Our Mail Bag

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 34, 7 March 1930, Page 9

Our Mail Bag

Will correspondents please practice brevity, as heavy demands are now made on space. All letters must be signed and address given as proof of genuineness; noms de plume for publication are permitted. Address correspondence Editor, "Radio Record," P.O. Box 1032, Wellington.

What is Wrong with 4YA? \ Som time ago a listener drew attention to the unsatisfactory reception We people in and around Teviot, Western Districts, receive from 4YA. After this letter the reception improved immensely. However, for some time past it has relapsed into its old ways, and Dunedin 4YA, so far as we people in these districts are concerned, is a failure. I may state as long as it is daylight the reception is splendid, but directly it becomes dark, and the news session and the evening programme is presented, the reception is ‘ dreadful. It is not the fault of my machine, as I have listened to numerous different makes in these parts, and find the same complaint. Now, Sir, 4YA, Dunedin, has the most up-to-date studio in the Dominion, and { yet the results obtained by we people xin the country are most unsatisfactory, and I feel sure this could be rectified. Why, small stations such as Beggs, Barnetts, Shiels, and Invereargill are splendid, while 4YA, Dunedin, with everything at its disposal, and equipped with every late device, is simply not worth listening to. ‘Dunedin has some excellent artists performing, and I feel sure it is not fair to them, as well as the listeners-in, that they should not be heard to advantage, simply because the transmission is faulty. I think it is time this fault was rectified, and Dunedin 4YA be able to transmit on a par with other stations throughout the

Dominion. —

Disgusted

Central

Otago).

4 \ Reception Good. I HAVBE always read with interest the complaints and congratulations contained in Letters to the Editor. I commenced listening about a year ago, just as winter was setting in, with its good reception period. I was just looking forward to the next winter when a Hawke’s Bay listener writes in to say: "I am pleased to report that everyone appears to be satisfied with the programmes. Listeners now have the choice of ‘picking’ their favourite items from the four stations, ete." Now, my experience has beenand I have listened-in every night, where and when possible-that one can "nick" his station and "pick" his item, but you can’t always hear it as you

would like to. Daylight reception is out of question, except from 2YA, and who knows, one may want to "pick" up something of interest from Auckland, Christchurch or Dunedin. I do not profess to be a radio engineer, but I agree with the country listener who suggested an increase in power of the stations to overcome static, ete, and the R.B.C. should investigate the possibility of this suggestion-the programmes are O.K., so let us hear them when we wish; why talk of installing a short-wave transmitter for overseas listeners before making broadcast sta-

tions efficient ?-

Electra

(Napier )

Power Interference. I HAVE been getting the "Radio Record" for eight months now and have read several items regarding power line interference. Interference which two others and myself have to contend with; at least we were sure it was from :-the main power line, but now there is a doubt. The main supply line from Coleridge passes 440yds, from my place and a distributing line 40yds. The interference is seldom on in the day time unless it is going to rain; it’s a good weather profit. It comes through as a buzzing sound all over the dial, being so loud at times as to resemble the roar of a motor-cycle engine all out. Complaints were made to the local Power Board. Men were sent round to examine all transformers, etc. We were advised it was a leak on the

main power line. Owing to a breakdown of the main line in our district a short time back, power was, of course, cut off from Coleridge. Our local Power Board supplied power. On switching on my set, judge my surprise when I was greeted with the same old buzz; still we get at least three clear nights a week, so one mustn’t grumble but all the same one would like to know where the interference is. I have gone to most of the electric poles on the main power line in our district. Practically every pole has an insulator buzzing, with a bright light showing at night time, more so some times than at others.-

J.H.

J.

(Waitaki).

{It seems as if the trouble is here. Point this out to the Power Board.Ed.] DX Howlers. O-NIGHT, the 26th inst., owing to our local station coming on the air, is the first Wednesday for a long time that we have been able to enjoy and appreciate a YA programme. Usually the howling valye nuisance is responsible for spoiling the reception. And, Sir, now comes the vital question, who is responsible for these howling valves? Not, surely, the person who wants to listen to a YA programme, nor the man with a small valve set with which it is easy to tune in the YA stations (and which he usually sits on), but rather these DX hogs with large valve sets,

who are continually heterodyning carrier waves to log call signs! And in the getting of every call sign there is a howl! I imagine, Sir, the howls of 50 DX hunters in the one locality. There has been a great deal said about small valve sets causing the disturbance. HEngland, the home of small valve sets, is not troubled as we are, one reason being that the DX stations from there speak a foreign language. We are cursed with DX neighbours giving their programmes in English, thus becoming a happy hunting ground for these fiends. I am not averse to DX hunting, but believe in everything in its proper place. Keep the DX hunting out of the main broadcasting hours — say, from 6-7 and 8-10 p.m.-and then we could listen to, and enjoy, the YA programmes which we pay for-I will repeat, which we pay for. I am surprised, Sir, at your paper, | as the official organ of the R.B.C., giving so much valuable space to these disturbers of the air! I quite expect that your interests are YA stations first, and general radio work second. If you can assure me that these DX enthusiasts pick up the stations, as reported in your pages, without oscillating, I will be a

very surprised listener.-

Get the Air

Clear

(luyail bay).

{We disagree-the DX hunter does not listen to or heterodyne the YA stations, but some distant American or Japanese. Furthermore, DX _ enthusiasts are on the whole experienced listeners, and are not responsible for the trouble. We believe it is the owner of the small valve set who, very often a novice, ,attempts to listen to the more distant N.Z. stations. DX work is quite ‘common in England, viz., the "Which Station Was That?" column of "World Radio. "-Tech. Ed.]