NOTES AND COMMENTS

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 49, 22 June 1928, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS

By

Switch

"PHOSE who have thought of buying a short-wave receiving set need not wor. about the length of their aerials, The aerial used for receiving the ordinary broadcast transmission serves admirably for short-wave reception, without any shortening or other alteration. TARE we all DX-chasers. I think the fol who go after the Japanese and Ind’ n staticas are only a microseopic proportion of the New Zealanel listeners, If we can get two or three Australian stations tolerably well, the majority are quite satistied with their nuiti-valye sets. | PPE Wellington Radio Society's sty gestion that a radio inspector ghowld make a house to honse inspe* | tion to ascertain whether the Brown- | ing-Drake and neutrodyre sets in use around Wellington are correctly neutralised. ‘There is no lacking of evidence that many of these sets are the eause of the continuous howling which infests some .city and suburban areas. NV ANY lisienerg in the Wellington district fasten on to 1YA, Auckland, on Sunday evenings, on the ¢co:elusion .f the relayed concert from 2¥A, Wellington. ‘There is no doubt that 1YA comes through with excellent volume, "2d good tone in the evenings. Wi: ‘xe development of the short- . wave craze, some New Zealand listeners are put to it to keep the family entertained with musie from the New Zealand stations, while they scour the air on their short-wave sets. This means two sets of batteries, an] two separate aerials, yet a Wairarapin visitor ‘> Wellington informs me that he has contrived to accomplish this. and everybody is happy. "Wy iio is the most solemn announcer heard by New Zealand DX broadcast listeners?’ was a theme of a discussion I heard the other day.. The majority present considered that the Aussies were brighter in their style than the New Zealand announcers, but "Pa" Cochrane, of 2FC, Sydney, was considered about the most solemn a.\nouncer heard over here. The most cheerful announcer proved 2 difficult matter, and voting was even between the man at 2B, Sydney, and George Saunders, at 2GB, Sydney. Then followed a discussion on the question of personality, of the various annowncers, but no finstity could be reached as opinions differed widely. BEGINNERS are wondering whether we are obtaining the usual winter volume from the Australian stations. On comparing notes with several of the old-timers, I come to the conclusion that so far our reception this winter has been much below the average for volume in reception of the "Australians, FE were listening at a friend’s home i recently, .and he was dismayed xvben 4a roaring sound came from his

loudspeaker during a heavy rain squall. I must mention he was tuned jn to 2FC!, Sydney, at the time, He thought that the rain was causing a short-cireuit to earth across his aerial ‘insulators. The actual cause was the minute electrical discharges between the drops of rain on his aerial. When there is a heavy shower so many drops of rain strike his aerial that the electrical discharges set up a sort of roar. These discharges are so minute that as a rule they are not audible unless the receiving set is sensitively adjusted for long-distance reception. ‘A WRITER in London "Popular Wireless" says :-‘Befere I leave the U.S.A. permit me to remind readers who clamour for wave-traps, etc., that in America (U.S.A.) there are still €88 stations hard at it, or one station every'160,000 persons. Talk about "background’; I should think it is all ‘foreground, with no ‘middle distance’ or perspective. Let us’ thank our stars that we live in an island where there ig an ‘effete’ sense of proportion, and where commerce plays second fiddle to commonsense." New Zealanders should we glad that there is not more than one big station in each centre. SUNDAY night appears to be "band night" in Australia as well as in New Zealand. On a recent Sunday night I had band music from 2FC, Sydney, 3L0O, Melbourne, 5Ch, Adelaide, and 2BL, Sydney, as well as pand musie from 1YA, Auckland, and 2YA, Wellington. For a wonder, 4QG, Brisbane, had a big orchestra instead ef the customary Greater Brisbane Riunicipal Band, Talking about bands, Joe Drew and his Port Nicholson 8ilver Band is now in superb form, and its Sunday nights’ programmes are a Celight, but I must not forget the Wellington Tramways Band, which puts its musie across splendidly also on Sunday nights,

