Notes and Comments

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 42, 3 May 1929, Page 25

Notes and Comments

By.

Switch

HE ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the Wellington Citizens’ War Memorial on Anzac Day Was well relayed by 2YA, Wellington. A splendid idea, also well carried out, was the use of the public address system with loudspeakers distributed at points of vantage among the crowd who attended the ceremony. The address by His Excellency the Gover-nor-General, was a veritable master--piece, spoken without the aid of any notes and relayed by 2YA with most ‘effective clarity. HE re-broadeast. by 2YA, Welling. ton, of the last three rounds of the Leckie-Wilson fight, put on the air by 3LO, Melbourne, was a triumph for the big New Zealand station. Several owners of crystal sets haye informed "Switch" that it was the most

successful achievement yet accomplished by 2YA. These "stunts" are of inestimable value in increasing the number of listeners in this country. "Switch" found the rebroadcast by 2YA infinitely clearer than direct reception from 8LO, Melbourne, on the occasion of the fight description. HE searches for the "Southern Cross" and the "Kookaburra" greatly stimulated listeners’ interest. in reception of the Australian stations, and scores of Wellington listeners picked up the news, each evening, regarding the searching parties straight from the trans-Tasman stations. The majority of Wellington listeners seemed to pin their faith to the Sydney stations as a source of the latest news, but "Switch’ found that not infrequently 4QG, Brisbane, was the most

prompt. 4QG was first in giving the fullest text of the news concerning the finding of the "Kookaburra." ECAUSE a faint "honk" of a motorcar passing, the studios of 2YA, Wellington, occasionally gets on the air some listeners are disposed to criticise. A studio must be in the centre of a city for convenience of the artists, and the motor-cars’ "honks" are difficult to shut out if the studios are to be ventilated. If the studios were to be airtight then the artists would have good cause for objecting. If air is admitted a certain amount of extraneous noise will get in, and the average motorist traversing the city streets is unsparing with his "honks." OBL, Sydney, has added two more famous signatures to its wmicrophones, those of Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith and Flight-Iuieuten-ant Ulm. Mr. Eric Bessemer is the hero; and the occasion was the dinner tendered to the flyers by the chairman of National Airways. Mr. Bessemer, by the way, was not quite satisfied with Kingsford Smith’s first signature; so he asked him to have another try. Both these signatures have been

engraved, and the microphone constitutes one of 2BL’s showpieces. HE recent attempt by 2YA, Welilington, to rebroadcast the speech by Johnny Leckie from 38LO, Melbourne, was utterly ruined by howling valves. Why some would-be listeners should desire to get 83LO direct when a first-class rebroadcast was available is past all understanding. One "howler" was most persistent, and he alone would have ruined the pleasure of hundreds. If we listeners wish to encourage enterprise upon behalf of our broadcast directors, the least we can do is to keep the air clear when these broadcasts are in progress. "THE National Broadcasting Company of America has found five varieties of listener. There is the group which thinks there is too much jazz; and the group which thinks there is too much classical music; and the group which dislikes so many educational talks; and the group which thinks there is not enough of anything; and the group which thinks there is too much of everything. We have another group in New Zealand-those who consider their tastes are the tastes of the majority of listeners,