Notes and Comments

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 8, 6 September 1929, Page 13

Notes and Comments

LJ

SWITCH

, A SUGGESTION has been made to "Switch" that just before a race meeting near Wellington a talk on the various horses engaged thereat would prove attractive to many listeners te 2YA, Wellington. A GOOD performance was put up. by 8YA, Christchui‘ch, in rebroadcasting the arrival of the Graf Zeppelin at Lakehurst, U.S.4., last week. The musi-eal-items picked up from the American short-waye station were heard with Splendid effect from 3YA. N-a great state of alarm,.a novice *phoned "Switch" recently. He had accidentally coupled up one of his: blocks of B batteries the wrong way round, "The B batteries were brand "Kew, and he was eager to know whether they had been damaged by his carelessness, He was much relieyed on being informed that no harm could have been caused by the mistake, although the set would not operate under such conditions. ET another Wellington listener who has imagined that radio valves should be used till they burn out has been disillusioned, He reported ~ to "Switch" that long-distance reception had gone off considerably during this winter, On being asked how long he had been using his valves he casually replied, "Not two years yet." He was induced to purchase a new set of valves, and now he says that the Australian and Japanese stations are "loud/er than ever." ANY New Zealand listeners will be interested to learn that. Captain P.-P, Wekersley, chief engineer of the British Broadcasting Corporation, has resigned his position, The wonderful efficiency of the broadcasting stations in the Old Country is attributed to the genius of Captain Eckersley: "THE writer was lately called.upon to . settle an argument as to the power employed by broadcast. station 2L0, London. This station is rated.at 2000 watts, but it is shortly to give place to a new station.which will be rated. at 30,000 watts. HE mystery concerning the Japan- _ ese broadcast station on a wavelength just’ below that of 4QG, or a higher frequency than 4QG, is exercising the minds of some Australian listeners, A listener writes to the agvcney "Wireless Weekly" stating 2a¢ "the announcer says JOACK very distinctly, while another Jap comes in below 2BL, and the announcer of this station says JOAK, so I am sure there is such a Jap as JOACK. I get JOACK and JOAK at 7.30 any night at speaker strength that ‘could be heard half a mile away so I don’t think I am making a mistake." The Jap "below 2BL" is undoubtedly JOAK, but the other ' «Jap close to 4QG is said to be JOHK. A WELLINGTON journalist who owns a smart little imported portable four-vaive set, embodying the \ Browning-Drake ‘circuit, has for sev"eral months wondered why it functioned no better with his outside aerial than with the loop aerial attached to the set. He made an examination of his lightning arrester and found that his father in installing it had cut the ‘aerial lead-in where it fastened on to the arrester and connected the remainder of the lead-in to another serew in

the arrester. There was, thus, a decided. ‘break in his lead-in. After rectifying the matter the owner of the set logged a total of 18 broadcast statiohs audible on the loudspeiiker. ~ .? \ A. SUGGESTION has-been made to "Switch" that the Wellington Radio Society should emulate. the feat of the Hastings Society in putting on such an attractive concert last week. The difficulty in Wellington is to find performers who have not already been heard from 2YA, Wellington, s6 thoroughly has the 2YA programme organiser combed this city for talent. The merit of a concert by the Wellington Society would depend a-good deal upon the presentation of something new. At Hastings, as was demonstrated the other night, there is a wealth of talent not previously exploited, and generally beyond the reach of the YA stations. "THE recent wrestling matches at Auckland were well put across by 1YA, Auckland, and the "atmosphere" was realistically conveyed over the air by the uproarious cries of the specta‘tors. -"Switch" followed the ringside description very closely, and was able to visualise what was happening. . The man at the microphone certainly worked hard, and no one can begrudge him the satisfaction he found in announcing the fact every time he quenched his thirst from a bottle of water. ROM conversations with several members of the Wellington radio "trade" it was gathered that there is a definite desire that the radio exhibition should become an annual -fixture. One "trader" said: "The: public which is still unacquainted with broadeast listening is given an. opportunity at these exhibitions of observing that all intricacies which scaréd so many people away from radio have entirely disappeared. Anyone can now operate a set after a half a minute’s demonstraition." "THE New York "Radio News" says "One of the saddest things that ever happened to the radio industry was the vastly over-publicised premature birth of television some two years ago, After being led to believe that comparatively simple apparatus would enable the enthusiast to project a fairsized "movie"-received by radio-on the walls of the home, it is no wonder that the ill-defined, postage-stamp-size silhouette image actually received (when luck was good) soured many an enthusiast. The infant (radio vision) is doing nicely; but it is not yet hardy enough to sit up in a perambulator and face the public,

WELLINGTON radio trader informs "Switch" that he never sells a set to a beginner without calibrating the tuning for the four. principal New Zealand stations, and, say, five’ of the Australian A class stations. If the set has a celluloid tuning dial he marks the stations on it in pencil, If the set has a dial which cannot be written on he hands the purchaser a, list of the stations with their corresponding numbers on the tuning dial. The sets are calibrated when operating on the purchaser’s own aerial. Beginners generally prefer to seek out the stations not calibrated, as it gives them not a little satisfaction in adding to their list.

HH Melbourne "Listener In" says: "Miss Etta Field, who. broadcast ‘from 2FC recently, is one of New Zealand’s leading sopranos. She is now making her initial appearances in Australia after: three years in London, Paris, and Vienna, where she studied with some of the most notable teachers in the world. Miss Field says she beeime home-sick, and that is why she came back to Australia and New Zea- . land." S one value in all A.C. sets does not perform any radio function,’ its duty being merely’ to rectify the alternating current from the household mains, the custom is now being adopted to describe A.C. sets as, sdy, "seven valves and a rectifier." This is fairer ,to the prospective purchaser. HOME-BUILDER showed the writer his set the other day, and, as a multi-valve outfit, it was a capital job on the whole. Trouble was experienced, however, in the form of distortion, despite the use of a power valve tested with various loudspeakers. Finally the discovery was made that the grid-leak was of. the wrong value. An adjustable grid-leak: was substituted, and adjusted until the correct value was arrived at. All traces of distortion then disappeared. The owner had been condemning 2YA as being distortéd, but now he finds it was his set and not the station that was at fault.