Origin of Static

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 33, 28 February 1930, Page 13

Origin of Static

Expert Committee’s Researches

HAT bugbear of all wireless listeners, static, will be one of the problems to be considered by a committee of technical experts recently appointed to carry out wireless research work under the auspices of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The committee comprises Messrs. A. Gibbs (Chief Engineer of the Post and Telegraph Department), Professor Jack (Dunedin), Professor Burbidge (Auckland), Mr. J. M. Bingham (Chief Engineer, New Zealand Radio Broadcasting Company), and Dr. Barmmett (Physicist of the Department of Scientific Research). The members of the committee conferred in Wellington this week, when various lines of research were formulated, including one of direct interest to all radio listeners, that relating to static. It is intended to conduct experiments into the origin of static disturbances and their possible association with cyclonic disturbances in the Tasman Sea. Signal strength measurements from Australia are being conducted to ascertain the conditions causing absorption and whether meteorological factors enter into the matter. The New Zealand committee will cooperate in a world-wide research into the properties of short waves by observing transmissions from Arlington, Schenectady, Eindhoven, and a Japanese station.