Our Mail Bag

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 23, 21 December 1928, Page 24

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 Iiditor, ‘Radio Record," P.O. Box 1032, Wellington.

A Westport Report. I AM now situated in another part of the globe, as you will observe by my address. Well, it is a splendid loeation for radio, almost perfect; in fact quite perfect. The first night up here I had good reception with an gerial slung across the room on hooks. The length was about 30ft. and height about 5ft. I received the surprise of my life. I put the earphones on expecting to get weak signals. They eame off quicker than they went on. 2YA, Wellington, simply roared in. I had to tone him down. Now my nerial is at the top of a 60ft. hill at the back of my house and on a 25ft. brick chimney at the house end. For earth I dug a hole until I struck water. Next I soldered a wire to a tin and buried it in the water. The wire from the tin is soldered to a pipe driven about 5ft. in moist clay and another wire to the set. To-day, December 11, I have had 2YA since his commencement at 12 noon. Volume is just perfect. It’s good to get dinner music. I’m sure we country listeners appreciate it very much, Please allow ‘me to:congratulate 1YA’s announcer on his description of the wrestling contests at the town hall. There was not a dull moment during the whole session. Your programmes are getting better every night. Carry on. With my best wishes for a successful Naw Year and a echeartfnl Christmas.

Radio Fiend

( Westport).

Reception at Tokomaru. oy UST a line to advise you of the wonderful clear reception we reeeived here last evening of the concert from Wanganui-relayed and broad-. east by 2YA. It was simply splendid -not a word or syllable missed and the music and other items were delightful. We also had wonderful results of the election returns, and also of the return flight of the Southern Cross-all of which were particularly good. The Broadcasting Company are to be congratulated on the class of entertainment they are giving the erica -~ «--

listeners-not isolated cases, but at all times. Wishing you every success and the ‘complimnts of the season.H. D. Evans (Tokomaru Bay). An American Mystery. N reply to a query in this week’s issue of the "Record," I should judge that the station logged by your correspondent a degree or two above 2BL was KWKH, Shriveport, Louisiana, on 352.7 metres. (See my report of reception in letter to "Record" of December 7.) On more than one oeceasion lately I have logged an American station on 880 metres, but have not been able to get the call. On the 9th inst. the volume was sufficient to enable me to learn the name of the coneluding item, and when the closing announcement was given, I also clearly gc: the time of signing off. Can any one advise me the identity of this station? (It is not KGO, who comes in about one point higher on the dial.)-

Guy C.

Holmes

(Masterton).

Another Query. I WOULD much appreciate it if any listener heard a station on Deceinlar 9, 1928, Sunday, at 7.10 p.m., on about 284 metres between 2ZF and 3YA. All I heard of the speech which was most of the time drowned in QRM interference, was: "This is -- testing on 100,0C watts" this was follo -ed by a short talk by the same announcer. who laughed at something now and again; then a jazz item was put over on an organ, followed by talk and musie, ete. I would be very much obliged to any listen.r who was lucky ‘in locating this station under better —

circumstances than I had. The volume was good, but static and QRM was 200 per cent. more. I use in my set Philips valves, shielded grid 442 (one stage on high frequency). detector A415-A409 in first audio and 443 Pentode in last stage-and have no trouble in pulling 4YA in at decent loudspeaker strength any time after 7 p.m. In concluding I wish to thank the Broadeasting Company for the din-ner-time sessions-for I am one of the growlers who have been moaning the past twelve months for such sessions. Also I ean find nothing wrong with 2Y¥A. The Wanganui relay was perfect for. such a relay-no buzz or crackling of relay lines being audible. I thank

you for your splendid service.

N. C.

Fitzgerald

(Gisborne).

Texas Station Identified. ' Your correspondent, "Guy Holmes, of Masterton," in your isssue just to hand, asks if any other of your subseribers succeeded in getting the American station broadeasting on 341 metres last Saturday evening. I listened to this station exclusively from 7 a.m. till 10.3 p.m. on Sunday, 2nd instant. The station is in Dallas, Texas; sign eall, so far as I could make it, is ARLD, and the telephone number of the studio 26811, The programme was good, and came in at great strength through the loudspeaker, and were it not for the peculiar nuances of speech of the Southerner one would have had no difficulty in eatching every word. To-night WENR, Chicago, has been excellent, and KWKA, Louisiana, was also good and on the air till 8.20. My home is situated 1000 feet above sea level, and few wireless sets anywhere here have consequently recenp-

tion as vsood.-

F. B.

Logan

(Kereru.

H.B.).

