Our Mail Bag

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 12, 5 October 1928, Page 30

Our Mail Bag

Will correspondents please practice brevity, as heavy demands are now made on space. All letters must be signed and address given as proof of genuineness; noms de plume for publication are permitted. Address correspondence Editor, "Radio Record," P.O. Box 1032, Wellington.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Enough Said: Your letter was not signed. We are inquiring into the figures given. L. Rapley (Puponga): The answer to your question is that the observer was in touch with 2BL from the beginning of the description about the take-off, but the clarity was not sufficient for rebroadcasting. Listeners were informed that such was the case, and a summary was given of what had been heard. This was apparently not heard by you. The observer on this occasion was not a member of 2YA staff, but an independent outside expert.Ed. "Kellogg," Auckland.-Kellogg transformers are obtainable from F. J. Fear and Co., whose advertisement appears elsewhere in this issue, at 21s. each. |

Aussie on a Crystal. I NOTICED in this week’s "Radio Record" in "A Corner for Beginners," by "Observer," where he mentioned that a 2-valve amplifier and crystal set will only get Australian stations on the ’phones. I would like to say that I have heard 8AR, Melbourne, and 4QC, Brisbane, on the speaker faintly. Ihave six Australian stations in my log book. Also an article on aerials (by "Switch"), saying that the lead-in should always be from the lowest end. My aerial is about 30ft. high at the far end 5Oft. high at the lead-in end, with: an aerial of 150ft. of 7/22 stranded wire. I can hear on an average two or three Aussies every night. I also wish to congratulate the R.B.C, on the wonderful performance put up by them during the flight of the Southern

Cross.-

E. W.

Powell

(Christchurch)

_A Crystal Puzzle. TOUR "Record" to hand, with its usual interesting news and articles. As usual, I turned to "Our Mailbag" page first, as I find considerable interest in reading other listeners’ views and opinions. Of particular interest to me was a letter from a Petone resident headed "A Crystal Puzzle." I may state that I have had a somewhat similar experience, having made quite a number of crystal sets of different types. I recently constructed a crystal set upon which I tried various types of crystals. The se{ referred, to comprised 30 turns of 22’s enamelled wire on a 23in. former, the coil being tuned by a .0003 condenser, with the usual connections to aerial, phones. det., and earth. I ra We

first connected a carborundum crystal to this set, which for some reason was a complete "wash-out." All my connections were tested, so it was not a break in the circuit. However, when a crystal of the R. I. Varley type was used with this set it functioned quite well, but as the volume was not as good as I expected I stripped 10 turns of my coil, which made a big difference. I had heard a friend say that the carborundum det. seemed to work well with only certain types of sets, so I constructed another one, this time simply passing four pieces of string through a cardboard boot

box. I wound 100 turns of 22 D.C.C. wire lightly on to a former, pushing the latter out, so as to leave only the wire, which I then slipped over the string, tightening this up at the end by tying a knot in it. I then tapped the coil at exactly the fiftieth turn and connected this tap to the aerial terminal, one end of the coil going to the detector, the other going to the earth. To tune the set all I had to do was to pull the wire along’ the string like a concertina. I used the original carb. det., which gave great results, showing that the det. itself was perfectly good. Various other crystals were tried, but I decided that the carb. was the best. Although I now possess a three-valve set, I still use this "little chap," when the other members of the family do not want to

-listen-in. _ Inquiries from a number of our Auckland dealers led me to believe that I had one of the first shipment of these detectors put on the market, and that numerous complaints had been received from customers regarding all subsequent shipments. I will be only too pleased to give any further information on this subject to my southern friends or others interested, if they care to write to me at the address which I leave with you. Hoping this may be of interest to your eorrespondent, and thanking you for

your valuable space.-

N.D.

C.

(Auck-

land).

Historie Ground. THOUGHT possibly some of your readers may be interested to know the exact spot where the Southern Cross commenced the flight over New Zealand after crossing the Tasman Sea from Sydney. If you get a chart of the coastline and look on the northern ad _- — 6 ee

part of the west coast of the South Island, you will find Paturau River; it is about 16 miles north of the Kahu Rangi lighthouse, and about. eight miles south of the West Wanganui inlet. About a quarter of a mile south of Paturau River is the exact spot where the ’plane commenced its flight over New Zealand. The Paturau River Post Office is situated almost directly where the ’plane started overland. Of course, all the people there were out looking for it, but it was a very cloudy morning, and the ’plane was not visible. The time was just 5.58 a.m., and Mrs. Richards, our local postmistress, advised Collingwood postmaster over the wire about seven minutes before

it rea ched Collingwood.

George

Nich

olls

(Mangarakau).

1YA Mystery Night.

UST a line in reference to the 1YA mystery night, which was conducted some time ago. Great interest was taken in it here. I had a party of friends here that night, and we made a fairly complete list. Now you will understand that the condition laid down that each entry must bear the postmark of the following day prevented us from competing, as our nearest post office is 15 miles away. Our intention was to compare our list with the correct one, which we expected would be published in the "Radio Record." Would it be possible for you to print a correct list for the benefit of those who for various reasons were unable to compete, or who, while keenly interested, did not possess sufficient knowledge of the artists to prepare a full list, or, rather, a list full enough to give them a chance. I wish to thank the Broadcasting Company for the way in which they rose to the oceasion during the Tasman flight; they

deserve great eredit for it.

