2AQ (Taihape) Closes Down

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 16, 2 November 1928, Page 25

2AQ (Taihape) Closes Down

ma, N 1922, when broadcasting in New Zealand was in its infancy, a young man in the rising bush town of Tai--manse} hape became keenly interested in the possible developments of this new seience. This young man, Mr. Morton Coutts, of Kuku Street, was to prove himself of unusual calibre, and to earn for himself.a noted reputation OZ-2AQ Goes on the Air. ARLY in 1922, using the Radiotron receiving yalves, UV201 and V24. this young man established his station, OZ-2AQ, which later was to be heard in all quarters of the globe. The receiver installed, on which Mr. Coutts heard musie fairly regularly, consisted of two stages of RF and four audio stages. ‘In these. days," says he, "we did not bother about quality. Volume was the first and last consideration every time." By March, 1923, using a 10-watt transmitter, station 2AQ was heard prondeasting a concert---the Diggers’ Concert from the Town Hall. This was’ one of the earliest in New Zealand. Following this, reports were received from. Sydney stating that both speech and music were being .received there clearly. Mr. Coutts had established one of the. first: communications on telephony with the outside world. | New Zealand listeners looked forward to these broadcasts, which were becoming a feature for listeners situ‘ated some considerable distance from Taibape. iS 1924, his broadcasts of concerts had become quite a feature, as a letter from a Cromwell listener, dated April 11, 1924, will show: "QAQ, Taihape, has been heard 310 yards from my loudspeaker. He is the loudest station I hear, including 4TG." A similar letter was received from Russell. These transmissions were accomplished with a 201A receiving valve with 100 volts on the plate. The input was 5 watts. In Wellington music was picked. up on a one-valve set. June, 1924, saw 2AQ recognised as the most reliable New Zealand amateur and this reputation he retained. Communication With England. I May, 1924. by radiating 44 am, peres, morse from 2AQ was picked up at a distance of 3500 miles. This sume month two new 95ft. Oregon pine masts were erected. A double cage aerial was employed leading down almost vertically to the transmitting room. For some time this new apparatus refused to function, but finally 2AQ went on the air to establish fresh records. ATH in 1925 communication was established with England and U.S.A. These tests were carried out on tele7 phony as well as with morse. On one operating on shortwave twoway communication with 2CC, Stock-ton-on-Tyne, England, was established. Shortly afterwards a report was received congratulating Mr. Coutts. In the course of his letter the writer says: "Your strength is better than KDKA or. WGY (powerful American stations) on 40 meters"-150 watts output had beeen used. Warly in 1926,.2AQ resumed concert 4 on ee ee ee ee ee ee

broadeasting, which he had neglected during his experiments on shortwave. Lis oscillator was a 250 watt Marconi valve, power input 200 watts with an output of 100 watts. The modulator valve was a 5 watt Radiotron, while the microphone was taken from an old Federal telephone. Listeners claimed that, with this humble microphone, music and speech which could not be surpassed in the country was produced. The New Station. BOUT November, 1926, the interference caused by nearby motors be~me so bad that work on the long waves beeame impossible, and the whole outfit was moved to a high position on the outskirts of the town. The illustration shows this uew station. In 1927 OZ-2AQ was considered the best amateur heard in Australia, as this extract from. "Radio" of November, 1927, shows: "OZ-2AQ is the best of the New Zealanders; in fact, without exaggeration, he is putting out the best transmission in Australasia

amongst the amateurs. His signals are RS-9 here; he is also being received in America at R6-7.". In January of this year the same paper says: "OZ2AQ comes in like the proverbial ton of bricks, and should give five minutes’ notice whilst operators place weights on their loudspeak diaphragms." By this time he had adopted crystal control, and was confining himself almost exclusively to the shorter waves. Important Tests. [\ April of this year far-reaching fading tests were carried out, but owing to the temporary long wave aerial being blown down in a gale these were not completed. However, the following data was obtained :- Power used ranged between 200 and 800 watts. The aerial was a single No. 14 wire, about 200 feet long, with a counter-poise consisting of three wires the same length as_ the aerial spaced four feet apart at the far end, and brought together at the near end. With the aerial 60 feet above the counterpoise, strength was still R98, but

fading slight. Aerial 12 feet above counterpoise, strength R9, but fading slightly more. Owing to the mishap with the aerial, Mr. Coutts was unable to finish this test, so it is not known if it was the difference in height or capacity of the aerial which made the difference. It was found that by using a high percentage of modulation in the carrier wave fading was slight, but when the fade did occur the music was ‘distorted.’ By cutting down the percentage of modulation fading was still about the same, but the music was not distorted the length of the fade period. These facts were derived from about 1000 reports from all over New Zealand. To Pioneer Television. Now the pioneering work in radio has been completed, Mr. Coutts js closing down and selling his excellent plant. He is leaving for Auckland, and is afraid bis plant would interfere with erystal users. But his researches have not finished, and provided he can obtain a pe .it he will erect a low-

powered station and confine himself to television. He is to tackle a subject of no little dimensions, and with him go the well wishes of thousands of admirers. Mr. Coutts, concluding a letter to the "Radio Reeord," says: "I should like to take this opportunity of thanking all those who have sent in reports af different times and hope that some time next year I will be able to puf out television pictures for their consideration."