. ‘This is the same method as used for finding the location of ships at sea.