Hawera Hospital

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 7, 30 August 1929, Page 10

Hawera Hospital

Equipped with Radio, if etd ‘Hawera Hospital, thanks to the activity of local enthusiasts, is now equipped with radio, thus enabling the patients-or at least a large proportion of them-to enjoy the betuefits of musie over ‘the air. The scheme has been designed to provide for 85 "pillow-phones" for patients. Wach of the three main wards has 24 of these outfits, and there are three in the annexes to the children’s’ ward and ten in the isolation ward. There are also two loudspeakers in the children’s ward and two in the nurses’ home, These are all connected by cables with the receiving room, a small room off the main corridor, in which there are three visible appliances-a six-valve Atwater Kent radio set, an electric gramophone with a special device enabling. gramophone music to be broadeast throughout the hospital, and an amplifier, which increases the volume of the sound gathered from the air, The lead-covered cable required to link up all the sections: of the installation in the hospital building is about a.mile in length. The contractor for the installation was Standard Telephones and Cables, Ltd., of Wellington. The installation is. already in use, but it is probable that-there will be an official opening’ ceremony before long. The cost of the radio was spbscribed by the people of the district. A Radio Concert. ARRANGEMENTS are in train for the production of a radia. concert in Hawera, which will be broadcast to every quarter of the Dominion, and even further afield (states the "Taranaki News’). Some time ago Dr, Jd. MeGhie, himself an enthusiastie radio

amateur, made @ special trip to Wellington with the object of interesting: the Broadcasting Company in the project. He is now in receipt of a. letter from the company’s: headquarters in Christchurch stating the company. ‘will be pleased to. co-operate in broadcasting a concert in Hawera. It is pointed out that it will be necessary to obtain the consent of the Telegraph Department to the use of a land line from Hawera to Wellington, but no difficulty in this connection is anticipated, Dr. McGhie is hopeful of receiving the support of the best concert perform-~ ers in South Taranaki for this entertainment, the proceeds of which will be devoted to the Hawera Hospital radio. fund. T is claimed that the Hawera District, Hospital is one of the most modern and completely equipped hospitals in Australasia. Built about two years ago no effort was spared. by its designers to make its construction con-: form to the latest practice as carried out in Europe and the United States. There appeared to be only one thing which the: hospital lacked, and that was a radio iiistallation, and it was not long before the residents of Hawera aid outlying districts decided that this omission should be rectified. A strong: committee was formed for the purpose’ of. raising funds, and due to the: energy of the honorary organiser, Mr. L. O. Hooker, a substantial amount

was obtained, and early in the year a _ consulting engineer was chilled in to advise the committeé as to the equipment. The control room, which is situated in a ¢éntral position, contains an allelectric receiver, the audio frequency amplifier of which has been removed. This feeds into a power amplifier, the final valve of which is a UX250 capable of supplying about 4 watts of undistorted power. Couplef to the power amplifier is an electric gramophone, with motor turntable ahd . magnetic pick-up, and. by moving ohé switch the ~ receiver. ig disconnected atid . the gramophone connected to the amplifier. This arrangement enables gramophone concerts to..be given to the- patiénts when no broadcasting stations are transmitting. } The power amplifier is connected’ through ‘a filter to the main distributing system which consists of lead-cov-ered. cables suitably protected by casing running under’ the floors to junc. tion boxes below each watd, In the. wards equipped with headsets. and, pillowphones,; the eables protected by 2 easing are run to a jack box -at the. head of each bed, the. box and casing being fihished in white enamel.to mateh the walls, The children’s ward is fitted with two large loudspeakers placed in positions to give the best effect. . The distributing network consists of pillowphones, headsets, and speakers, grouped in such a manner that the load on the power amplifier is of correct impedance to prevent. distortion. The balancing arrangements.are., such that speakers -and pillowphones, get their correct proportions of the total energy. Each jack box is provided with a jack switch and impedance coil of the same electrical characteristics as the speaker or headset, so that if only one pillowphone is in use, the yolume is no greater. than: when all pillowphones and speakers are in use. Im--médiately a headset plug is removed from jack box the impedance coil is cut into circuit.

"THE quality of reproduction has been considered of great importance, andthe tonal qualities of the speakers and pillowphones ‘are quite equal to that ‘obtained from the highest grade receivers, The pillowphones, which con- — sist of a pillow in which a telephone receiver is concealed, are mainly for the use of patients lying. down, while for those sitting up headsets ate provided. The isolation hospital, which is connected by air line with the main building, is fitted with headsets and pillowphones. ; at The nurses’ home is provided a separate receiver operating a loudspeaker in the sisters’ and nurses’ sit-ting-rooms. This: was done, as it was considered that: the time when the nurses would want to listen to concerts would be after the main plant had been closed down, : The installation was designed by Mr. ©. R, Russell, M.Se., A.J .1B.E., of Christéhurch, consulting engineer to the Radio Committee, and the work was carried out under contract ° by Standard Telephones and Cables, Ltd., of Wellington, in conjunction with Mr. W. W. Davy, of Hawera. In his report to committee, Mr. Russell expressed his satisfaction with the -work, and stated that the contractors had used a very high degree of workmanShip in carrying out the specifications, and that the installation would compare favoyrably with-ahy similar one in Hurope or the United States.