Girdling the Earth by Radio

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 43, 9 May 1930, Page 3

Girdling the Earth by Radio

Wireless. T elephone Service Opened ‘between England -. and Australia

TI 7 p.m. on April 30.there took Wi place a+ ceremony which, Ri though of only fifteen minwi utes’ duration, will be recordi ed:-as one of the most:import‘ant events in. the history of PRS international communication. : === The ceremony was. that of of the new: radio telephone service between ‘England and Australia, and though the two principals taking part were separated. by almost half the globe, yet each chatted to the other with as perfect an understanding as if both were in the same room. The Ceremony. . "THE Australian side of the broadcast took place at Canberra, the Federal capital, and from thence was transmitted by land-line to. the high-powered short-wave station 2ME, owned and operated by Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Lid. The signals were ultimately broadcast. by this station, ‘to be picked up on the other side of the work by the English station at Rugby. As the pre-arranged hour for the event approached repeated tests were made at both ends to ensure that there would be no hitch in the proceedings. ‘ etually at 7 p.m. (N,Z. time), Mr. Scullin, Prime Minister of Australia, speaking: from Canberra, called Mr. MacDonald, .England’s Prime Minister. Promptly and clearly from the other side of the earth came the reply, "Yes, Mr. Seullin. How are you?" The entire broadcast was indeed uncanny. Speaking with considerable feeling and sincerity, Mr. MacDonald delivered a short but intensely interesting address, mentioning many matters of mutual interests to both countries. He paid a tribute to the engineers responsible for making the spoken word possible between Great Britain and Australia, and said their achievement would be the means of knitting more osely. together the two countries, ‘He discussed in the clearest tones Australia’s financial difficulties and extended sympathy to Mr. Scullin in his efforts to right the ship of State, reforred to the arrival of. the

t cricketers, "end briefly surveyed the Naval Conference, and exclaimed in happy vein: ‘What. an‘age’ we are liv-ing-in!- What would our grandfathers have to say about it?’ He closed with cordial greetings to Mr. Sculin and the Australian people. : Mr. ‘Scullin’s reply. reférred to. his with Mr. MacDonald twentyfour years ago, his task of straighten_ing out the adverse trade balance, the Naval Conference, and the destination of ‘the cricket "ashes," adding, facetiously, "There will ‘be no’ embargo in this country on .the importation of ashes.’ ‘Then followed his: greetings and "Au revoir," to which Mr. MaceDonald replied quite plainly: "Au Te-voir,-‘my dear Mr-Scullin." The entire ceremony,’ which was startlingly faultless, was rebroadcast throughout.England and Australia, and .created a profound impression upon those who realised the immense importance: of: the newly-established service, At the. Other End. RECuerion in ‘London’ was almost perfect, according to reports since received.. There was not the remotest Suggestion of’ dtmospherics, though occasionally. slight grading was apparent. Great interest was manifested in Mr. MacDonald’s disclosure that it ‘ was hoped that. shortly Australia would be connected with the greater part of Europe and the whole of North America, via London. Listeners were also gteatly delighted at Mr. MacDonald’s "By the by, this ashes business." Mr. Scullin’s voice carried so perfectly that Mr. MacDonald said in closing: "You seem just to have::been in the next room." Mr. ‘Scullin retorted: "The same with you." Finally there was Mr. MacDonald’s "Au revoir till September. All best things attend you. ‘Ta-ta." Photographs of the historic scene were then taken, after which Mr. MacDonald went to the journalists’ room bubbling over with enthusiasm. He said: . "You- know I had not heard Mr. Scullin since 1906, but I eeognised his voice at the first wo A further conversation between Myr. Lloyd George and Mr. Hughes was then received with equal clarity. Reception in New Zealand. LJSTENERS throughout’ New Zealand had very little difficulty in tuning in either the rebroadcast of the proceedings or to the actual short-wave transmission. The ease with which the conversation was maintained was amazing, even in these days of revolutionary happenings. Mr. R. Leslie Jones, of Wellington, writes :- "After many months of short-wave testing between VK 2ME: (Sydney): and

