Notes and Comments

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 41, 26 April 1929, Page 26

Notes and Comments

By

SWITCH

p° the public really want "good music?" In a certain New Zealand city two exceedingly talented travelling instrumentalists gave a public concert at most reasonable prices, and were extensively. advertised. Out of a population of about 90,000 there were only 250 people present at the concert. If broadcast listeners are to be gauged under the: ‘same proportion, only one person out of every 360 listeners wants a whole programme of "good music," or only 111 persons out of 40,000. Naturally, when a virtuoso of world-renown visits New Zealand the attendances are very much larger, but a considerable proportion attend out of curiosity, or to say they have heard the great "so-and-so," but we can’t get these virtuosos to broadcast. "Switch" can vouch for the figures quoted at the commencement of this paragraph. HE flight across the Tasman Sea shortly to be undertaken by the Auckland airman, Mase, will offer broadeast listeners an _ interesting broadcast reminiscent of the historymaking feat of the Southern Cross. Mase leaves England in his ’plane for

New Zealand, via Sydney, Melbourne, and Hobart. His first stop in New Zealand is to be Christchurch. According to careful measurements by "Switch," on his Admiralty chart, the nearest point of New Zealand to Hobart is about West Cape, near the West Coast Sounds. The distance is 920 miles. The distance from Sydney to Cape Farewell is 1080 miles. [t is to be hoped that airman Mase has a successful run, for his will be the pioneer flight from England to New Zealand. Listeners who own multivalve sets will have .a "dress-circle seat," as on the occasion of the Southern Cross flight. They. will be able to follow Mase’s progress as described by the Australian stations, as well as by the New Zealand stations. Mase appears to be a man of the right metal, for despite a rather severe crash in England recently, he was soon in the air again testing his machine for. the big flight,

B*Y making the casting in the centre of the "roaring forties" airman Mase, during his flight across the Tasman from Hobart, may have the good fortune to have the aid of a strong westerly wind, which will mean a substantial "plus" to the speed of his ‘plane. Mase’s home is in Auckland, and if good luck attends his flight, he will pass over Wellington, winging his way northward from Sockburn. It looks as though broadcast listeners are to have an interesting event to follow.

| i\ R. J. H.- OWEN, ex-president of the Amateur Radio Society of Wellington, gave an interesting broadcast descriptive of his experiences during his recent trip to England, from 2YA, Wellington, last week. Mr. Owen proved himself an ideal broadeaster. He adopted an easy conversational method of delivery, and pitched his voice most naturally, so that he held the interest of listeners from start to finish. N his recent broadcast from 2YA, Wellington, Mr. Owen by no means exhausted his stock of material covering his observations upon broadcasting in Canada, England, and the Continent. He was absent from New Zealand for about a year, and all he saw and heard in connection with radio could not be cover: ' in a few minutes’ talk. Therefore, ‘ir. Owen’s address at the general meeting of the Wellington Radio Society next month should draw a full house. The society has decided to hold the meeting in the big conference hall at the Dominion Farmers’ Institute.

: ME. BYRON BROWN, who has proved such an acceptable president of the Wellington Radio Society during the absence of the late president, Mr. J. H. Owen, during his tour abroad, has intimated to Mr. Owen that he accepted the presidency only to keep the position while the ex-presi-dent was away, and has no intention of standing for election if Mr. Owen will accept nomination. Both gentlemen have proved themselves ideal

PDP LP presidents, and the members could truthfully say "How happy we eould be with either!" As neither will ac-, cept nomination against the other, there will be no ballot for the presidency, and a pre-election arrangement will result in one of the two accepting nomination. HE position of the Wellington Radio Society is one that calls for serious consideration. The attendances at the meetings are anything put good, despite the very attractive lectures and demonstrations which are a feature of the meetings. Bver since the foundation of the society about five years ago, it has been an energetic organisation in its efforts to safeguard the interests of broadcast listeners. It has unceasingly agitated for certain objectives, the majority of which have been gained, and during those periods when listeners were most dissatisfied with broadcasting matters the membership roll was at its zenith. The marked improvement in New Zealand broadcasting seems fo have resulted in a falling off of membership.

A SUGGESTION has been made that the Wellington Society should consider the advisability ‘of seeking an amalgamation with the Weltington amateur transmitters. Whether this is possible, "Switch" cannot say, but anything that will foster a wider interest in club matters should be enc :uraged In the early days of broadca-ting in Wellington, when the amateur transmitters were operating on a band of longer wavelengths, a little friction was engendered between them and the broadcast listeners owing to the latter suffering interference from some vf the amateur transmitters. With the advent of the use of the ultra-short wavelengths by the amateurs, bruadcast listeners now rarely experience interference from them, and the happiest relations exist between the two sections.

HE increase in the amount charged for city radio traders’ licenses was most favourably commented upon by one of Wellington's leading dealers in a conversation with "Switch" recently. He remarked, "The . greatest difficulty legitimate radio traders have had to contend with has been the mushroom small retailer. He popped up in a night, operated with insufficient capital. lacked true business experience, and soon collapsed. We wholesalers have unpleasant recollections of some bad debts which remain on our records as a reminder of an undesirable feature of the radio trade. I think the larger license fee will have a beneficial effect." HE Friday evening following the finding of the missing aeroplane Southern Cross, found many Welling-

ton listeners combing the ether for the Australian stations to hear the fuller © details concerning the plight of the Kingsford Smith party. But a grim disappointment awaited the eager listeners. Reception from across the Tasman, which had. been exceptionally strong on the previous night, had dwindled down to zero. Over a dozen listeners informed "Switch" that after endeavouring for over half an our to bring in an Australian station they were unable to hear more than the faintest whisper from the best of them. No one can definitely assert why the Australian stations were so atrociously weak on the above occasion, other than attributing it to some atmospheric phenomenon. But on the Friday evening referred to, a dense fog had settled over Wellington, and the atmosphere was unusually warm for the time of the year. Wellington listeners will recall parallel conditions, a year or SO ago, with a similar blanketing of the Australian stations. As was to be expected, some listeners blamed their equipment, but on exchanging experiences with others, discovered that the fault was in the air. Strangely enough, "Switch" got the Japanese stations, JOAK and JOHK, fairly well on the loudspeaker, while the Australians werg@the merest shadow, though the latter improved greatly after midnight.

WHEN referring to the erection of such a powerful station as 2YA,Wellington, Mr. Coates remarked that in a time of national crisis it would be invaluable to the public of New Zealand. Such an illustration now comes from Melbourne. Immediately. the tragic effects of the appalling floods. in Tasmania become known, 3LO, Melbourne, made available the whole of their organisation and services. to relieve the extraordinary situation caused by interrupted communications and for the purpose of assisting relief efforts. Tasmanians were without any excepting local news of the disaster and 3LO organised a special broadcasting news service in conjunction with 7ZL, Hopart, to keep them posted with urgent reports of the increase and subsidence of the flood water and the safety pr danger of their relatives and. friends’ positions in the affected areas.