Notes and Comments

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 31, 14 February 1930, Page 7

Notes and Comments

By

SWITCH

. \ AN Australian "B" class station, a operating on a wavelength of about 255 metres, must have annoyed many New Zealand listeners, for it was loudly audible after 11.30 o’clock one night last week, and yet no cull sign was given. The items comprised gramaphone records of an attractive order, The volume was _ surprising, and fading was never severe enough to render the music inaudible thirty feet from the loudspeaker. STATION 2YA, Wellington, last week was heard echoing around the world through a remarkable "stunt" accomplished by means of 2MH, Sydney, which picked up 2YA’s programme and re-broadcast it on a short wave‘length to’ 2X’AF, Schenectady, New > York State. The latter station rebroadcast it so that probably many a short-wave listener in Greut Britain and the Continent heard the music which emanated from the 2YA studios. Only a decade ago people of average intelligence would have considered the proposal of such a feat as absurd. RESIDENTIAL flats in the American cities house the majority of the inhabitants, but in New Zealand a very minute proportion of the public dwell in flats. Therefore, in New Zealand loudspeakers are not so apt to become a nuisance to non-radio neighbours. In a letter to the fortysix magistrates in New York City, Chief Magistrate William. McAdoo expresses the opinion that a radio loudSpeaker, under certain conditions may , be classed as a nuisance. His letter om said: "As you know, there is a widespread complaint all over the city by people who are annoyed and kept from sleeping by the loudspeaker radios in apartments, tenement houses and other buildings. Many complaints come to this office urging me to ask you gentlemen to treat these cases seriously, The person who starts a loud-speaker under conditions where it is found to annoy and disturb other people and keep them from proper rest, In my opinion, is guilty of a disorderly act, and where it is persistent and annoys a considerable number of people, he or she can be charged under Section 1530 with maintaining a nuisance." A SERIOUS error into which some hovices fall is to connect their loudspeakers wrongly to their sets. They, connect the plus side. of their loud speakers to the negative terminal or negative side of the plug which is userted into the set. They merely follow the principle adopted in connecting "B" batteries in series. This system, however, does not apply to connecting a loudspeaker to a set. In the latter case the instruction to be followed is plus to plus and minus to minus, or the loudspeaker will be damaged. In practically all a.c. sets there is no ‘necessity to worry about the loudspeaker connections, as these sets have output units embodied in them which prevent damage to loudspeakers no matter which way they are connected. MELBOURNE writer stated recently: "The New Zealand ‘Trio, ""\ each artist a soloist of repute, will be heard from 3LO on February 9 ia some vocal and instrumental numbers. Frank Johnstone (’cellist) and Myra Montague (pianist) are well known to listeners, and Syd Exton, the favourite broadcasting tenor, complete a trio which will provide many

delighiful programmes. Frank Johnstone will be remembered as the leading ’cellist of New Zealand, and the organiser of a unique orchestra composed entirely of ‘’vellos, who gave many successful recitals. Myra Montague secured the gold medal as champion pianist for the whole of New Zealand at the age of fourteen, made her debut at the Christchurch Exhibition, and was associated with the famous composer Alfred Hill in recital and chamber concert work. Syd Exton, another New Zealander, has sung to appreciative audiences in France, Englund and Australia, and specialises in old-time numbers such as "Come into the Garden, Maude," and "Sally in Our Allery." ANY listeners cannot obtain a short lead to the nearest water-pipe, and an "éarth" lead more than 12 feet in length is undesirable. A sheet of old galvanised iron about 4 feet by 2 feet buried just beiow the surface of the ground makes a cheap and efficient substitute. The earth wire, if stranded, should be unwound and each strand carefully soldered to the sheet of iron at well-spaced points along the 4 feet edge. The sheet of iron should then be buried edge downwards, the edge to which the wires are soldered being uppermost and just covered by the soil. In dry weather a_ few buckets of water should be poured over the ground where the galvanised iron is buried. , NOVICES entertain some crude ideas concerning vadio reception. A beginner proudly showed the writer, recently, his newly-erected aerial, which was attached to 45ft. masts. Unfortunately for him he had suspended his aerial over a tree, which reached within ten feet of the aerial, and thus greatly reduced its efficiency. If he had placed one mast in a better position, the aerial would have had the full benefit of its 40ft. height. It should be remembered that the efficient height of an aerial is the distance from the horizontal wire to the nearest grounded object, whither a building, a tree, hedge or fence, " A C." (Palmerston North) writes * asking fos advice on the care and operation of a "B" eliminator. (1) Always switch on the "A" battery before the eliminator, and always switch off the eliminator before the "A" battery. Failure to follow these instruc: tions will eventually damage the eliminator, (2) The amplifier’s bias battery voltage should be checked with a voltimeter about once a month. If the bias drops much below its correct value. greater current will be drawn from the eliminator. This will reduce the life

