Sound Basis of Government Regulations Assists Broadcasting in New Zealand

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 3, 3 August 1928, Page 6

Sound Basis of Government Regulations Assists Broadcasting in New Zealand

== N the early part of 1921 B| the interest that was being taken in wireless i| transmission by amateur enthusiasts caused the (Points| Post and Telegraph Department to arrange for the issue of provisional permits authorising the use of receiving apparatus for experimental or instructional purposes. Thése permits were first issued in April, 1921, and a condition of the issue was that no interference should be caused to public wireless telegraph work, In the course of a few months several hundred permits had been issued. The Department had then under consideration the question of drafting suitable regulations to control the issue of permanent licenses. At that time the issue of transmitting licenses was confined to persons either engaged in the scientific side of radio problems or personally connected with the manufacture of wireless apparatus from a technical or commercial point of view. The interest in amateur wireless grew rapidly. Up to the date of the gazetting of the first amateur regulations in January, 19238, 588 permits had. been issued. During the year 1922 there was little change in the situation. The Department continued to issue provisional permits and the drafting of permanent regulations was undertaken. tHE 1923 regulations provided for "the issue of receiving, transmitting, experimental, and broadcasting licenses, the annual fees being 5s. for @ receiving station, £1 and £2 for Grade 7X and Grade I transmitting stations respectively, £8 for an experimental station, £2 for a private broadcasting station, and £5 for a toll broadcasting Station. During the first twelve months that these regulations were in force over 2000 licenses were issued, the number on March 31, 1924, being 2830. The total number on March 31, 1925, when the present regulations came into e ha)

force, were 4702 receiving licenses, 99 transmitting licenses, 3 experimental licenses, and 7 broadcast licenses. The essential differences between the Amateur Regulations, 1923, and those gazetted in 1925 are as follow I--(1) The annual fee. In the 1923 regulations the receiving license fee is 5s. annually, while, in the 1925 regulations, the amount was increased to £4 10.

(2) In the 1923; regulations, licenses were issued for a period of twelve months from the date of issue, while, in the 1925 regulations, a _ license lapses on the 3ist day of March. (3) Authority was given in the 1925 regulations for a portion of the fees to be devoted to broadcasting. (4) In the 1923 regulations, authority was given for the establishment of broadcasting stations of 4 k.w. each at fourteen centres throughout the Dominion; the wavelengths ranging from 206 to 385 metres and for + kw... sta-

tions at nineteen similar places on wavelengths ranging from 190 to 250 metres. "Pur 1923 regulations were designed to render the broadcasting of music, lectures, news, and other items of interest as widely available as possible, not only to the more thickly populated areas, but also to scattered communities. At the same time an endeavour was made to reduce to a minimum the objectionable features of interference which, according to reports, marred the success of broadcasting services in other countries. Following the gazetting of the regulations in January, 1928, applications for licenses came in freely. © In addition to the issue of receiving licenses, many applications were received for transmitting licenses and in a few cases for broadcasting licenses. During the year, several broadcasting stations of comparatively small power were erected in the principal centres and operated by private enterprise, with a considerable measure of success, but through lack of funds and other eauses the development of this class of station was, to: a certain extent, retarded. (THE position was considered to be unsatisfactory by the Department and by listeners, and investigations were made with a view to establishing a first-class broadcasting service. The Government ascertained the views of radio societies and others in-

terested in the subject, and also obtained information from other countries in regard to up-to-date systems of broadcasting. It was found by actual experience in other countries that the most satisfactory system was to permit a private company to undertake broadeasting under Government control. ©

The matter recelved exhaustive consideration and, in November, 1923, a new policy was announced by the then Postmaster-General, the Hon. J. G. Coates, in a speech at Dannevirke. In his speech the present Prime Minister laid down the basis of the Government’s policy, and outlined the organisation. which would be necessary for giving listeners the standard of service. desired by the Government. With minor adjustments dictated by experij ence as development hus proceeded,

this outline of organisation has stood the test of time, and is substantially to-day the identical basis upon which the broadcasting service is administered by the Radio Broadcasting Company under the regulations of the Government. . HE new policy as announced by the Postmaster-General proved to be acceptable to listeners generally. During the early part of 1924, the various radio societies made ré@presentations to the Government to the effect that there would be no objection to the imposition of a much higher fee provided that the increase was devoted to broadcasting. The sole interest of the Government was to see that an up-to-date broadeasting service was provided and to give every possible assistance in that direction. ‘With that object in view,.a promise was given in 1924 that the necessary legislation would be passed. ‘This was done. At the time of the passing of the new legislation, the Government was in communication with certain -interests which had in view the formation of a company to undertake Dominion broadcasting. After the passing of the Act, the preparation of amended regulations was proceeded with. The Regulations were finally gazetted at the beginning of March, 1925. Shortly afterwards, negotiations with the proposed broadcasting: syndicate broke down and the Government was at that time placed in a difficult position. The increased fee of £1 10s, per annum was

being charged to listeners from April 1, 1925, and to bridge the gap it was’ arranged that existing broadcasting. stations at the four centres should carry on until something could be: done. Out of the fees received from listeners, the Department paid a subsidy of £15 per week to each of the four stations and with that subsidy a. greatly improved service was given. This was only a temporary measure. In the meantime, Messrs. Goodfellow and Harris -came forward with an offer to erect the necessary stations and to carry on a service on the conditions laid down by the amending Act and the Broadcasting Regulations. These gentlemen agreed ‘to act as trustees for a new company to be formed almost immediately, and undertook, on the signing of the agreement to cable for equipment for 500-watt stations at Auckland and Christchurch, to be followed at a later date by stations in the other two centres. : AS is generally known, the agreement was signed and took effect from August 1, 1925. Various delays occurred, and it was not until August 7, 1926, that the Auckland station commenced operations. The number of licenses on that date was 4400. The Christchurch station, which had been erdered at the same time, was duly opened on September 1, 1926. On that date the number of licenses had increased to 5000. From then @hwards, applications for licenses continued to pour in and on Mareh 31, 1927, the number issued was 18,162. In the meantime, the Wellington super-station had been ordered and high hopes were entertained of this powerful 5000 watt station. The opening of the Wellington station took place on July 16, 1927, the number of licenses on that date being 21,059. The number rapidly increased during the next few months, and on December 31, 1927, 88,125 licenses had been issued. The number gradually increas-

aan ed until, on March 381 last, tliere were approximately 40,000 licenses in existPREG.

