Round the World on Short Wave

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 11, 26 September 1930, Page 28

Round the World on Short Wave

THIS page is conducted in the interests of shortwave enthusiasts. A weekly log comprising notes of reception and interesting topical events is contributed by Mr. F. W. Sellens, Northland, Wellington, but » all listeners are invited to send in paragraphs of general interest. 7

Shortwave Notes

STATION LSH, Buenos Aires, heard recently working on about 29 metres, has been identified by the call given at frequent intervals -as "LSH, Radio Buenos Aires." Prior to Sunday, Septemper 14, music has been heard at good strength, but no sign of a éall. On Sunday, various cities were called, including London, Madrid, Paris, Berlin, ete. The call when given in Spanish sounds like "eela, eesu, aitchy." The following Wednesday, LSH was announced in English, so there is no doubt about this being eorrect. Mr. R. T. Stanton (Christchurch) reports hearing LSH at R9 on September 14. On the same day he hedrd HRB, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, being R4, at 4.15 .m. English and Spanish were spoken. KC, Bogota, Colombia, also was heard, from 3.50 p.m. till 5.10 p.m. Volume ‘was R8 toward the finish, when an American was speaking. Reports of reception were asked for. Statice made readability poor. Short-wave Telephony in Hawaii. "THE Federal Radio Commission of U.S.A. has issued licenses to the Mutual Telephone Company of Hawaii for the use of ultra short waves (5 to 13 metres) for radio telephony. Five islands of the Hawaiian group are to be linked up for inter-island telephone service, which will later be expanded to connect with the projected trans-Pacific radio-telephone. Empire Broadcasting. OVERSEAS listeners for some time past have been asking the B.B.C. to supply particulars of the main items of their forthcoming programmes well in advance of their respective dates, to allow of publication in the local papers of distant countries, and it is understood that the first of these advance programmes has now been issued and dispatched to the Far Dast. America Cup Yacht Race.| (CONDITION S were not good for reception of- American stations during the early morning of Sunday, September . I was up at 5 a.m, and from then till 8.30 a.m. the different stations were tried for at intervals without any luck. W9XF, New Jersey, was just audible for about half an hour, but faded out again without reaching readable strength. Stations usually heard during this period (5 a.m.-8.30 a.m.) were weaker than most mornings, Stations Heard During Week. 3RO Rome, 80 metres. Radio Roma are better very early, before 5.80 a.m., than when they open again after a long interval. On Sunday they were quite good till closing down at 5.80 a.m. They were not heard again till 7.30 a.m., and then wery weak.

RV15, Siberia 70 metres. Has. been coming in well each evening, strength increasing as the hour grows later. W9XF Chicago, 49.88 metres, was heard.on Wednesday and Saturday from about 4 p.m. at R2, increasine to R8 by p.m. . W8XAL Cincinnati, 49.5 metres, was just audible on Wednesday, but up to R5 at 5 p.m. on Saturday. ws Chicago, 49.34 metres. On Wednesday at 4.45 p.m. were R2-3, and the same on Saturday, but increased to by 5 p.m. WSXAL Boundbrook, New Jersey, 48.18 metres. Wednesday, R2 at 3.36 p.m., increasing to R5 at 4.85 p.m., when they signed off, after giving the programme for next day. Radio Saigon, Indo-China, 49 metres (about). Heard on Saturday night for first time for several days. R8-9 at 11.30 p.m., with some native songs and musi¢--Station on about 47.5 metres, heard 4.30 Rm. on Saturday at R3-4. Music with announcements. Call not readable. ° 3ZC Christchurch, about 46.5 metres. Was heard from 3.30 p.m. till 4.80 p.m. on Wednesday at R8-9, Quality was very ¢ good. Slight slow fading. ‘ Manila, 48.8 metres. Heard Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, from 9.30 p.m. Very weak on Saturday, good volume other evenings. = . PLM Java, 37 metres (about). Were on duplex with 2MB during Friday evening. Talk with records at intervals were received at R9. ‘ CXY Lyngby, Denmark, 31.6 metres, can sometimes be heard just above Zeesen (in wavelength), Wednesday, 6.30 am., R38-4, slight gush and static. Just audible same time on Thursday. W2XAF, Schenectady, 31.48 metres. Not heard much now they close earlier. Were on at 5 p.m. on Wednesday (did not hear them earlier), Volume R4 with . records and talk. Readability poor on account of noisy background. Saturday at 2.30 p.m. they were R7-8, very gNshy. Zeesen, Germany, 31.38 metres. Wach morning, maximum is reached at about 7 am. ‘Tuesday and Wednesday were © best this week, being R9 at this time of excellent quality. PCJ, Eindhoven, Holland, 31.28 metres. Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings, best at 6.30 am, Saturday afternoon heard at 3 p.m. at R2, but not later. NRH, Costa Rica, 31.8 metres. Was just audible for a short time about 2.80 p.m, on Saturday. LSH, Buenos Aires, 29 metres (about). Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday. Audible from about 1 p.m., increasing in volume to about R9. Closes down between 2.30 p.m. and 2.50 p.m. . VEK2ME, Sydney, 28.5 metres. Daily.) telephone service with Wngland. OF Tuesday evening they appeared to be trving out a scheme for the speech distortion to prevent listeners from understanding what is said. GBP, Rugby. 27.7 metrea. Telephone service with Sydney. .

