Round the World on Short Wave

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 29, 31 January 1930, Page 39

Round the World on Short Wave

T# IS pagé is conducted in the interests of shortwave enthusiasts. ‘A

is contributed by Mr.

F. W.

Sellens

Northiand, Wellington, but all

-ligteners are invited to send in paragraphs of general interest.

’ A French FSW. ‘BE French authorities are. deter ‘mined to have a short-wave ‘proadcasting station ‘to reach their colonies, and the present idea is to convert the Kiffel Tower to that use, a million and a half franes hating been reserved. In view of the attitude of the B.B.C. and the Government "towards Bmpire broadcasting, it is worth noting that the French authorities say: "It is ab-; solutely essential that a great French : station’ of this . description be. established." W\AS. (Vest, Beani Broadeast to Canada, HE Marconi-Mathiew multiple beam . Service from Bodmin, operating at 16,57 metres, was used for relaying the brogdcast’ of the Cenotaph service on Arm istice Day to listeners in Canada, who heard the transmission from the broadcasting: stations of the Canadian National Railways. On.a previous oc--casion, When the beam station relayed the Thangsgiving Service in Westminster Abbey, Canadian listeners reported that the quality..was equal to a firstclass local broadcast. Naval Conference Broadcast. REPORTS. ‘of reception of the opening of this conference are as" varied as possible. -Some. found 5SW with a "noisy background, -gushy, and most troubles met with on short waves, while others found reception almost perfect from the same station. Several correspondents report PCK, Holland, on °16.8 metres, being the. best: station. heard rebroadcasting the proceedings. Northland appeared to be the ideal . spot for 5SW. on this occasion. Just _hefore 11 p.m, they were tuned in, the preliminary announcement being heard direct from Chelmsford before "going over to London." The London announcer gaye the order in Which the delegates would speak, and then switched over to the House of Lords. , It. then appeared that reception was going to be spoilt by a strong background of noises, but this.praved to be hum of many voices, which ceased when the King entered the Royal Gallery: Reception of the King’s. speech, though not quite 100 per cent. readable, -Was very clear at. good loudspeaker strength. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald was even better, except that he has:a habit of dropping his voice at times, several words being missed as a result. Every other speaker was received perfectly till the conclusion at 1.18 a.m. From this time till 1.30 a.m. orchestral music was relayed. from the Piccidilly Hotel. ¥’aave heard most of the early mornng(N.Z. time) programmes from 58W singe. they commenced operations, and several of .the midnight sessions, but have never experienced such good conditions for reception, which, according to other reports, must- have been confined to certain. districts. Reception during Week Ending Janiiary 25, 1930. RA97, Siberia, 70 metres, has been very good on most evenings, with the usual. static. On Monday at 9.19 p.m, bagpipes or similar music (?) was heard at R9 from Siberia. 'WOXE, Chicago, 49,88 metres, is alHost as good as a local station, coming in at good volume till 8 pm. This station, has been rebroadcast by 3YA, and a special "Chicago World Fair" programme for New Zealand has .beer announced during the week for Sun--day (January 26) from 2 till 4 a.m.,