AMPLE provision is made in the regulations for controlling from a technical point of view the operations of broadcasting . stations. Location of Station.

A® so much of the station’s effectiveness depends upon its location, this is a matter that requires a good deal of consideration, and is the more so in the case of the establishment of subsequent stations in the same locality. The Department is fully alive to the importance of this phase, and in Regulation 40 requires that a station shill not be established in any location where its transmissions are likely tv interfere with other services or for other reasons are "inimical to the public interest." As such a large number of interests are at stake, the tinal selection of a location ‘for a proposed station generally results in a compromise, as is often the case with engineering problems. In order to permit reception by the greatest number of people using the similar types of receiving sets it is essential that the station should be situated somewhere near the centre of population, and that it should be erectod upon sume commanding position where the "radio outlook" is us clear us possible and free from adjaceut obstacles to transmission. On the other hand,. the listener who possesses i more ‘complex type of receiver with better selectivity than the crystal type is desirous of having the station located ut some little distance so that he may have. greater facility in tuning out the local station at times when it is desired to indulge in more distant reception. As a rule. a_ suitable compromise is in the best interests of all concerned and keeps the oper iting charges within reasonable limits. This is very necessary in uw country having a comparatively small population. / Power. AN DEPARTURE from the text 42" of the regulativus governing the power of stations was considered desiruble in connection with Station 2Y.A, the radio frequency output of which is D kow. as against un output of 4 kw. in ihe ease of the other district stations. On account of the central lo-

-_ cation and prominent position of 2YA, — it is able to cover almost the whole of both North and South Islands in daylight. As ‘prescribed by Regulation 10 (2), the power intended to be used by any proposed or existing broadcasting station is subject to departmental approval. In view of the interference through jamming that would result, it is obviously inadvisable to have more than a reasonable number of highpower stations in any one locality. While, therefore, a station should be of sufficient power to cater for the town or district in which it is siluated, an excess of power is to be avoided. . Wavelengths. With the advent of the high-power station 2YA, it was deemed advisable to provide a longer wave for that station than was allocated in Regulation 12.. The wavelength of 420 metres was decided upon for 2YA, and that rendered necessary a T[tallocation of the wavelengths of the other New Zealand stations. In allotting the wavelengths care was taken to provide a wave that would be suitable to the nature of the service performed, and at the same time, allow simultaneous reception of the principal Australian stations. As prescribed by Regulation 12, wavelengths for new stations are allocated by the Minister, and for this

purpose a definite scheme of wavelengths suitable for stations at various parts of New Zealand has been drawn up, and stations are allocated the best possible wavelength for the purpose to be served. As the separation between many of. these wavelengths is necessarily small, Regulations 13, 34 and 15 have been framed with a view to ensuring that the transmitting waye is as sharp as possible. the fundamental wave muy be sharp. interference is frequently caused by harmonics of — that wave ¢lashing with transmissions from other stations operating on lower waye-lengths. In many cases these harmonics can be suppressed by. inductively coupled transmission circuits, and Reg. 16 requires that suitable action be taken to guard against such extraneous emissions. Quality and Supervision of Service. A WATTER provided for in the regulations is the quality and superyision of the service given by broad-

casting stations, Such points as the following may be mentioned under this heading :- The source of power is to be reliable and non-fluctuating, and the wave form is to be practically that of pure continuous waves (Reg. 9).

The studio is to be separate 1rom tHe room containing the transmitting apparatus and by suitable draping, or by other effective means, reverberation in the studio is to be kept at a suitable value (Reg. 17), (1). A telephone or other signalling system is to be provided between the studio and the transmitting room (Reg. 17) (2). ‘ The operator is to be present and supervise the transmission during the whole time the station is open (Reg. 22). Every station is to be open for inspection by a departmental radio inspector, and is to comply in every respect with the regulations (Reg. 42). Interference to Broadcast Reception. UNFORTUNATELY, the careful attention paid by those in charge of broadcasting stations to the requirements of the regulations is not always reflected in the service received ‘by listeners.' There are many forms of interf rence which must be eliminated if the programmes transmitted by the broadcasting stations are to be = accorded undistorted reception. Some of these sources of interference are the operation of radio telegraph stations of the spark type-both commercial and amateur-leakage from power supply lines and electrical machinery, and radiation from certain types of radio receivers, and these matters are receiving the earnest attention of the Post and Telegraph Department. In regard to the first-mentioned cause of interference, the Department

has commendably taken the ‘initiative by converting its principal stations from spark to. continuous wave valve

operation. The regulations regarding ship stations working near the coast of New Zealand are also in the direce tion of minimising the effect of Morse transmissions on the services rendered by broadcasting stations. All cases of interference by amateur Morse: trans¢ missions are investigated and remedied where possible. ACTIVE interest hus also been shown by the Department’s inspectors in the matter of eliminating interference from faulty power lines or apparatus.