on ZLW, Wellington, 27.8 metres, Testing with 2MH, Sydney, improving in quality, but too close to my receiver to hear other stations on new wavelength. . GSSW, Chelmsford, 25.53 metres. Hach morning except Sunday and Monday. Rapid fade, bad each morning, and, when on, interferes badly. VK2ME, Sydney, 20 metres (about). Were working with ZLW during evening on about 20 metres,

Contributed Log

~ AFIER a fairly severe illness, Mr. Sellens, our short-wave correspondent, is again supplying his reception notes. Several correspondents, noticing their absence, have sent in notes, but while appreciating their interest, we regrt that owing to pressure on space and to prevent unnecessary duplication of Mi.. Sellens’s: remarks, we cannot publish them. Me: H. F. ADCOCK, who has sent in a log, adds:-Sunday, September 14, a station was heard a fraction below 2XAF; they closed at 3.30 p.m. "w3---" was heard, also "907 k.c. and 9090 k.c." was mentioned and owned by the "Western 2 Hami 3AB, 2Bi and 2GJ were heard. Me: A. D. ROGERS (Newtown) appears to have heard the same station for he says:-‘"I have heard a new American, operating on 9520 k.e. (31.28) approximately, using the call of WIXG. This station opens at 11 p.m. each night and is heard at about R4 on phones, and is hardly readable on some evenings. heard the announcer give the calls of three stations, W-, K-, and WIXG, and adding ‘these stations are operated -by the Westinghouse Hlectric and Manu facturing Co." §WIXG, I think, is loeated at Portland, Maine. A morse station operates practically on top of this station and makes readability very hard. The Java station, 83AN, Sourabaya, has been heard frequently after 11 p.m. or 49 metres at good phone strength. On Sunday, September 14, 1930, a stranger on 29 metres playing a record at’ R9 at about 2.30 p.m., closed without any announcement. Could any listener tell me if PHI, Huizen, is on the air now? If so, what is the schedule? Numerous Australian ‘hams’ have been heard lately on the 40-metre band and some 06 them come in at good strength. I re eeived a card from VK2LZ, Crows’ Nest. New South Wales, and he states that he uses 10 watts input. He comes in here at R8& at times. 2HC, Quirindi, New South Wales, put over a test programme, using 95 watts on 8520 k.c. _ on September 6, 1930, and was well re--~hr offs

ceived here at R9 on the speaker. His gramophone recordings came over. very well indeed. I think he is about the hest Australian ham."

H.R.B., Honduras ©

beet ee eee Reports Invited READERS may be interested in the following letter received by an Auckland reader from HRB Honduras :- "Dear Sir,-Just received your report on reception of our station, and wish to thank you for your trouble and trust that we will hear from you again, as we are now using our new transmitter. Yours is the record report on reception from New Zealand. We received a letter from Mr. Arthur Stevens, of Hawera, reporting on our programme during March of this year. "Your report was dated June 18, and at this time we were using a small experimental transmitter of approximately 50 watts output. On July 1, this year, we installed a new broadcast transmitter which was manufactured by the General Electric Compny, and has an output of 2500 watts, with crystal control, and we feel sure that our programmes will be received in your country under normal conditions. "We are now operating on two | frequencies, 6005 ke. and 6170 ke., or 49,95 and 48.62 metres. We broadcast regular musical programmes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, from 8.15 to 11 pm. CS.T. On the above schedules we operate on 50 watts output on 49.95 metres, and 2500 watts output on 48.62, but in the nedr future we will discontinue using the 50-watt transmitter and operate full time (every day) on either of the above-mentioned waves. "We would greatly appreciate having you publish something about our station in one of your radio magazines. as we are very much interested in receiving more reports from your far-distant country. If reception is good and you set a date in advance, we will gladly give you a special programme making all announcements in English, and have the best. talent in Central America at your services. "Trust that you will notice the difference in power and that reception will compare favourably with some of the United States broadcast stations, which I understand come in very good in your country. If reception is good and you notify us at least six weeks in advance, we will put on a real programme _ for New Zealand broadcast listeners--Ken-neth A. See (manager).". They also sent me a huge verification card, almost exactly the same size as two pages of the "Radio Record" side by side. The address is: "Radio Statiou ' HRB, Tropical Radio Co., Kgucigalpa, Honduras, 0.A."

