Transmitting Stations

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 35, 14 March 1930, Page 32

Transmitting Stations

Auckland Amateurs eee

(By

Call Up

HERE are approximately forty licensed amateur transmitters in Auckland city and suburbs, and some of these stations have put up very excellent performances. The N.Z, Amateur Radio Transmitters’ Association has about seventy members in Auckland, and the local branch has a elub room and. conducts regular lectures The next series of lectures are to begin in about a month’s time and are expected to be fortnightly. Mr. i. Whitely is the secretary. The most interesting amateur transmitting station in Auckland, in the minds of the technical experts at any rate, is the Auckland University College experimental station, ZL1X1, which is. operated under the supervision of Professor Burbidge. Various types of transmitting sets are used with different wavelengths. The output, too is also very variable. The station takes its part in the regular university courses and provides students with training in radio measurements, induction capacity, frequency and resistance. One or two students particularly interested in radio work have continued experimenting with the station after their regular cour:es were completed, in most cases using this further research for their Honours M.Sc. thesis. In 1921 Mr. E. H. Green, now in' the laboratory of the Post: and Telegraph Department. conducted a great deal of experimenting with the station, and visited Fanning Island on the cable ship Iris in pursuit of his research work. He was really the first man to discover indications of what is known as skip distanee, but he did not publish his. results. Another student to conduct interesting experimental work was Mr. G. H. Munro, who made research into sunrise and sunset errors in distance finding, later publishing a full account of his work Mr. Munro is now with the Radio Research Board in Australia. Experiments about to be started this year will be research in directional

work in atmospherics, the object being to eco-relate atmospherics with weather disturbances, This research will be conducted by Mr. R. Lyons, and will be financed partly by grants from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Researeh. Transmitting Stations. IVE years ago Mr. H. B. M. Arthur began to operate his station ZLIAN, and he has since put up a very fine record. It was the first New Zealand station to work overseas on 10 metres, and, in fact, the first to experiment with this ‘wavelength. In September last Mr. Arthur built'a new transmitter with a Vallauri push-pull circuit, and this has proved the mosi satisfactory ever used on short wavelengths, especially on 10 and 20 metres. The majority of the local transmitters are now installing it. Since, putting his set on the air, Mr. Arthur has worked 200 foreign stations, including 70 European, and 48 different countries.

The station has worked on different wavelengths-s0, 40, 20, and 10-but is now concentrating on 10, on which it has worked Australia several times, and on which it is hoped to work U.S.A. during the next two months. Mr. Arthur was formerly’ with Superadio, Ltd., Auckland, and is now maniging the Radio Equipment Co., in that city. He is secretary of the Auckland Radio Society and has for some time edited "Break In," the officia! organ of the N.Z.A.R.T.A., of which he was formerly general secretary. ZLIFQ A VERY well-known Auckland amateur transmitter is Mr. T. Clarkson, whose call-sign is ZLIFQ. Mr. Clarkson has been operating in Auckland on this call since 1925, and previous to that was in Hastings, where he was known as 2AR. He says that he does little experimenting now, but always keeps his set in good order and is on the air fairly frequently. He recently installed the popular push-pull circuit, and his input is between 50 and 60 watts. The transmitter is equipped

~- with interchangeable coils for 80, Wy 4 and 20 metres. ZLIFQ has been hear nearly all over the world as a ‘largé stack of cards on Mr. Clarkson's desk testifies. As far back as March, 1927, he was heard by FO-9SR, Southern Rhodesia. ‘On tuning up his set a few weeks ago he worked all continents within two days. Mr. Clarkson is Dominion president of, the N.Z.A.R.TLA,, and is employed in the Post and Telegraph Department, where he is engaged in technical wireless work. ZLIFW GTATION ZLAIFW, operated by Mr. HH. Whitely, has been on-.the air for two years, first transmitting in March, 1928, Communication has beén established with 42 different ountriesy and as the aerial is only 20, feet high/ this speaks well for the circuit, which is another Vallauri push-pull.. The input is between.70 and 90 watts. This station is shortly to install a crystalcontrolled transmitter.