Notes and Comments

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 36, 22 March 1929, Page 26

Notes and Comments

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SWITCH

5 WELLINGTON’S outstanding radio authority, Mr. D. G. Wyles, is on a business visit to Australia. He has no peer in New Zealand for experience in broadcasting matters, both from the transmission as well as the receiving end. Mr. Wyles’s lectures on radio have proved intensely interesting, but for some time past he has been so busy that he has not been able to lecture, THE Sydney "Wireless Weekly," in an article, "Which is Better-Fine or Fee?" says: "In a recent New Zealand paper there appears a statement of the activities of the postal people over there in their search for unpaid licenses, Apparently a very complete organisation exists for recording the receiving sets in use, and the licenses paid, and inspectors are constantly on the warpath." Two listeners have endorsed the writer’s experience in hearing some station broadcasting almost on top of 4QG, Brisbane, on several nights recently. The systerious broadcast is only intermittent, and at times the talk of a man can be heard. The language is foreign, but the intonation and phrasing seemed distinctly Buropean, as against Japanese "Switch" has a suspicion that the stranger is a Norwegian whaler somewhere in the Antarctic. This would not be the first time one of these whalers has been heard broadcasting. brbvdvtvtvtvtvtvbvtvtvtn tint dines

(COMMEINTING on the origin and growth of the broadcasting from the Australian racecourses, the Sydney "Wireless Weekly" (of March 1) says New Zealand is the only country in the world where running descriptions of races are denied listeners. It is a regrettable fact that New Zealand "sportsmen" are different to others the world over, , . WELLINGTON listeners are enthusiastic about the recent Sundayafternoon broadcast by 2YA of the presentation of new colours to the Wellington Regiment at the Basin Reserve. The extraordinary sensitivity of the microphones in use permitted the bands to be heard even when they were furthest from the microphones. Every military command came through word perfect, and each speech could have been taken down in shorthand verbatim. This was indeed a triumph for the 2YA staff, not forgetting the announcer, whose running description of the happenings was particularly vivid. TYPH of circuit which has many hundreds of votaries in Australia is the Reinarty, named after an American inventor, who brought it out some years ago. There are exceedingly few sets with the Reinarty circuit in operation in and around Wellington. It is, after all, a slight modification of the once popular three-coil regenerative circuit, which, through faulty construction and unskilful handling, causes so much interference by howling valves. The P. and T. Department looks with disfavour on this class of circuit, and the operator is always in danger of a prosecution through causing interference. WEN the Commonwealth Government takes over the broadcasting throughout Australia in July, the supply of the programmes is to be let by tender. A board of control will manage the broadcasting, but this system as adopted in England ‘has given widespread dissatisfaction. The Melbourne "Listener-In" says: "It is assumed by many that the only organisations qualified to tender for the programmes would be J. ©. Williamson’s Theatres, Fullers’ Theatres or Union Theatres, and the question is frequently asked, ‘Why should a board or commission ask an outside organisation to provide its programmes with the ever-present possibility of conflict between the board and the party to whom the programme contract is let?’ It certainly looks like calling tenders for trouble. HE failure of the Wellington city electric supply on a number of oceasions recently has brought to light an official explanation that the trouble was due to dirty insulators causing a leak--age. Now, this leakage is also a serious cause of interference with broadcast listening, and when leakage occurs across insulators supporting high-volt-age lines there is bound to be a wide area of disturbance for listeners, as the noise caused by the leakage is apt to follow the reticulation system for miles. And the point of origin is most difficult to locate.

ht Pettitt tnt ttt itt ttt td "THE quietness of static has occasioned Wellington listeners much satisfaction for some weeks past, and yet we are told summer is the worst period of the year for atmospherics. A peculiarity in reception has been noticeable, however, in the directional effect of the ether. On some nights IYA Auckland has been weak, and 3YA Christchurch has been exceptionally strong, and on another night the reverse effect: has been observed, but *frequently when 8YA and 1YA have been weak the Australians have come through with great volume. THE exploits of Roald Amundsen are so well known to the world that it is unnecessary to state here who he was and what he did. It will be sufficient to recall that, with the exception of his friend Wisting, he was the only man who had been to both poles, and that he met his end when endeavouring to assist others in distress. In his honour the Norwegians arranged memorial festivals for December 14, when, amongst others, Captain Wisting, Amundsen’s partner on both north and south polar expeditions, spoke. In these festivals radio took an important part and listeners had the opportunity of hearing three of Amundsen’s intimate friends speaking from different cities-namely, Captain Wisting from Oslo, Professor Sverdrup from ‘Bergen, and Lincoln Ellsworth from New York. Special Amundsen memorial programmes were also broadcast by Stockholm and Berne. ‘The Arctic explorer Carsten SBorchgrevink and Professor Axel Hamberg spoke on Amundsen from the Swedish station. "THE dual transmission tests by 2YA, Wellington, produced some curious effects on receiving sets within half ainndumnsanaamnatnsiaiels .

a mile of the station. New and powerful harmonics came to light on various points of the dials where all was silent previously, and the tone of these harmionics was consistently good, excepting for an occasional break in the case of interference from a morse note on one harmonic. WELLINGTON listener the other day requested "Switch" to publish the postal address of the N.S:sW. Broadcasting Co., proprietor; of 2&C and 2BlL, Sydney. To expedite selivery all correspondence should be addressed to the company, Box 3934v, G.P.O., Sydney, instead of the city location of the company’s offices. LJ UBLJANA has instituted regular weekly lessons in several of the better known European languages: French, German, and Italian. German and Italian are, of course, the languages spoken in the neighbouring countries. It is interesting to note that a series of lessons in SerboCroatian figures also in the programmes. Serbo-Croatian is the language spoken in the greater part of Yugoslavia and, although, when written, it closely resembles Slovene, which is used in Ljubljana, when spoken it presents great divergencies. MENTION was made at the meeting’ that a certain radio publication had stated that the society was at the back of a movement to ask for a Royal Commission to investigate the profit and loss account of the Broadcasting Co. What really happened was that a member stated that a Royal Commission was to be asked for, but no suggestion was made that the society was sponsoring the move, The meeting decided to refute the published statement with a special resolution which EL EE a