wees ee ° ° ao owes ate: — gt has been a ding-dong cuniesi between ZBL, Sydney, and 2FOC, Sydney, for supremacy during the past couple of weeks, so far as reception goes in New Zealand. Some listenerg report that on the average 2BL is the louder over here, while others give the palm to 2FC. This difference may be attributed to the receiving equipment. Some sets have a "peak" round about the wave-length of 2BL, and others get the best results on a longer wavelength, We! ‘LINGTON listeners enthuse ove? daylight reception of 83YA, Christchurch. In certain Jocalities it is almost three-quarters the volume of 2YA, Wellington, and there is no fading in the day-time. Heard in Wellington at night-time, 8YA’s fading is of exceptionally brief duration. 1YA, Auckland, is now heard fairly well in Wellington during daylight, with rhe uid of multi-valve set. SPLENDID reports are coming to hand regarding the "earth" system successfully adopted by a Yankee lise tener, and which wag described a few weeks ago in the "Radio Record." A Hataitai listener lately complained te "Switch" that although he operated a set similar to that of a neighbour, he was unable to get anything like the volume from the Australian stations obtained hy "the man across the street." "Switch" examined the said listener’s installation, and found that he had his earth wire merely wrapped around a dirty water-pipe. The waterpipe was promptly scraped clean an@ the "earth" wire sqldered to it. The result was astonishing to the listener, "WYATT next?" (Berhampore), writes: "I see there is still a dif. ference of opinion as to whether the eone loudspeaker is better than the horn type. What is your opinion?" There are good horn speakers, better than cones and vice-versa. I think the future will show that the exponential horn loudspeaker and the moving-coil cone loudspeaker will become the vogue for those who can pay from £10 to £20 for a high-class loudspeaker. HY does the announcer at 4Q4, Brisbane, almost chant his words? I see his assistants have imitated him. It is all so unnatural and forced that one gets the idea that the show is very amateurish. From a standard of real programme art 4QG lags a long way behind the Melbourne and Sydney stations. Certainly Brisbane is a smaller city, but what about Adelaide? ‘The South Australian stations produce much better programmes than 4QG. A COMPARATIVE novice asked methe other day whether I was in favour of the "silent day’ observed by 2XA, Wellington. As I habitually reach out for the Australian stations, and. as iny aerial is within coo-ee of 2YA’S aerial, I appreciate the "silent day," beeause I can pick up the Aussies without any interference from 2YA. OR goodness sake use a "C" biassing battery. An indignant listener brought me to his home to listen to the "rotten distortion" of 2YA, Wellington, He was using 90 volts "B" battery on his last audio valve and had no "CO" battery. Although surprised at my advice to get a "O" battery put into his circuit he carried out, and wag even more surprised when he found that distortion had disappeared, A FRIEND recently spilt-some acid out of his wet "A" battery on to an expensive carpet, He endeavoured to suave the earpet by quickly wiping up the acid, but, alas, within a few, days a large hole appeared in the car~ pet, Moral: Always have a hottle of liquid household ammonia on hand. By. prompt application of the ammonia a earpvet Gan be saved, .

(ALASS is not so widely used as other panel materials because of the difficulty of working it. A glass panel certainly adds a note of novelty to the set and is very nearly as good an insulator ‘as the best ebonite. With glass panels the difficulty of drilling holes in such a hard and brittle material is a stumbling block to many,. However, special outfits for -glass drilling are now sold, and these should go far to assist the enterprising amateur. The best raw material is English plate-glass, about 8-16in. thick. This can be obtained cut to size with the edges smoothed down. Drilling holes in glass is not difficult with the proper tools, success depending on care and patience. The bit is usually a piece of very hard steel with a sharp triangular point, the use of a lubricant, such as camphor dissolved in turpentine, being a necessity. LD gramophone records make excellent insulating brackets and the like, They also have the advantage of being shaped to the desire of the experimenter, by soaking in warm water till soft. When shaped and cooled, the bracket or panel will be quite solid. The cylindrical records used on the old-fashioned Edison machine also make excellent formers for your coils. Holes may easily be pierced in them for wires by means of a hot piece of round bus-wire. UNDOUBTEDLY the best material for baseboards is plywood in some form or other. A piece of plain wood well seasoned and dry, it is bound to curl, throwing the panel out of alignment and causing a bad fit in the feabinet. For practically all classes of receivers a piece of six-ply, which usually has a thickness of 8-Sin., is the ideal material. It is easy to work, extremely strong, remains perfectly flat, and does not split even if large screws are put into the edge. This material, it has been suggested, should be standardised for all baseboards in wireless receivers. GOLD erayon rubbed into the engrayings of your panel gives an excellent finish, Iunough should be rubbed into the seratch to make a clear markjing, the remainder being rubbed off learefully, | propane the simplest test of all to ascertain whether the current supply is direct or alternating is simply to take any bright. straight object such asx a metal pencil, and, standing in the light ef an electric lamp, to move the object to and fro fairly rapidly. If the current ix alternating you will get a "kinema™ effect, und will be conscious not of a Single pencil but of a row of pencils side by side. This test requires just a little practice, but once you get the idea you can instantly distinguish finger nails, moving the hand to and fro fairly rapidly. A further test is fo connect a high-resistance loudspeaker across the mains and notice if there is a low hin or drone. This will be obtained with alternating current, whereas with direct current there may be a fairly high-piteh note, which is due to commutator ripple. R. FL A. PENNINGTON, representing the Radio Dealers’ Association and the Broadcast Listeners’ League of South Australia, went to Melbourne recently for the purpose of assuring 38LO Melbourne of the heartiest support and co-operation in the event of the license to erect a broadcasting station in Adelaide being granted by the Department. The application for such license, which was first made some six months ago, has recently been renewed. Mr. Pennington also waited upon Mr. J. Malone, Director of Wireless, and requested that the broadcasting rights in South Australia should be transferred from Ceutral Broadeasters, Ltd. (5CL) to 3L0, Melbourne, Mr. Malone promised to have the request brought jbefore the department for consideration. Tue inhabitants of Greenland are better informed than they used to be concerning the doings of the outer world. The station at Godhaven now broadeasts a daily news bulletin at 5 o’clock in the evening, and is heard all over North Greenland and in most of South Greenland. According to a correspondent, the Eskimos are showing a marked interest in wireless apparatus, A BROADCAST receiver cunnot be used for short wave reception unless a special adapter is used. This adapter is plugged into the detector socket of the set, thus using audio stages only. If the receiver has one or more radio frequency stages, these valves must be removed, TT’WO New York Y.M.C.A, radio scholarships have been created for administration by the Veteran Wireless an announcement by J. F, J, Maher, president of the veteran organisation. Suecessful candidates will receive ten weeks of intensive training in the construction, repair and maintenance of radio apparatus at the East Side X.M.0.A, radio school _ ; is rightly unsatisfactory. Unless very | f | 1 t ‘ A. from D.C. even by means of the light reflected in this way from your Operators’ Association, according to:

WRITER in London "Popular Wireless" says :-‘According to a report from Italy’s most important newspaper,: Signor d'Annunzio, the Italian poet and novelist, has become interested in broadcasting, and intends to propound a riddle to the world through the Milan microphone, and to give a prize to anyone who solves it. If life does not already hold enough riddles for you, here is your chance. Who first thought of making the holes in macaroni, and what is the use of them? In view of our climate, why did the Romans stay here (England) for several centuries? Signor d’Annunzio is welcome to those two." PROGRESS towards the selection and adoption of a universal language Was reported at the annual meeting of the International Auxiliary Language Assoviation in New York. Speakers said that yreseurches and experiments were being made in America and abroad, and that a larger group of consultants on linguistic research had been inaugurated. General James C. Harbord, President of the Radio Corporation of America, declared that international understanding and commeree would both be furthered by a neutral language for the world-wide exchange of ideas. Such a language, he said, would constitute a "yard stick" for communication, and would reduce the hesitancy with which many fuece the attempt to send or receive 2 message from a person speaking 2 foreign tongue. His views were supported by Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, Chief Broadeast Engineer of the Radio Corporation of Americi. Ti appearances are that the listening set of the future will become less like a scientific instrument than formerly; that it will be at once a pleasing article of furniture and a musical machine simple of operation, inexpensive of maintenance, and capable of reliability and readily reproducing the musie and speech received by it. One of the certain signs is the disappearance of batteries; their place is being taken gradually by arrangements for obtaining power from the house lighting service. That desirable facility will of course be denied to persons who must use their sets in places where no electric light services are provided. PKC LIMITMD, Sydney, has changed its address. It is no longer situated on the roof of Farmer and Company at the north-western corner of Market and Pitt Streets, but has moved across Pitt Street to Her Majesty's Building. The change has been dictated by the considerable enlargement of the station's activities and the building alterations of Farmer and Co, In the new quarters 2FC occupies a large portion of two floors with special large studios specially constructed in the light of ‘past experience for radio work. On the ‘second floor of Her Majesty’s Building are situated the filing room, general office, Mr. Anderson’s (studio manager) office, Mr. Williams’s (publicity mInanager) office, accountant’s office, board voom, and No, 3 studio. The rehearsal room, control room, and Nos. 1 and 2 studios are on the third floor. Till aerial has two distinct funetions to perform. It has to pick up the wireless radiation sent ont from the broad¢asting station and it has to do a certain amount of tuning, Only a portion of the radiation broadeast from a transmitting aerial can possibly reach the receiving aerial. This important function is best achieved when the aerial is arranged go that it is free from the screen effect of neighbouring objects, of which trees and metal-framed buildings are the most to be avoided. A .001 fixed capacity shunted across the primary winding of the first stage A.F. transformer will improve tone considerably if you have not one there already. By employing a condenser in such a position as this, the radio frequency currents are by-passed and kept in their right path, and are not allowed to set up eddy currents in the windings of the transformers. Such arresting of radio frequeney currents does much towards the improvement of tone, Pcs, the Dutch station at Eindhoven, Holland, is to broadcast on short waves a description of the Olympic Sports. In order that Australian listeners may follow. their favourites, these transmissions will be picked up by 2BL, Sydney and rebroadcast on their usual wave-length, Incidentally, PCJJ was the first Enropean station to be rebroadcast in Australia. This feat was accomplished fifteen months ago, THE superiority of modern radio apparatus to the human ear, considerel as a listening device, was demonstrated recently in Iingland during an attempt to broadcast the song of that seldom-heard bird, the nightingale. A feathered songster far off in the distance burst into song while the experiment was gvuing on, The engineers at the microphone heard nothing, but the song was picked up by the especially sensitive microphone that was being used and was broadeast, without the knowledge of the engineers. :