the London ‘short-wave stations, particularly GBX, the commercial wireless *phone service was officially opened. last Wednesday, April 30. "Various officials had taken the opportunity of conversing between Australia and London during the days preceeding the official opening, and much of interest was heard. by short-wave listeners. Indeed, during the several months’ testing, a feast of interesting information has been available to shortwave listeners. The. most popular period of listening-in is just about the evening meal hour period onwards for a couple of hours. VK 2ME (Amalgamated Wireless, Australasia, Ltd.) manufacturers of the apparatus used at the Australian end, transmitted during the tests principally on 28.5 metres, this being the wave length used for the commercial service. Tests were also carried out on 15 metres; and the tests were in periods. Similarly, the commercial service will be conducted in periods, no doubt, for the time being. "After Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Scullin‘had finished their talk, Mr.: Lloyd George and Mr. Hughes maintained a conversation for a few minutes. The strength of signal from VK 2MH was wonderful; in fact, seldom, if ever, has the volume and clarity ‘been as good. Considering the fact that speech was from Canberra via Sydney, it was all the more marvellous. _ During the preliminary tests, just before 7 p.m., London was almost perfect; but it was necessary to alter the tuning a little when. changing from 2MH to London; some atmospherics were noticeable on London’s wave length," The New Service. As was the case in the radio telephone service between England and America, detailed experimenting and endless testing were maintained over a period of twelve months or more before the service was announced. In the case of the recently-inaugurated service, however, the engineers of Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Ltd., were some time ago perfectly satisfied with the efficient system they had evolved, The commercial side of the question, however, presented numerous difficulties which took some time to overcome. Conditions in the case of a cable service are constant, but with longdistance radio telephony considerable variation in the efficiency of transmisgion and reception is experienced, not only in the hours of the day and night, but in the seasons of the year also. Thus -it can be easily seen that it is eminently desirable to collect the necessary transmission data before a regular service is brought into operation. That the establishment of the service has filled a long-felt want is easily seen by the heaviness of the trafic already encountered by the service.

Two nights after its inauguration there were twenty-four calls at £6 each, put through during one night, while the maximum number of calls were already booked for the following night. The charge made for calls is at the rate of £2 per minute, with a minimum ,of three minutes. It is reported that application for calls: at. the London end are equaliy satisfactory. _ Radio v. ‘Cable. HB advantages of communication by radio rather than by cable, though at first not apparent, yet nevertheless are almost overwhelming, Only one important disadvantage exists, and that is the lack of secrecy in radio messages. However, it is believed that it will ultimately ‘be possible to make such messages meaningless to everyone but the intended) re-cipient-in fact, the radio service across the Atlantic has been made practically so. No. doubt. the. Sydney-London service will improve in-time in this -particular. The desirability’ of using radio telephony .in business matters: is apparent. It might take half a day to settle an important business deal over the cable, which necessitates possibly several questions’ and answers to,arrive at finality, whereas ‘with radio telephony points are cleared up as. the conversation proceeds, ‘and finality .may, ‘be reached .in. five. minutes or-less: The added advantage of personal contact (Concluded on page 9.) ee ee ee ee ee ee, ee a

% Ss __ wo a HE recent establishinent of a" regular .wireless telephone service between England and Ausivalia is an event of extraordinary interest and importance, for it is .now evident that ’ present methods of communication wili undergo a revolutionary change when people are able to talk to one another from the — remotest places on the earth as ily as if they were together. d this is what. this most recent achievement: implies.. Of: even «freater significance to New. Zea- — landers is ‘the announcement just made by Sir Joseph Ward that negotiations are: almost completed ‘for ‘the introduction’ of a similar radio: telephone service between | Wellington’ and: Sydney. Thus, ‘ New Zealand will form one: more link’ in the ever-growing . international radio telephony communieation chain that must eventually embrace every. country : of portance in the world. par Sepp eae eee a

Girdling the Earth

(Concluded from page 2.)