J.

Sklen

ars

(Honikiwi).

[The list is published on page 8. -Iid.]

Appreciation of Records. WES I take this opportunity of expressing, through your interestiug paper, my appreciation of the fact that gramophone records are now being included in the evening programmes from 2YA, thus enabling those not possessing a gramophone to hear and enjoy the world’s best artists, and at the same time, I think, providing variety in the programmes. Regarding the remarks of ‘"B.P.S." in this week’s "Record"’-in my opinion the more well-known classical music is always most acceptable. Certainly the works mentioned, namely, ‘William Tell Overture,’ ‘"Barcarolle," and "Blue Danube," may be "murdered nightly by third and fourth-rate orchestras," but that is not to say the 2YA orchestra or performers are g0ing to "murder" them, as they are all of a high standard, and "J.K." (Trentham)" evidently gives them credit for this. "B.P.S." seems to suggest that those items should be avoided because of their being "hackneyed," but there ‘are many who will never tire of hear-

ing them in spite of this. One could also mention "Humoreske" as being overworked, but does that make us one whit less keen to hear this beautiful melody played by a good artist? I should very much like to see this in-| cluded as a violin or piano solo in one. of the 2YA programmes shortly. -#*

Fominas

(Brooklyn).

An Auckland Station. (OULD some listener kindly let me know the eall sign of the Auckland station that was on the air about 10.30 on Sunday evening, the 23rd. The wave-length was somewhere near 2KY,

Sydney.-

G.

F.

(Dunedin).

Proportion of Jazz. LIK many other letters which appear in your mailbag, this is somewhat in the nature of a growl. The first is with reference to a certain remark of "Switches" in your current issue. He says: "The Sunday afternoon broadeasts by 2Y¥A are immensely popular ... and a considerable proportion of listeners are glad to be rid of the eternal jazz and foxtrot stuff, for one session anyhow." ‘The italics are mine. After reading this I looked through 2YA’s programmes for the following week. This is what I found :-Monday, no jazz; Tuesday, about one-third of the programme jazz, all records ; Thursday, one item might be called jazz, but certainly not foxtrot; Friday, no jazz; Saturday, about half jazz, mostly records. The Sunday programmes, of course, are notorious for the tremendous proportion of foxtrots. As each week’s programme from the above station is almost a duplicate of the previous week, I think "Switches’ " use of the word "eternal" is a little lax. To my certain knowledge a considerable . number of would-be listeners are put" off by the absence of the lighter forms of music from the programmes. About 90 per cent. of the dance numbers put over at present are records which the dealers apparently cannot sell, and so "push" by advertisement. I am not, however, a jazz maniac. Few of this species really exist now among listeners. A large number of 2YA’s items, however, are neither "highbrow" nor popular. As an example, some time

ago an item announced aS a request item was played on a mandolin. The announcer said it was the ‘Miserere" from "Il Trovatore.’ If Verdi had heard this I am sure he would have wakened and haunted the "artist" for the rest of his life. IL have heard and liked solos played by the same player on the same instrument, but Verdi did not compose this glorious duet, to be played like this was. This is an outstanding example, but there have been others of less severity. The "Lost Chord," for instance, was not composed as a cornet solo. Next I come to the transmission itself. As others have remarked, records always come through very much better than studio items. The tone is more full, there is no distortion and blasting, and there is less hiss in the background. I do not know why, but I would like to know. After that, a little appreciation. Bile. : Hart is always very popular; so also are Doug. Stark, George Titchener, Mr. Marshall, and the Melodie Four, and, last but not least, Mr. Announcer. AL concert by the Petone Maori Entertainers some time ago was a good move, and could well be repeated, while the orchestra is always worth listening to. I am not going to write all night. I.

realise the difficulties the B.C. is up against, and I hope my criticism might « be of some little assistance. A few re- ‘ peat items might be "Glow, Glow," sung . some time ago by Mr. Barnes and partyr. "Drinking," sung by Mr. Marshall, "Honolulu Moon." Melodie Four.-

D.M.

B.

(Kelburn).

