Radio Round the World

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 53, 19 July 1929, Page 5

Radio Round the World

FRAVIO is making ‘great strides in Sweden, and an order has recent4 ly been placed with an English company for the supply of a broadcast _ transmitter for Stockholm. This is to be designed for 60 kw. in the aerial. ACCORDING to the "Wireless Age" * a-giant high-voltage rectifier, which is now practically complete, has been sold to Russia. It gives a power output of 750 kw. at a voltage of 15,000, and works on-the mercury-vap-our principle. Highteen. ‘rectifying valves are used to supply current to e anode of a. radio transmitter. A contract has been made for the supply of a large amount of radio equipment, of which the above-mentioned rectifier is part, and the other items include a 20-kw. short-wave telephony transmitt; * and several other high-power recrs. RAv10 developments are taking place very actively in Russia, and, as evidence of this, a party of Soviet engineers have gone to New York to engage in technical conference with the-engineers of the Radio Corporation of America. It is anticipated that a similar return visit will be made by American ‘engineers to Russia in 1930. A NEW broadcasting station has been -set up at Bratislaya, in Czecho-Slovakia, with a,power of 12 kw. . ’ ROADCASTING affairs in Italy are controlled by the Italian Broadvasting Company, and the latest addition to the system is a new shortwave broadcast transmitter for com- ' munication primarily with Italian y Ld colonies. A contract for this station has been secured by the Marconi Company, and the design will be generally similar to that of station 5SW,. THE Mareoni Company has also secured the contract for short-wave Yelegraphy and telephony transmitters on behalf of the Belgian Government. This station is intended for communication between Belgium and the Belgian Congo and also between Belgium and South America. A GRBDAT' deal has been spoken of ~‘the. Prague wave-length scheme and about the recent conference at which the B.B.C. Chief Engineer was present. At this conference, which ended on Saturday, April 13, the agreement of various Huropean Governments was’ obtained to a broadcast -wavelength plan. This is known officially « the Prague Plan, and it follows upon at the previous WashingConvention.. According to the latter, broadcast wave-lengths may. be dealt with only by Government action. ACOOBDING to a London paper, ~ 4000 television sets are now being manufactured ‘by the Baird Television Company in preparation for the series of experimental broadcasts which may with luck.begin this month, or, if not then, when the Potter’s Bar regional station is complete. ‘THE Soviet authorities, according to a message from Riga, have recent"ly started a new propaganda wireless service in China from the station at Khabarovsk, which is situated on the Manchurian frontier. Any listeners who happened to pick up this station will probably have heard the propaganda broadcast, as the talks are usw-

ally. sent out in Chinese, English, and Korean. FRANCE is going to institute State control of broadcasting stations in ¥rance other than those belonging to the Goyernment. This new radio department will be under the Premier, and, according to the "Scotsman," users of crystal sets will pay a fee of 3s. 4d. a year, while 10s. will be charged to listeners in possession of valve sets. To-day. there are about 800,000 listeners in France, of which 600,000, it is estimated, have crystal sets. "THE B.B.C. has built a room at the Brixton experimental station for the sole purpose of measuring sound. This room ‘is absolutely square, and has no windows or fireplace. Heavy felt and curtains of cotton waste drape the walls and ceiling; In fact, the room is dead in more senses than one. T is understood that a Beam wireless station is to be erected in the new Vatican city, and that on great occasions the Pope himself will broadcast to the world. The Roman Catholic community is taking a great deal of interest in this new departure. {[t is said that in the United States, where, radio is in the hands of private enterprise, one particular concern spent a million pounds in a year on programmes, ‘This compares rather curiously with the 1927 expenditure of the B.B.C., which was only £500,000. American listeners get their programmes for absolutely nothing, whereas listeners in this country provide the cash for everything. connected with broadcasting. A MBESSAGH from Minneapolis states that General Harbord delivered an address referring to the merger of cables and radio in Britain.. General Harboard. stated: "This new combined British communications interest will affect American relationships in every part of the world. ‘There will hardly be a port or principal city on the planet not -in reach by British communications. American trade in every quarter- of the globe cannot but be profoundly affected. General Harbord deplored the White Act of 1927, which forbids the purchases. of radio systems by cable companies and _ vice versa in the United States. THs last quarter of 1928 produced an increase of 301,314 listeners in Germany, making a total of 2,635,567 , on January 1, 1929. Bavaria having a scattered peasant population, has inaugurated a scheme designed to inerease listeners. Every listener who canvasses a new listener and gives his name and address to a certain radio ‘paper gets a money prize equivalent to the value. of a month’s radio license.

ACCORDING to a’ report the General Manager of the Austrian Broadcasting Co.’ informed, a Vienna. club that effort was everywhere being made to develop a receiver with automatic and highly selective powers, which on the pressure of a button will instantly

adjust ,itself to any desired wavelength. "I think not," states an English writer. "I should say that experts in this country are aiming at less fantastic. things. R . TPTHERE: is so little sale for. LF. amiplifiers as separate units, states an English magazine, that it is refreshing to learn that Prof. J. Gray, of Columbia University, is using them for the measurement of the energy of living tissues. If his scale has a zero mark, I offer to lend our office boy as a subject to check the calibration. I never saw so much tissue with so little energy.: Reading further, I note that the ‘measurement is really one of the heat energy of the tissues... On that basis, our office boy would: burst the apparatus if’he were asked to tear off -yesterday’s sheet. fr om. the ealendai. — mag