of the rectifying valve in the eliminator, and will damage the amplifying valves in the receiving set. EW Zéaland radio enthusiasts are evide ntly still building their own sets. "Diagonal" (Upper Hutt) writes: "Kindly give me a hint on how to cut a front panel dead = straight." The panel should be clamped between two pieces of strap iron, held firmly in a vice. The edges of the iron bars should lie along the line to be sawn, and the teeth of the saw should be continually pressed against them. The rough edge of the panel can be smoothed off with a fine flat file. " ASTRA" (City) writes complaining that he ha: had several of his ac. "heater" type detector valves burn out after a few days’ use. This is clearly a case of too much voltage, which may be due to a breakdown of a transformer in the set or too much voltage on the household mains. Line voltage has given trouble in the past, but complaints concerning this trouble are rare nowadays, A FRIEND has asked "Switch" whe ther a receiving set with a loudspeaker embodied in it or one which has a separate loudspeaker is the better. This is largely a matter of individual taste. The set with the loudspeaker embodied in it takes up less room, being more compact than the set which has an independent loudspeaker. On the other. hand, a loudspeaker which is separate from a set can be placed in other rooms or out on a verandah, balcony or lawn, by the use of a long cord. HE vagaries of long-distance reception continue to disappoint beginners and puzzle experienced listeners. Abnormal weather conditions have been recorded all over the world lately. Down in the Antarctic, Comman-. der Byrd reports that, contrary to the rule, the ice-pack has not broken up this summer, and the relief ships have been unable to get within reach of the expedition. In North America the winter has been abnormally severe, and wolves have come within 30 miles of Chicago. In South Africa and Queensland there have been floods in midsummer, and so on. No wonder the ether has been upset. ee THE Japanese station operating on a frequency slightly higher, on a wave-length a little lower than 4QG, Brisbane, has been coming in fairly well after 11.30 o’clock at night. Only the other evening this Jap was audible 60 feet from the loud-speaker. The item being transmitted was a song by a male vocalist who had a guitar-like |

instrument to accompany him. The item was of the usuul dirge-like type With falsetto notes in abundance. The song occupied twelve and a half minutes, and then there was a "tacet." A CORRESPONDENT, "Kilbirnie," (Kilbirnie), has asked "Switch" what is the power used for the public uddress system operated at the Kilbirnie motor-cycle. speedway by Mr. "Geoff" Shrimpton, the well-known amateur transmitter. Mr. Shrimpton has informed the writer that the music is operated with 25 watts of undistorted power, and his announcements ‘have 35 watts at the back of them. HERE was plenty of enjoyment lis-tening-in in the pre-"YA" days, before our four big stations went on the air, and those few misanthropists who now growl at our broadcast service should have heard the "broadcasting" in the early days. Many found far more interest in listening to the. amateur transmitters chatting to each other and broadcasting records than listening: to their local broadcasting station. The latter would perform creditably at times, but it would develop periods of poor transmissions and then listgners would protest. One night some bright youth rang up one of these prehistoric broadcasting stations and asked, "Would you kindly tell me when the saw-mill is going to close down?" He didn’t wait for a ree ply. ‘