Notes by "Switch"

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 34, 8 March 1929, Page 27

Notes by "Switch"

(By

Switch

AS anyone heard a "ghost wave’? Occasionally, late at night, when the last New Zealand station has long gone to rest, the writer has stumbled across. a broadcast wave, empty as a shadow, but definitely a wave and steady as though it were from a station within New Zealand. It lasts about five minutes and then suddenly vanishes without the slightest sound of music or speech. Various theories have been suggested as to the origin of the wave, but none seems to fit the bill. One suggestion is that it emanates from a certain station with the aerial disconnected. AS Rose: "HATH listever informed loswiteh" that he has great difficulty in hearing 38YA, Christchurch, while 2YA, Wellington, is on the air. Seeing that the said iistener’s aerial is little more tha. a stone’s throw from that of 2YA, he could not reasonably expect otherwise; besides his set is not very high-class, The trouble is due to shock excitation through the listener's proximity to 2YA ,which hus a intense field strength. ANYONE w. list wv 4QG, Brisbane, cannot help hearing almost continuous. morse. The intrusion of mvurse is always mo). uvtceabl. on the longer wave-leugths from that of 4QG up to 8AR, Melbourne, including, of course, 21°C, Sydney, but there is some morse station which appears to sit right on top of 4QG, and it is not "Wadible on ZFC or 3AR. N enthusiastic Wellington suburban listener told the writer the other day, with tears in his voice and static in his eyes, that it is his misfortune to reside next to a picture show, the cinema projecting plant of which renders listening to outside stations utterly impossible. He has had the radio inspectors out to his house:to ascertain what could be done about the matter, but everything so far is completely negative. A counterpoise "earth" failed to abate the nuisance, and things are up against a dead end. "Switch" could suggest either of two remedies. No. 1-To buy out the picture show; or No. 2-To change his abode. He is going to set about following one of the suggestions. WELLINGTON listener with a couple of years’ experience, was puzzled by his detector valve flickering continuously. He examined all connections, tested the rheostat, cleaned the valve prongs, and increased the tension of the contacts in the valve socket. The valve, however, persisted in flickering. He brought the valve to "Switch" for a test, and then it was found that the valve was faulty. It was a high-class valve, but even the best of makes sometimes go awry. Me. LAWS, honorary secretary of the Wellington Radio Society, received a request recently from the secretary of the new Auckland Listeners’ League, for a copy of the Wellington _Society’s "constitution and _ rules." his was no easy request to comply with, as Mr. Laws was able to discover only one printed copy, after a diligent search among the society’s papers. If any member, has a spare copy Mr. Laws would be glad to hear from him. &