Radio News and Reports. "THE Broadcasting Co., by placing on the air news and reports from different parts of New Zealand, and also from Britain, daily, has given a service. educational, ire:uctive, interesting. and valuable, bui for some time past the time occupied by this means has been gradually curtailed, more particularly at 2YA, and now we have about five minutes of news and the remainder of the hour is given up to lecturettes, ete. If we deduct the racing, the

cricket, ete., we have some evenings no news at all, and on Thursday evening we had one item of news. Many of the lecturettes are decidedly instructive, as they were on that evening, but the fact remains that we got practically no news from other parts of the Dominion. It would be a great convenience to listeners if the hour were divided into, say, 10 minutes sections, and we would know what to expect at any given time, instead of @ present waiting for perhaps half hour, and then getting one item news, or perhaps none. Parliament was sitting on Thursday, yet on that evening the fact was not mentioned. Keep clear of politics, but why not give the public, who have no hope of hearing a debate in the House itself, an opportunity of hearing the opening, say, when it again resumes. All parties would be on the same wicket. Again’ thanking the company for its good work.-Listening In,

Points About Reception. [THERE are a few points of general interest regarding reception that I have noticed lately, and possibly they may have been noticed by others. During the news and reports session from 1YA there is a continuous heterodyne squeal to be heard, also distant music, ete, which is presumably caused by another station operating on the -same wavelength. I think I heard the call sign of WBZ one evening recently. This station has the same wavelength as 1YA, but since it is situated at Springfield, Massachusetts (some 8000 miles distant), it seems peculiar that it should interfere with 1YA, which is only about 60 odd miles away, particularly as my set is only a two-valve one. Last Sunday evening from about 19 to 10.20 pm. (New Zealand summer, time), 1 picked up the American station KRLD, which, according to my dialing, would have a wavelength of about 290 metres. According to the list of stations in the "Radio Listeners’ Guide," KRLD operates on 491 metres. -Do you happen to: know if this station has changed its wavelength, or would it be a harmonic that I picked up? (Many of the American wavelengths have been changed.) I have noticed in youy columns that wireless ‘station signals have sometimes been heard on ordinary line telephones, I have sometimes noticed exactly the opposite here. namely, that through -the wireless receiver 1 have heard scraps of my neighbours’ telephone conversations. I may mention -that my telephone is on a party line with an earth circuit, but the respective wireless and line telephone earth plates are some thirty feet apart, and the receiving instruments are at opposite ends of the house. The wireless

aerial at one point passes over the telephone line, but about 30 feet above it. It would be interesting to know whether the effect is caused from the

earth or. the aerial.

Philip

William

son

{ Whangamata).

A Suggestion. FEEL I must make a suggestion as ,» to DX listeners. During the last months we have been reading some vey interesting DX results received by listeners and new stations heard, which we cannot locate. My suggestion is that we have a DX club in a corner of the "Radio Record" to enable listeners to. give new stations received. during every week, with the wave-length and times logged. ‘Such keen DX listeners as Messrs. Holmes, Gray, Blucher, Ireland, Davis, ‘Handley, and Vie.’s Radio Shack to give notes and send in new stations logged during the week. I received a letter from a DX listener in Los Angeles and they have got a DX club to enable listeners to exchange views on DX, I fee] I must congratulate Mr. Ireland on his great log of 3RI, Melbourne. This log must be a New Zealand record as to the watt power. My lowest watt Aussie is 25 watts on a five-valve receiver. My log of Yanks, from December 2 to December 6, is: KEX, on 250 metres, every evening, very cleur on speaker; also KFON, KGO, KNX, and another new one, KOIN, Portland, on 319 metres, time 7.15 p.m. Thursday. KPQ, on 230 metres, 500 watts, will broadcast an all-night programme from 12 midnight to 7 a.m. in the morning, American time. This information was received from my DX friend in Los Angeles. Cheerio.-S. Ellis, Okato.

The C. A. Larsen? S I have been puzzled as to the name of a station that I have heard frequently operating behind Wellington (2YA), I have heard it on speaker volume, and often hear it when 2YA is awaiting the next item, I have often tried to tune it in, but it seems to be exactly on 2YA’s wavelength. I have often tried to get this station on a Wednesday night, or after 2YA has closed down. Could you also tell me if this station that I got on Sunday, December 9, operates on about 200 metres? It was operating from 11.30 until 2.30.-Valve Set (Lower Hutt). [The ©. A. Larsen operates on 2YA’s wavelength, 420 metres, and is without call sign. The station near 250 metres may have been: KEX, Portland, Oregon, on 254 metres.-Ed.] American Data. RECENT letter from the owners of KEX, the Western Broadcasting Co. 201 Terminal Sales Blvd... Portland, Oregon, reports that after November 11 their power will be 5000 watts on a frequency of 1180 kiloeycles (254.1 metres). Affiliated stations are KGA. KJR, and KYA. KI'ON is now on 240 metres, a friend in the States writes. Re KGER, I logged the low-power station last January 2. My log consists of 36 stations on a fourtube nentrodyne set. including 8SNU,

3AJ, 150A, and 100Z.-

J. G.

Mason

(R.M.), Tuakau.