Radio Round the World

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 23, 21 December 1928, Page 5

Radio Round the World

rpun anhual report of the Manawatu Radio Society shows a year of great progress. Besides rendering valuable service, very fine programmes are presented. The club can be congratulated upon its commendable showing and certainly deserves the support if its community. ME: EDGAR FELIX reports that Rayfoto broadcasting is extending rapidly in the United States, and the ?number of broadcasting stations going on schedule is increasing week by "week, Stations in New York, Detroit, St. Louis. Milwaukee, Wilmington and Peekskill are already on schedule, and eight additional .cities will be on the air within the next few weeks, An English transmitting experimenter is sending Rayfoto pictures on _ shortwave for the benefit of experimenters in Europe. HH Radio Committee of the American Railway Association has recently requested that the Radio Commission reserve a wave-length band for train communication. This method of linking the engine and the guard’s van has been mentjoned before. A section approximately 140 k.c. wide is desired in the 2,250-2,750 k.c. region. ‘Since the range of the telephone equipment used on trains is limited, the interference set up by such transmitters will be very slight, and there is probably no reason why such a wayvelength band should not be assigned for the purposes requested. ‘" AN American magnate," states an English magazine, "recently cal]]ed up from a London hotel, and asked to be put through on the trans-Atlantic *phone to America. When he established contact he yarned away for over an hour and a half! Communication was perfect. The bill c:.me to £285. And the P.O. accounts people are hoping that this kind of thing is infectious!"

"| He largest electro-magnet in the world has recently been installed in Paris, where it is expected it will render considerable assistance in the investigation of some of radio’s side problems. Built to the order of the French Academy of Science, it really is quite a Big Pot, weighing 115 tons! BEGINNING with a single installation in 1925, the lighthouse service in northern U.S.A. now has in operation twenty radio beacons along the shores of the 3Sreat Lakes. In fair weather these stations signal four times daily for half an hour, permitting the taking of compass readings. During heavy weather they maintain a continuous compass service. ADIO is making rapid progress in Austria under a licensing system that would scarcely appeal to a British community. In the last twelve months 46.875 listeners have been added, bringing the total to 298,408. Licenses are required on many receivers, the subscription, which goes to the broadeasting company. being graded according to the income of the head of the household. The minimum fee is 1s. 3d, a month on earnings below £20 a month, and 3s, 6L if above \ghat figure. On the other hand, a large number of private individuals and institutions are exempt. At present there are 4378 households of deserving unémployed. 922 blind persons, and 186 hospitals and kindred establishmerits which are not assessed. Tn deserving cases the cost of. installation is borne by the broadcasting company.

[HE following is a paragraph from a national daily: "Out of consideration for those people who call themselves wireless fans, and are, and to spite those who think they are, and are not, it is suggested that an examination, on the following lines, be set by some responsible body. Successful candidates to be entitled to the degree of M.J.P.R.F. (Member of the Institute of Perfect Radio Fans). The candidate must :- (1) Prove the reception, on at least three occasions, of China, Ja« maica, and Daventry.

(2) Show that he has constructed over twenty-three wireless sets, five of which must have functioned. (8) Take oath that he has never oscillated. (4) Have written not less than 15 letters to the newspapers complaining of the programmes. (5) Know the difference between an aerial and a clothes-line. (6) Produce his wireléss license or, alternatively, a summons for not taking one out. Then, perhaps, we should find out which of those bumptious know-alls in the train and at the club knew what they were talking about! HE new airport at Croydon (England) has been equipped with a new wireless station to replace the one which has done duty for the last seven years. This has four 3 kw. transmit: ters working in conjunction with a radio direction finder. The transmitters. can be used both for telephony

and for continuous wuve and- interrupted continuous wave telegraphic transmission between 800 and 2000 metres. Two or more circuits can be operated, if necessary, on different wavelengths for telephony and telegraphy on the same aerials. The wireless masts and transmitters are operated by remote control, being some three miles from the aerodrome. [he following pdragraph from a South African writer to an English paper should interest short-wave enthusiasts :-- "FYERD in Bloemfontein, as_ elsewhere in South Africa, there are numerous radio enthusiasts who operate short-wave radio sets. We receive

radio programmes over the ether fairly consistently as regards volume, but we sometimes find it most difficult to follow your American announcersthey speak so very rapidly. In this respect KDKA is not quite so bad, but WGY and several other stations deliver their announcements too quickly. Chelmsford, England, and PCJJ Hilversum, Holland, announce so that every word is distinct." MELBOURNE business man recently received a message from London, via the Beam service (reports

"Wireless Weekly’). Desiring the date of origin confirmed, he telephoned the Beam office, and made his request. "Excuse me while I ask London," was the reply. "But I can’t hold on here all that time," he said. "Don’t hang up, won’t keep you long," came the voice again. Within 70 seconds the clerk reported: "The date of your message is correct as shown on the form." In those 70 seconds the Melbourne Beam officials had called up London Beam office direct, the London clerk had looked up the file and confirmed the date to Melbourne, and the business man had received the answer to his request. Twenty-eight thousand miles of space crossed, and a small query answered=while he waited. A RECOMMENDATION that trans- ' mitting stations broadcast communications in the Esperanto language within the limits of their possibilites was a feature of a meeting of the. International Broadcasting Union at

Lausanne recently. A survey showed that 168 stations in Europe, Asia, and the United States sent out messages in Esperanto. The union discussed the organisation of relays for a wider exchange of programmes. It was decided to arrange relays between Germany, Austria, Poland, and OzechoSlovakia. Announcement was made that considerable technical progress had been achieved in relaying musical programmes by employing submarine cables between Great Britain, Belgium, and Germany. ‘HE yacht Crusader (England) is probably the most elaborately fitted yacht afloat in radio. Whenever she sails, her occupants should seldom be without a wireless programme from somewhere. She is also fitted for the transmission and reception of commercial messages. "THEY say that for the King’s visit to Balmoral this year, a new valve set had been installed in the castle there, I’d like to have half an hour with it." says a London writer, "for you can be sure it is a hummer. I wonder what kind of programme His Majesty favours. My belief is that the King likes to explore the ether, and does not bother much about "items." . AS a result of the publicity given to the proposal of the B.B.C. to radiocast a short religious service daily, some 5000 letters were received, asking that this should be continued. It is held that if 5000 took the trouble to write, there are probably many times that number who listen to it.

(THE Department of Commerce, U.S.A. report for June, shows a marked increase on the radio exports of that country. The greatest growth was in transmitting sets and parts, which, compared with June, 1927, exports of £1300 rose to just short of £18,000. Receiving sets from £43,000 to £57,000. Radio imports were more than £1000. UCH is fame! An, American paper says: "Sir Ivan O’Meara, Gisborne, New Zealand, who is probably the only titled holder of an amateur experimental license in the world, certainly the only one of note, achieved everlasting fame last week by trans-. mitting the first 10-metre signals to eross the Equator." Why has our friend kept his knighthood dark?, At the Berlin radio show, there were 850 exhibitors, including the Army and the Navy, Lufthansa, and the German Postal Administration. ‘The most interesting television -device demonstrated, was the invention of one, Mihaly, which gave the shadowy’ outline of the person spoken to on the telephone.