Central Standard Time, which is equal to 8 till 10 p.m. here on the same day. . KZRM, Radio Manila,’ 48.8 metres. This station has changed its wavelength again back to 48.8 metres. This was noticed first on Tuesday at 10. p.m., when’ there was no sign of them on 26 metres, but were found, first, on 24.4 metres and then on 48.8 metres. My reception has been- better on 24.4 metres, which is probably a harmonic, unless they are -broadcasting on three wavelengths, broadcast. band ‘and two short waves. Volume is not so good as on 26 metres. . W2XAF, Schenectady, 31. 4 metres, is still late in réaching good volume. On Sunday and Saturday they were R8 by 5 p.m., while on. Wednesday only R65 was reached at this time. Volume was fair when rebroadcasting the Naval Conference on. Tuesday. night, but noises were yerv bad during the few minutes I was listening to them. PCJ, Holland, 31.4 metres, was not heard either Friday or Saturday during their regular hours. A letter received during the week from Mr. Edward Startz, their five- -language ahnouncer, states that improvements are being carried out and that improved reception should be the result early in the New Year. .... eesen, Germany, 31 38 metres, has been extra weak except on Thursday. Gushiness and static spoilt, reception on that morning. 7LO,. Nairobi, 31 metres, is not troubled much with static..just -now, but is more or less gushy. Thursday morning was the best, when their musical programme was received at RG with slight surge. VK2ME, Sydney, 28.5 metres, has been heard twice daily on most days. On Wednesday evening they were telling GBX all about reception of the Naval Conference. PCK and PHI, both of Holland, were received in Sydney much better than 5SW. The speaker did not know which station New Zealand rebroadcast, but presumed it was either W2XAF or-.Montreal (taking it for granted, apparently, that 5SW. was not well received in this country). GBX, England, 27.5 metres, testing with 2ME as.above. Good reception. GLY, Dorchester, England, . 26.27 ‘metres. This is a beam station, it was on the air on Tuesday evening to trans‘mit to Japan the speeches from-the Nayal Conference. Heard first ‘about 10 p.m. calling "Hullo, Japan, here is GLY," ete. * About. 10.20 p.m. a: re‘ligidus service was broadcast, commenc-

ing with "QO God Mur Help in Ages Past." A Prayer for the success: of the Conference followed. A passage of Seripture was read, the Lord’s Prayer repeated, another hymn sung; the service then concluded with ‘the Benediction. During the next fifteen minutes, the weather forecast for various ‘parts of the British Isles was given, followed by musical nunibers till 11 p.m., when the Conference speeches were relayed. At intervals during this period. GLY called Japan, giving their call... Reception was R3 at 10 p.m., increasing to R6 by 11 p.m. Readability was excellent all through. . » GSSW, Chelmsford, 25.53 metres, has. had a busy week. Besides the special transmission on Tuesday night reported earlier, they were on the air again on Wednesday morning at 5.45, when Mr. Stimson, American delegate, spoke to listeners in America, On Thursday morning at 6 a.m. Mr. Stimson introdueed Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, who spoke for about fifteen minutes to "his American friends." Again,.on Friday morning, the French Premier was. introduced by Mr. Stimson and spoke to America, The Japanese delegate is’ to speak on Tuesday morning at the same time (6 a.m.) These talks were .received at about R7, but readability was poor in each instance on account of gushiness. The. sessions commencing at 7 a.m. still continue to come in very: weak, KDKA, Pittsburg, 25.4 metres, is still weak at 5 pm. when signing off strength has not been better than Rb, W6XN, California, 23.35 metres, was only heard once since last writing. On Sunday they were best at 4.30 p.m., when yolume was R8. ; W2XAD, Schnectady, 19.5 metres, was rebroadcasting all Ramsay Macdonald’s speech from 5SW on Thursday morning. The talk was not readable, being too weak, but his voice was recognised. PCK, Holland, 16.3 metres, and PLE, Java, 1b. 74 metres, were on duplex teleuhony at 9.15 p.m. on Friday. The Dutch station was R7, while: the Java station was R4 at this time. DGW, Nauen, 14.83 metres, At 9.20 p.m. on Monday records were heard at R8-9. Between items, "Hullo, Bandoeng, here is Berlin" was called, Unidentified Stations. ON 46 metres (about), a very weak yoice was heard on Tuesday morning.

44.4 metres (about) on Wednesday morning at 6.45 some figures were being read out, with "Hullo, London," in an American voice at intervals, A conversation started later, but a howler commenced at this time and spoilt reception, . Strength R4. 82 metres (about) was tuned in on Sunday at 8.20 p.m., first time to hear the speaker say that he was coming on again at 10 o’clock. No call wag ‘given. Volume Ro. .