Notes and Comments

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 40, 17 April 1930, Page 11

Notes and Comments

B

SWITCH

HE writer listened with interest to the lecture from 1YA, Auckland, on "The Sacred Ibis of the Egyptians." To many it will be news to learn that these birds are of migratory habits even to the extent of regularly visiting Queensland. The ibis was not very sacred to the writer when a youth, for he shot many of them near the-mouth of the Brisbane River. * * a A SHORT-WAVE a.c. adapter has made its appearance on the: Wellington market. The detector valve of the a.c. set is removed to the adapter and a plug from the adapter is inserted in the detector valve socket of the set. The aerial and "earth" wires are also connected to the adapte? instead of connecting them to the sual terminals on the set. Providing the short-wave adapter does not emPhasise the hum of the set the device should have-a steady sale. * o* . * (CONCERNING the late~trans-Pacific Rear-Admiral Byrd broadcast, the Melbourne "Listener In" says: "Signals from 2YA always are audible in Sydney during the hours of darkness, and the A.W.A. engineers at the La Perouse receiving station had no difiiculty in bringing in the New Zealand broadcaster. The output from the receiver at La Perouse was fed over a short land-line to the 2MH transmitter at Pennant Hills. The broadcast then winged its way through the medium of the. 20 k.w. transmitter direct to the receiving station of the General Wlectrie Co. at South Schenectady. Part of the output of the G.B. Co.’s receiving station was sent through WGY to the other stations in its network, so that Byrd’s words could be heard by some 40 million Americans. . A third part of the output. was fed straight to the shorwtave transmitters W2XAD and W2XAF, and was again rebroadeast to England, the Continent, South America and South Africa. This was probably the most involved linkins up of shortwave and broadcast stations which ever has taken. place." * te bd A CORRHDSPONDENT has dropped a line to "Switch" suggesting that some well-known authority be induced to deliver a couple of lecturettes from 2YA, Wellington, on voice production. He says, "Only too apparent to many of us is the fact that several vocalists who sing in public have never had any vocal tuition. A lecturette on this subject would render these singers sensible f their deficiencies, and in not a few eases would prompt them to obtain proper tuition." * % * A WELLINGTON listener. asked "Switch" last week to look over his a.c. set as the stations on the shorter wavelengths were more or less blurred on some nights. A peculiar eause of this trouble was discovered which may interest other listeners,. In the set are "tuning" adjustments to synchronise the various stages: the set was "tuned up" in the afternoon by an expert, and under the. prevailing conditions the job was well done, On some evenings a slightly higher _ voltage is delivered from the household mains, and this throws the valves into oscillation when the set is tuned in to the stations stations on the shorter wavelengths. The set was readjusted on an evening when the trouble was in evidence, and a complete cure was achieved.

THE advent of improved atmospheric conditions of late has favoured long-distance listening, and listeners are receiving nightly the Australian

and Japanese stations. Even 5CL, Adelaide, is now available on the loudspeaker after 11.30 o’clock nightly, and in a few weeks time should be heard with double the volume. ro % * HOSE of us who are in the habit of sitting up late are aware of the many rehearsals that took place between 2YA, Wellington, 2ME, Sydney. and 2XAF, Schenectady, to ensure success for the great trans-Pacific two-way broadcast. Night after night the officials at each of the above-mentioned stations worked to improve conditions, and if failure had been encountered on the eventful occasion it would not have been through lack of preparation. A word of praise is due to those responsible for preparing the way for the surpassing success achieved. us ™ Pd . At last week’s meeting of the Wellington Radio Society those present were unanimous'in the desire that the Rugby football matches +e broadeast if only for the sake of the bedridden‘ "diggers" and hundred of patients in the hospitals. Public opinion appers at to be at the back of the Radio Society in this matter. : xs mn m "THERE are now many thousands of A.C. broadcast receiving sets in operation in New Zealand, and many owners of these sets would, no doubt,

like to listen in on the shortwaves if possible without having to buy a complete shortwave set. Mr. L. H. Wright, lecturing at last week’s meeting of the Wellington Radio Society drew a diagram of a, shortwave adapter for use with an A.C.’ broadcast receiving set. He advised the use of a small dry "B" battery in conjunction with the adapter to eliminate any possibility of hum obtruding from the A.C. set. . ms % bd WELLINGTON listener with a philosophic turn of mind has asked "Switch" to point out to broadcast listeners who do not approve of every item put on the air that in broadcasting even the majority cannot expect to have all their own way. He says the minority must be considered, for, the greater the number of listeners the greater the all-round benefit. He adds: "This is a community affair, and every listener should do his best to add to the number of licensees." ut x bg OMB listeners may wonder why the day and date are announced during the evening news session of 3LO, Melbourne. It appears that many boundary riders on the horse ranches in the wilds of Central Australia have their own radio sets. and owing to their remoteness from civilisation have some

difficulty in keeping tally ‘of the day of the week and date. Their plight was communicated to 83LO, Melbourne, and that station now supplies the required information. , , * % * RECENTLY 2BL, Sydney, was scheduled to rebroadcast items from the programme of KZRM, Manila. The time set down was equivalent to 11,15 p.m., New Zealand time. As an introduction to the "stunt," Mr. Richard Piper gave a most interesting description of Manila from 2BL. But when the rebroadcast was to take place the announcer at 2BL apologised for their inability to get the Manila station. a x % . QuR new Governor-General caused much merriment to listeners with his humorous speech at the welcome . extended to him at Christchurch by the Welsh Society, heard per medium’ of 3YA, Christchurch, last week. His Excellency displayed a ready wit which was quite irresistible, and listeners derived much amusement from his clever speech. & BJ Pad . THE broadeasting of running descriptions of the race meetings in Australia is a regular feature, and even the principal country meetings are relayed. Mr. Eric Welch, who "covers" the race meetings for 3L0, Melbourne, has sometimes to travel by aeroplane to attend the various fixtures. % us Bd A NEW "B" class station, 6ML, Perth, Western Australia, has just commenced operation. The transmitter is reported to have an aerial input of 2500 watts. The oscillator stage is erystal-controlled, and there is 100 per cent. modulation at a low-power’ level. " : x THE recent Sydney Radio and Eleectrical Exhibition proved the most successful of its kind yet held in New South Wales. There was a greater number of exhibitors than previously, and the attendances were enormous, The New Zealand radio exhibitions for the year are already being discussed.