Radio Round the World

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 6, 24 August 1928, Page 4

Radio Round the World

(THERE are now 267,178 licensed listeners in Australia, A MAGNETIC pick up: A Scotsman retrieving a fallen threepenny bit. T the end of 1927 there were 2,395,174 licensed listeners in Great Britain. HREE radio beacons have recently been placed in operation on Long Island Sound (New York).

[tz is reported that a photo-telegraphy service is to be opened up between Peking and Mukden, in China. A DIRECT radio-telegraph service is now being conducted between Kenya (South Africa) and Australia). DURING March America exported radio apparatus valued at £171,220. Argentine was the best market with Canada next best. HE British Postmaster-General has authorised the erection of a new high-power twin wavelength station in London to be erected by the B.B.C. "THERE are 25 broadcasting stations in Germany, which has about a

quarter of a million fewer licensed listeners than England. N hotel in Brisbane has the wireless "laid on" in many rooms. Guests turn on the wireless in their own rooms just as turning on the electrie light. VEN should television rise to such heights that it has entertainment as well as scientific value, it can never replace mass entertainment presented in person by capable actors.

AFTER Six years’ service, the first broadcasting station in Philadelphia, has closed down. It was operated by a retail store for advertising purposes, but has long ceased to be profitable. Wit the opening of the beam wireless service between Australia and Canada a chain of Empire beam wireless around the world has been completed. It embraces England, Canada, Australia and back to England. AN Advisory Committee to the League of Nations has recommended the construction of a £50,000 wireless telegraphic station with an estimated cost of £10,000 annually. Its estimated traffic is valued at between £4000 and £6000. LONG freight trains on American lines are equipped with a wireless arrangement enabling the guard in the van to communicate with the driver. These sets, it is claimed, do not interfere with neighbouring receiving stations and are not influenced by other transmitters. A REGULAR service of radio photogram transmission is operating between London and New York. Exact copies of photos, facsimile drawings, writing, or even cheques, can be sent across the Atlantic within a few hours. The charge is £10 for a picture five inches by three. "THE leading English stations are broadcasting the great series of Bach’s Church Cantata. Since Bach performed them himself two centuries ago the complete series of cantatas has never been given. Dr. Schweitzer, the leading Continental authority on this great composer, was to be at the organ for the first of the series. USH METHODS" have been applied in yet anothcr sphere in the ease of one Australian bushfeller

whose tent is pitched fifty miles from Sydney. About ten feet of fence wire, tied on to two stumps, serve him as a clothes line, a runaway for his dog and as a wireless aerial for his crystal set. Insulators there are none yet, this enthusiast hears 2FC quite well on the phones. IRELESS impulses are hurled through space at 299,820,000 metres per second. This is roughly equivalent to 180,000 miles per second. At this speed a message could be flung round the world 7+ times in a second. The number of frequencies at which a station transmits is the number of waves emitted per second. It can

be readily seen that this divided into 299,820,000 metres, or as used in practice, 300,000,000, will give the wave-length of any _ station. [Nn a recently published article by Victor France, an Eniglish author, the reduction of the hours of broadcasting was suggested. Rarely has any article, however controversial in its character, excited a more vigorous and intelligent correspondence. ‘The editor of "Radio Times" has received hundreds of letters on the subject, revealing an extraordinary diversity of opinion. The author does not lack sup-porters-but is defeated by a heavy majority. The attitude of most listeners is that broadcasting is a service that must have at heart "the

greatest good of the greatest number." A BRITISH listener tiring of the local programmes switched on to Stuttgart, Germany, then rebroadcasting 2XAF, Schenectady (U.S.A.). After listening to the rebroadcast for a while the Englishman heard the announcer at 2XAF state that he was going to rebroadcast 2LO, London. As this double rebroadcast came through perfectly the listener sat the’ programme out finally, setting his watch by the striking of Big Ben in London, at the end of the programme. These signals had been connected with three broadcasting stations and had twice crossed the Atlantic and once the North Sea.

A GOOD deal of mystery surrounds the latest experiments of Senatore Marconi. It is known that his famous yacht, the "Hlettra," and the experimental station at Poldhu, Cornwall, are being employed, and big developments in the system of beam communication are expected: One report says that instead of spreading out to about 45 deg., the ungle of the seam is now concentrated down to about 8 deg. or 9 deg., and a system will shortly be introduced whereby the beam can be swung in any direction in which it is required: to transmit. Cabled advice indicates progress along these lines. MUCH to the dismay of the French public, their Government has decided to take over broadcasting now under private enterprise. It is feared broadcasting may sink to the level of administrative propaganda. HEN two condensers of equal capacity are joined in series, the resultant capacity is only half that of one of the condensers. A GOOD earth is as important as a good aerial, especially if a crystal set is being used.

"TF ONDON Central 58, please." This is the latest telephone call of the business man in America. The Atlantic has been bridged by yet another service. Hnormous power is neces; sary to fling articulate speech fro telephone to telephone across that vas¥ expanse-the Atlantic. This amplification is accomplished by twenty-three water-cooled valves, lifting the power to 150 kilowatts and amplifying the speech currents two billion times (2,000,000,000). To obtain the same result on an ordinary aerial and ‘receiver it would be necessary to ‘increase the power of the transmitter to well over a million (1,000,000) kilowatts. By the employment of special transmitting and receiving aerials, ‘the latter being just over three miles: in length, by the employment of diiectional effect and extremely sensitive receiving sets, an effective and almost secret service is established. The American transmitting station is situated near New York, while the receiving station is near Dundee (because of: its height and clear atmosphere). From Rugby messages are transmitted to Houlton, Maine.

Telephone connections are responsible for the internal communication. Thus a telephone subscriber in ’Frisco desiring to communicate with a Londoner telephones through to Rocky Point (New York). Here his voice goes on the air to be received at Coupar (Dundee), where a telephone connection switches him. to London. When the Englishman replies his voice is telephoned to Rugby, put on the dir, received at Houlton and telephoned to °F risco. 3 A complicated switching. arrangement prevents the confusion of messages spoken and heard. At the pres-. ent moment the whole of the United’ States, Canada and Cuba dre in a position to talk to any subscriber in Great Britain, France, Germany, Holland or Sweden and other countries are being encompassed rapidly. | FASHIONS change in loud-speakers much as they do in other things and it looks as if the horn type speaker will again hold sway, especially the type whose horn is modelled upon the well-known exponential lines. Unfortunately the ideal horn *s much too long for convenient use in the home, and such as are beginning to be popular have the horn twisted to resemble the shell of a snail, so that it takes up much less space. | HE incorrect adjustment of grid bias ("C" battery), not only causes distortion, but is liable to lead to an unnecessary drain upon the H.T. ("B"’) battery.