Notes of the Week

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 35, 14 March 1930, Unnumbered Page

Notes of the Week

{By

Switch

; CITY listener recently ayked "Switch". whether it were pgssible te use BRA" ovtdoor aerial withqut' boring «a hole in his office window, and without having’ ‘the windew open. The system: advised by "Switch" was to glue a sheet of tinfoil] abeut 18 inches square on the top outside corner of his window, and to glue a similar sheet ‘of tinfoil on the inside of the window exactly facing the other sheet of tinfoil. ‘The lead-in should first be fastened’ to the outside sheet ef tinfoil with resin-cored selder. ‘fo itnke the wind strain’on the lead-in it should be secured to an insulated fixine outsidé’ thé, wiildew,...A .piece «af flex wire-should--pbe fastened ‘to the jnside shset: of. tinfoil with a terminal. gnd ther_ connected -to- the aerial post of the set, -There-sheuld be a margin ef about an inch between the edges of beth sheets- of ‘tinfeil-and the window frame. ~~ _ KSWITCH" has been asked "the follewing question by "Quantum" ""(Kilhirnie) : "What iy.the actual electrical supply cost of running an eightvalye A.C, set per month? This is to inglode the rectifying valve in the set,? Judging frem the writer’s own rough tally it costs him: about _2/6 per for electricity to operate his own eight-valve A.C. set, working about six. "hours daily as an average, When iiié A.C. sets first came out the bogey~of cost for electricity, was raised. but the users of these- sets -were soon convineed from actual experience that they- are cheaper to run than battery type sets, taking into aceouny the cast ef battery charging alane and. not. the Coast: "of battery replacemerts." Now that the season: of str ong winds is upon us, listeners. should take care to tighten their lead-in wires. ‘The writer has lately heard of three CASES in which the lead-in shas sHapped where it leayes the aerial, This-type of trouble is due to’ thé lead-in’ heing tego slaek, thus ené ahling~ it te-swing- aheut in the.jvind tod freely, eventually. caysing the wire ta weaken and snap. clase up ) £0" the aerial," ;

RRAvI0 listeners whe operate elec- . tric sets, whether A.C. or of the battery type, are good customers of the various city corperations and power beards. The Wellington City Corporations’ electricity department © appreciates this fact. and is net behind in assisting listeners when possible, Lately a street light in Wellington, through its habit of flickering, caused interference with broadcast; Jistening eyer a wide area, Time and again the lump socket was renewed, and still the light flickered wheneyer the wind sprang up. Eventually an electrician was sent to examine the Nght at nighttime. The trouble was then located in the wires leading te it from the mains and was premptly rectified. The surrounding listeners much appreciated the City Council official’s action. QN Wednesday night, March 4, while "Switch" was listening to 2¥C, Sydney, he heard the shrieking of a siren. ‘There was no mistaking the sound, as it was quite different to a howling valve, and the writer remarked that it sounded like the passing of a fire engine. Presently the announcer stated that it would be of interest to country listeners to know that the noise they had just heard was the siren of a fire engine dashing along Castlereagh Street past the studio, A BEGINNER who has just purchased an up-to-date A.C. set has informed "Switch" that he gets morse, though not obtrusively loud, on somewhere about 1000 kilocycles (300 metres), and he asks whence. it -originates, The station’heard is the, Govern; ment morse station~ VLW on Tinakori Hill, overlooking Wellington. The morse heard is from the second harmonic of that station,

"TFEADPHONE" (Karori) asks whe- ~ ther the writer has heard two stations clashing on a wave-length about 285 metres (1275 k.e.), and asks which stations they are. "Switch" hears the stations referred to frequently, but is not able toe identify them. If would appear that one is in New Zealand, but the heterodyne whistle created by the proximity of the wave-lengths of the two stations prevents the call sign be ing distinguishable. One station closes down at about the average time observed for signing off in New Zenland. A small Australian station operating on about 210 metres (1480 k.c.); can he heard clearly from the loudspeaker after JJ o’elock every night, but "Switch" has not been able to distinguish the call sign. LADY voealist with an uncommon voice was heard from 2EC, Syadney, the other night. She was announced as a "lady baritone," and it was almost impossible to helieve tht one was listened to other than a male singer. The voice was rich in quality, and with a full baritone range, The lady, whose name was duly announced, sang a number of items.

‘ ion *6 6 WITCH" congratulates the Broadcasting Company on the success of the broadcast ef speeches in coniiection with the visit te New Zealand vf the Australian dairy farmers. Reception from 2¥A, Wellington, is reported from near and far as being perfect. The speakers, without, exception, enunciated clearly, and their voices were so well modulated that one could almost believe they weve practised broadcasters. Ail New Zenland | listeners, whether farmers or not, eouid not hely being interested in the wonderful praise betsowed the dairying industry in New Zealand by the Aystralian visitors. They Jeft ene with a sense of sitisfaction in the knowledge that one’ of our main primary industries is con-, ‘ducted oy amazingly efficient lines, and is on the whole well in advapee oft that in Australia. N a few months Australia is to have five powerful broadeasting relay stations, three of which are to be replicas of 2YA. All the new transmitters have been ordered from Standard Telephones and Cables (Australasia) Ltd. ‘Three of the new stations will huve » power of 5000 watts in the. aerial-the same as 2YA, and the other two are to have 2000 watts in the nerial, Even the latter two will be more powerful than any of the exisiing "A" class stations in Australia — rn te ein ae