Notes and Comments

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 48, 13 June 1930, Page 13

Notes and Comments

B

SWITCH

'[T'HH Japanese stations are now quite familiar to a considerable number of New Zealand listeners, and now the , Announcement is published that China is soon to have a giant station which should be heard all over the Dominion. The transmitter will generate an output:of about 60,000 watts, similar to the type of transmitter in Oslo installed _for the Norwegian Telegraph Office. Thus China will not only possess far and away the most powerful station in the Far Hast, but also one of the most powerful in the world. * ™~ . A RECENT subject for a talk broadcast from 2BL, Sydney, was "Are There Too Many People in the World?" A Wellington listener, who complains about the howling valves in his neighbourhood, is positive there are, and he ometimes feels like making a sub: stantial reduction in his vicinity. * ® * "THE writer feels impelled to pay a tribute to the ringside describer of the boxing contest at Auckland between Johnny Leckie and Sammy Shack, relayed by 1YA, Auckland. Hére was a perfect "verbatim" deseription given in a clear, even voice, so that it was easy to visualise the exciting contest. "Switch" regards the description as well-nigh perfect. , wey

of I ~ f "(Q)VERDONE" (Wanganui) writes L saying that he thinks the broadcasting ofyplays is being done to death by the Australian broadcasting stations. He points out that on some nights two or even three of the transTasman "A" class stations are broadcasting the same play simultaneously. He instances "Within the Law" on Thursday night, June 5. * * s ‘A T rare intervals listeners experience nights when the Australian stations are so weak that beginners are inclined to believe that their sets or valves have developed trouble. Such a night was Saturday, May 31. "Switch" had a number of telephone calls on that night from anxious listeners inquiring, "How are the Australian stations coming in?’ They were so extraordinarily weak that they were not worth troubling about. The following night brought

only a slight improvement. ‘ The Press cables on the next day ‘brought news of an intense storm in Hastern Australia, with a deluge of rain. Hxperienced listeners will recall that it. usually happens that these Australian storms coincide with weak receptions in New Zealand of the Australian stations. re GTATION. 2FC, Sydney, has lately been coming in at ,tremendous volume after 10.30 p.m.,; and has overshadowed all the other Australian stations. With the writer’s volume control turned down to one-third, 2FC has been received at as great a volume as one generally cares to have from any station, Just why some distant stations undergo a livening up. period is difficult to explain without intimate knowledge as to what is going on at the transmitting plant. Some time ago a Wellington authority suggested that the use of a set of new transmitting valves would account for the apparent rejuvenation of some stations. * a * HB Japanese stations continue to come in ‘strongly. On Thursday night, June 5, JOHK entertained its listeners with some Japanese _ girls singing to the accompaniment of stringed guitar-like instruments. A small drum in the background kept up a lively tattoo. The "melody" was something different to the customary wailing solos heard every night. ’ a , *

ae we all TATION 8LO, Melbourne, has dropped a trifle in wavelength so that it is now almost on top of a Japanese station. The beat note of the latter maintains a continuous whistle on top of 8LO. It is now impossible to obtain music from the Japanese station. while 8LO is on the air. By a strange per--versity the best four of the Japanese stations are on wave-lengths rather close to those of Australian "A" class stations. One is near 2BL, Sydney, another is obliterated by 3LO, and there is one each side of, and very near to, 4QG, Brisbane. OST of the parasitic electrical noises which infest the inner area of the City of Wellington appear to favour wave-lengths shorter than 300 metres. One has only to tune to the longer wave-lengths to lose them, but when the "B" class stations in New Zealand and Australia are wanted, the listener has to be inflicted with innumerable clicks, buzzes, frying noises, etc., which vary in intensity from night

to night. Some nights a powerful (and obsolete) spark station occupies the major portion of the tuning dial. The writer is endeavouring to identify this station, and when this is accomplished he will publish particulars. i a x * "B 0." (Kilbirnie) sends in the fol- * lowing query :-‘"If my friend, who lives next door, purchases a loudspeaker, and I run an extra cord from my set into his house, is he required by law to have a listener’s license?" In such a ease the official ruling is that the neighbour renders himself open to prosecution if he does not possess 4 license. tk *® THE number of licensed Australian broadcast listeners has now reached the amazing total of 308,764. Fees from this vast crowd are divided among only seven Australian stations. This averages out at over 44,100 listeners for each station. In New Zealand four stations have to subsist on the license fees of 38,987 listeners as at April 30. Considering the number of stations. which serve New Zealand listeners and the relatively small number of the latter, they are well treated. In addition, the Australian Broadcasting Co have

their transmitting stations, with staff for same, and upkeep, provided free to the company by the Commonwealth Government. * * * RE is another interesting ecomparison between Australian and New. Zealand broadcasting. In Australia there are 308,764 listeners, and in New Zealand there are only 38,987. Thus. there are 8 times more listeners In Australia than in New Zealand. The Australian Broadcasting Co., in their official statement, state that their total programme time from their seven stations averages 39,000: hours annually. The New Zealand company’s official figures for the year show that their programmes have totalled 8795 hours. Therefore, although Australia has 8 times as many listeners as there are in New Zealand, the . Commonwealth has only 3 1-3 longer programmes than the Dominion. Accordingly the New Zealand company are giving more than double the service provided by the Australian company in proportion to the number of listeners. s % * TT WADDLE should not be encouraged by a broadcast service, . and "Switch" is surprised at the amount one hears from Australian stations, The latest perpetration is the broadcasting by 8LO, Melbourne, of "character delineation for all those who were born during July or August, by Madame Delware." The announcement goes on to say: "There is a fascination about discovering oneself, even if there are many shortcomings to be catalogued." Now, this sort of nonsense may be all very well in a children’s book for entertaining young guests at birthday parties, but to ask adults to believe in it is going too far. A broadcasting company should display a greater sense of dignity and responsibility than is exhibited by permitting this type of . so-called. entertainment to go on the -air, . ‘