DX. Topics

Answer to Correspondent. C A. (Invercargill): When you get ac- © customed to your set you should get a good log. Your present one, if locality is average, can be improved upon. "TNIVERSAL" (Ladbrooks): We received your excellent log of American stations, but regret that lack of space will not permit of their publication. 2ZE Eketahuna. FOLLOWING are particulars contained on a card received from 2ZH, Bketahuna: Wavelength, 258 metres (1170 k.e¢.) Sessions: Sundays, 4.30 p.m.-6 p.m.; Wednesdays, 8 p.m.-10 p.m, Aerial power, 35 watts, using a cage aerial. Address, efo G. R. §. Allen, Main Street,

Bketahuna, The station owners are nrompt in answering ‘correspondence.

Bob

(Wellington)

Jap Broadcasts. Or a Thursday night a week or two ago I tuned in the Japs., and found five of them broadcasting the same thing. At 10.10 the speaker was quite distinctive and could not be mistaken, Ten minutes later there was someone else before the microphone, but still from five stations. After 10.30 an instrumental item seémed Yo be the same from four of them. ‘These were all the Japs available to me at the time. The others were so many squeaks. This must have been a special otcasion, for the programmes as a rule are different. KMOX has been holding the fort

among the Ameticans lately, and has been quite good strength’ when not another American can be heard. Evidently the new transmitter is not bad-Ben Adhem (Oamaru). AN any DX-er tell me how they identify Japanese stations. I have received six Japanese stations, but apart from the frequencies given in the "Call Book" I have no means of telling which is which, as only Japanese music and speech has been heard. I do not regard the frequency identification as definite enough. Take the case of a listener who does not understand English and tunes in on 800 ke., on which frequency both WBAP Forth Worth and WFAA Dallas, transmit. If WBAP is transmitting, but only WFAA is shown on that fre-

quency in the "Call Book," he would log the Dallas station, whereas he was getting Fort Worth. This means of identification works on the assumption that no unlisted station is operating on the same or neighbouring frequency. J heard a programme from Wanganui recently under the call of 2ZR. This was on the, same dial setting as for 2ZK, as listed in ,the "Call Book." Are there two Stations in Waneanui or should the sign in the guide

read 2ZR instead of 2ZK 7?-

W.

Hutchi

son

(Gisborné).

[There are two Wanganui stations, 2ZR having gone on the air since the "Guide" was published.-Hd.] \ An Unidentified Stranger. I HAVE tried to clear up the stranger on 8LO’s wavelength. All I can make out is that he is a foreigner. He was R6 on the 17th, at 3.50 am. Has anyone heard VK3AM Ellwood, Victoria? He was playing records at 2 a.m. on the 17tb on approximately 250 métres (1200 ke.), strength RY. Zeesen and PCJ were both R9 on September 18 from 4 a.m. till daylight. PCJ advised he would mail lis teners upon request, a book dealing with short-wave work and describing PCJ. He was testing two different kinds of aerials. At 12.80 a.m. on the same day 3UZ changed over to uRL for a "graphic broadcast." All I heard then was a highfrequency note-evidently television.-

Mug

(Brua).

DX News. "MeEPico" (Hastings): I have yet to see or hear a goat race, but you have my assurance that:I have backed plenty of them. To DX-ers in general: 1ZM is owned and operated by W. H. Rodgers, Massey Road, Manurewa, w2velength 247:89 metres, 1210 k¢. Power output, 10 watts. On the air 10-12 a.m., 1-3 p.m.. 4.20-6 p.m.. 10-11 p.m., Sunday and

holidays.- ---

L.

Hutton

(Mercer) .