Auckland Notes

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 36, 22 March 1929, Page 4

Auckland Notes

(By

Listener

ME. LEN BARNES took over command at 1YA this week, and Aucklanders are expecting him to be more than a station director. He has been heard here on the concert platform in the past, and many have enjoyed his items contributed frequently at 2YA. Now we want to hear him from our own studio, and doubtless it will not be long ere he finds time from his routine duties to supply what will be most welcome contributions to our nightly programmes. FIOSE listeners who have come into personal contact with Mr. S. J. Hayden, who left on Sunday night to take charge at Dunedin, will sincerely regret his departure. Mr. Hayden was invariably courteous-at times to those who expressed petty dissatisfactions in a far from similar manner. He had the welfare of the station thoroughly at heart, and from thé amount of time he spent at duties in 1YA, one wonders if he really saw much of his own home Now, however, he has taken unto himself a wife. the wedding being celebrated on the day before he left for the South.

N Tuesday night, through the cours yy tesy of the Allan Wilkie Company, listeners were enabled to listen to a scene from Henry V, relayed from His Majesty’s Theatre. The atmosphere of the play, as conveyed by the loeudspeaker, was surprisingly good, but unfortunately parts of the dialogue were far from distinct. Whether this was due to the pac. of the spoken words or to the acoustic properties of the theatre it is hard to decide, but the relay certainly emphasised the fact that, for the prod-ction of radio drama, the studio itself is by far. the best place. To-morrow night we shall be able to make further comparisons, for then the Little Theatre Society will broadcast "Outward Bound" from 1YA itself, x SUN DAY afternoon’s KDKA was another feather in®®he cap of 1YA. It was a most successful achievement. The evening re-broadcast, however, was rendered impossible by disturbed atmospheric conditions. To alleviate the disappointment of listeners 1YA conducted most successful broadcasts of both 2YA and 3YA, the southern stations coming in through the local station quite as well as they were received direct. More of these efforts would bring north and south closer together in spirit and sympathy, and do much to obviate provincial jealousies which still flare up at times. "THE high barometric pressure which has been reigning here for many days may be a contributory. factor to clarity of the atmosphere, for overseas reception has been phenomenally _ good for this period of the year. Australian stations have been audible at’ good strength before nightfall, and later have come in with surprising volume. HE Tuesdar evening relays from the Majestic Theatre usually provide something out of the ordinary for local listeners. This week Miss Madge Clague has been the vocalist at the theatre, the reproduction of her songs from 1YA was as real a treat to her large unseen audienc. as it was to those in the Majestic who applauded so vociferously. HEN 1YA shuts down on Sunday night there is bound to be considerable disturbance in local listening conditions. The clocks go back on Sunday morning, and all, from "o valvers" upwards will be anxious t find out how 2BL comes in now that is half an hour nearer us once more. ‘HE next fortnight offers for dealers, radio societies, and all concerned for the welfare of broadcasting, a golden chance to impress upon all and sundry the necessity for an immediate renewal of the expiring license, or the procuring of a new one and the joining of the growing band of listeners who are nightly catered for in such a thorough manner.