Tom Heeney on the Air. ‘A LEPPERTON correspondent writes pointing out that Tom Heeney, inspeaking over the air from 1YA on his welcome home, broke the rule regarding controversial matters, and asks why he was allowed to doit. Properly speaking, of course, Tom should have been promptly fioored by the announcer, or tapped on the head with a brick. It must be admitted the announcer failed-that is why he is still talking. However, we understand the other party to the incident evened. up by counter-controversial matter, so it may be regarded as allsquare and unnecessary at this stage to give any party a further opportunity of talking on that point. We prefer not to publish the further remarks made by our correspondent about Tom Heeney-we might meet him some day. wee fd . Amateur Transmitting, CORRESPONDENT has written asking the wavelength and hours of transmission of certain New Zealand amateurs. No definite wavelengths are allotted, but certain bands are available. . These are 120-160, &8595, and, with special permission, 30-32, 17-21, 10-10.71, 5-5.36 metres. The majority of amateurs work on. the 30-32 and 17-21 metre bands. There are no particular hours when they shall transmit. In the Early Hours. QNE evening recently I enjoyed listening to a relay by 3YA of 5SW, London, on the occasion of the signing of the Kellogg Peace Pact. After 3YA closed down I picked up a station at 2.35 a.m. operating on a wavelength of approximately 370 metres. A lady vocalist was singing "Way Down Upon the Swanee River," but I could not identify the call sign. Last evening I tried for this station again and picked it up at 2.45 a.m., receiving a programme of vocal and instrumental items, but the signals were very weak. I again failed to gain any further knowledge of the whereabouts of the station other than the fact of it having a lady announcer. I am a regular . Subscriber to the ‘‘Record" and would be delighted if any other reader could give me any information concerning this particular station-Henry Jake‘man. [7CA, Calcutta, sometimes heard in New Zealand, operates on 370.4 metres; 2.35 a.m. New Zealand time would be 8.45 p.m. at Calcutta.]

Harmonics. URING the whole’ evening, news session included, I have been listening to 2YA’s programme on about 210 metres. Could you say whether this is the second harmonic or is it another station rebroadcasting? They wogd hardly re-broadcast news items, Also, last Sunday night I received a station on about 275 metres; I did not get his call sign, but he said something about Atwater Kent Radio Station. They gave a children’s session up to about 7.15 and then closed down. A "Cousin Bill" gave mouth organ selections; would this be 2ZM Gisborne.

G.

S.

(Matamata).

[Wellington on 210 metres would be a harmonic. The other station was 22M. | Too Much High Brow. n reference to the programmes put on by the New Zealand Broadeasting Company, I must and can only

say that they are getting worse, and the ery for cutting out the "highbrow stuff" is left unheeded. The general public to my knowledge do not want highly classical music night after night, and while I don’t want it myself, I can put up with it for a couple of nights a week, provided light stuff or popular music is given more often. Most of the licensees I know of do not want the classics, and if they are not "cut out" to a certain extent, there will be a reduction in the number of old licenses renewed next year, and Til be one of them. The Broadeasting Company expect more listeners. How can they get them unless they provide entertainment for them? For, » the average set owner classics may be likened to Esperanto to he uninitiated, we know they are both perfect, but most of us don’t know why. I should never expect to entertain my friends under the circumstances now prevailing. However... do not envy the New Zealand Broadcasting Company, for in order to cater for the public they cannot please everyone, but I should suggest, that they give a special week, giving the "highbrows" and the "common herd" a chance to register their wants by naming on a coupon, in’ the "Radio Record" the night they got the most enjoyment, and the other programmes in the listeners’ order of merit. They can then show the listeners they are catering for the major portion by supplying their wants on at least three nights of the week. Thanking you for

your space.-

Unsatisfied

(Gisborne).

The Racing Ban. OW, thanks to Mr. Duncan, we are getting down to the real reasons for the racing ban. It is apparently to satisfy the snobbish instincts of the plutocratic racing owners. If we don’t belong to the leisured class, we have no right to enjoy racing or want to have anything to do with it. Those that cannot go out to the races, obviously belong to the working class and consequently must have their noses kept close on the grind-stone. Really, Mr. Duncan, I am surprised at you, I didn’t think it possible. I thought this was a democratic country where the shilling of Tom was as good as that of his master. Not so, apparently. Racing is for the leisured class and the leisured class only; so "ban" the broadcast and keep the races sacred for the plutocratic few. But me and my mates are going to import a few whippets and breed our own "racehorses" now.Tyke.

A Crystal Experience. A} UST a line to say that I checked up the pronunciation of 2YA’s announcer one evening, and he was correct in every particular, according to Webster’s standard dictionary. His voice is very pleasant-to listen to. -: I must tell you of an experience with a crystal set. The other day I was wondering what would happen if a lightning flash came in and the guard failed. I adjusted the slider to engage’ the first turn of the coil and idly made and broke the slider points contact with the coil when I obained a blue-coloured

Spark like that obtained from a 6.V.A. battery if the terminals are short-cir-cuited. The current was from the aerial, and was caused by an electrical discharge from the atmosphere. This current, if passing through the erystal circuit, will often cause the erystal to become a poor conductor of the carrier wave. The remedy is to clean the cat’swhisker point and to try another face of the crystal. It is therefore good practice for crystal set users to disconnect their cat’s-whisker from the crystal when the set is not in use, and, if they do not have lightning guards in circuit, to run the slider down to the first aerial turn of the coil. Any atmospheric electricity will then pass from the aerial direct to the earth, and save possible trouble to the coil. Attention to these points will tend to popularise the crystal circuit, which will become more valued as reception is improved. The ideal the N.Z.B. Company should aim at, is to make relaying a feature, so that anything of real interest in other centres may be had by all crystal users. The catering for valve users all the time is not in the best interest of business. The average valve user can not obtain the purity of tone that is given from a erystal circuit even when the latter has added valves to work a

loudspeaker.-

Crystal

(Blenheim).