made per medium of radio telephony will also appeal to business men. Socially, the air will be used a great deal, it is thought, at any rate from. the Australian end, as conditions of living are better there, and the price of the message is not such an important matter as it might be in England. Wonderful Possibilities. UNDREAMT-OF possibilities, making for unforeseen amenities, are opened up by. the radio telephone service between. Sydney and London. From an Imperial point of view, the linking up has a value that need not be stressed, and it has a social bearing that will in turn affect travel and family communications. With the inauguration of the long distance telephone service in the Do~%ninion, it has been possible for members of families to keep in contact with each other while on tour, and for business men to undertake trips wit] the certainty of immediate attentiox to their business at headquarter whenever desired. . This has undoubtedly enabled man; men filling important positions to tak: vacations they distrusted before sucl. communication was possible. The same thing is expected to apply to oversea: visits in the case of radio telephony. Heads of huge concerns may still personally direct action at a moment’s notice, provided that the countries they visit are linked up by telephone by air. The traveller is no longer isolated in the case of emergency, and travel is expected to become more popular. Even though it be some time before New Zealand is linked direct to Hngland for conversations over the air, the proposed link with Australia will shorten communication. Projected Service for New Zealand. [2 now appears certain that within two or three months a similar service will be established between Syd-

ney and Wellington. It is thus apparent that in the near future New Zealand will be in direct communication through Sydney with England, Western Europe, and North Americaa development which will play an important part in materially reducing New Zealand’s social and economic isolation.

In connection with this proposal, Mr. PB. T. Fisk, managing director of Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Ltd., while discussing the success of the radio telephone service, said: "There is an even,more wonderful ful age before us. The next radio telephone service which we hope to establish will be between Australia and New Zealand, which project now is under consideration. It is merely a matter of repeating the

cess now in operation between Sydney and London, "Then will follow a service between Australia, the United States and the rest of the world." Apropos of this, Sir Joseph Ward stated recently that the Government of New Zealand had been in communication with the Australian Postal authorities since September last, and that: negotiations are almost completed for the introduction of a radio telephone service between Wellington and Syd-

ney. Most of the material is already at hand, and the balance is expected within the next two months. Sir Joseph Ward said it was hoped } that this telephone service will be of great assistance to business men in New Zealand, as it would enable any business man connected with a telephone in Wellington, and perhaps elsewhere, to communicate with any business man in Sydney. It was also hoped, he said, that later those who wish to communicate with London could be switched through at Sydney to the new telephone service which was opened the other day. Amplifying the announcement made by the Prime Minister, it can be stated that the greater part of the apparatus necessary for the installation of the service with Australia is already installed at ZLW, Tinakori Hills, Wellington. The new apparatus required to be installed consists'of a modula-

tor panel, to permit of telephony. This has now been ordered, and, as indieated in the Prime Minister’s message, will come to hand in two or three months’ time. The new apparatus will embody all the latest discoveries and will be of the usual high A.W.A. standard. With the opening of the new circuit to London, Australia will be able to push on with plans for direct radio telephone services. with the United

States, Canada, and also Europe. Work in these fields is already in progress, and it is anticipated that successful inauguration will be possible in the course of a few months. ‘Thereafter the only parts of the world with which Australia will be unable to communieate will be China, South Africa and South America, with which countries there has not so far been a demand

for development, Participation in these services will be available to New Zealand through the new radio\link. Amalgamated arene (A’sia.) BRHAPS it would not be out of place to mention a few words about the organisation whose initiative and enterprise were directly responsible for the linking of the two hemispheres by the spoken word. As early as 1927 the Beam wireless service between Australia and Europe, owned and operated by Amalgamated Wireless (A’sia.) Ltd. was opened for commercial traffic, and almost immediately leapt into public favour. The establishment and maintenance of this nation-wide service was carried out under the supervision of Mr. BH. T. Fisk, managing director of A.W.A. ‘Ir, Fisk has, largely by his own ef‘orts, built up the A.W.A. into one £ the largest, up-to-date and most ef‘icient wireless organisation in the yorld. This company has.controlling ‘nterests in practically every phase of wireless in the Commonwealth, ranging from the Beam feeder service to the trawler telephony service for communication with fishing boats off the New South Wales coast. Located at Ballam, about 50 miles north-west of Melbourne, is the Beam wireless trans-: mitting centre from which messages are flashed to Burope, Hngland, and North and South America. Conclusion. [tz is apparent that sooner or later, wherever there is a telephone, it will be possible to communicate without hindrance or loss of time with any portion of the globe. It is almost impossible to imagine the world without telephones. Business has changed fundamentally through their use, and the present age is coming more and more under the sway of personal intercourse. : The extension of wireless telephony, with its present barely guessed possibilities, will undoubtedly turn what. is at present almost a novelty into a normal procedure. It is producing a faster and smaller world, and there seems at least a reasonable hope that it will produce a better one. — --