Notes and Comments

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 20, 28 November 1930, Page 11

Notes and Comments

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SWITCH

"PECORD" (Pahiatua). writes:-~ "Have you heard of a record of Fritz Kreisler, the famous violinist, . playing on the piano? A friend tells me that he thought that Kreisler had been recorded as a piano soloist." "Switch" has not been able to discover such a recording produced by any of the leading record companies. Kreisler, beside excelling as a violinist, is a brilliant pianist, but it is doubtful whether he has ever recorded on this instrument. s Ed s F there is one enthusiast who really is devoted to the subject about which he broadcasts, "Switch" gives pride of place to the gentleman who talks on horticulture one night weekly from 2F0O, Sydney. He is a genuine devotee, and has a homely method of Peeking, avoiding all the embellishents with which some radio broadeast speakers adorn their addresses, * * s : BVERAL of the Australian broadeast stations are occasionally very lax in their manner of making announcements. The other night "Switch" heard the results of the day’s traces being read out by a youth who would not pass muster in the fourth standard of one of our New Zealand State schools. His laboured delivery made it seem that the undertaking was somewhat of a trial for him. s a 2 . GAIN "Switch" feels impelled to warn all owners of A.C. sets to make sure that they are receiving the correct voltage from their household mains. An acquaintance has been los~ing his valves at a ruinous rate, and it never occurred to him that his electrical supply was the cause of the mischief. On the writer’s recommendation he obtained the services of an electrician to test the voltage of the mains. It proved to be well over the regulation 230 volts, and a resistance was fitted to the set, and no more trouble from that source is likely. 3 * 2 HE placing of a microphone at meetings of city and borough councils in New Zealand in order that the diseussions could be broadeast would not tend to expedite business at these meetings. Too many of the councillors would take advantage of the opportunity to talk for vote-securing purposes. Yet, news is to hand that the proceedings at the city council of Buffalo, U.S.A., are to be broadcast regularly. Permanent microphones are being susyended from lighting fixtures in the entre of the council meeting room. What a feast of rhetoric listeners will be overwhelmed with! * * = [THIS calls to mind an experiment carried out in Sydney a few years ago, when a debate in the Lower House of Parliament was broadcast. "Switch" happened to obtain good reception of this broadcast, and it still remains an amusing memory. The speakers were loudly interrupted, almost continuously, by other members, and the uproar was terrific. The affair was unanimously condemned by the Sydney Press, . s * = VA FEW old hands who were among , the first to take up broadcast listening in Wellington were recently discussing the tremendous _ strides broadcasting has made _ since those days. The talk eventually turned to

the most wonderful development-re-broadeasting short-wave transmissions from distant countries. One of the party held that this recent development of radio will before long attain unthought-of success. He mentioned that future efficiency in broadcasting would -:obably depend on the use of. ultra-short Waves. The five-metre band had been found to be remarkably free from static, and fading was practically non-existent, * % a APROPOS of the above, Mr. H. P. Davis, vice-president, Westinghouse Hlectric and Manufacturing Company, says: "There is no doubt

concerning the popularity and benefit of exchanging programmes with foreign countries. Unquestionably, the problem of long-distance programmes exchange by short-wave will make strides this year, and make it possible for nations to exchange programmes on schedule with success. Undoubtedly amply-powered short-waves will solve the international broadcasting problem. The rapid progress taking place in this field is so promising that important contributions to world broadcasting in the 1980-31 season will result." * x * JN radio a receiving set is only as good as its weakest part. A Wellington listener lately built himself an excellent short-wave set. The circuit and lay-out were ideal, but he

failed to achieve the success one could reasonably expect. He showed the outfit to "Switch," and on overhauling the components the writer found that one of the parts was of the class known as "cheap and nasty." An obvious defect was causing the trouble. The builder reluctantly purchased a highclass article, but the results soon delighted him. @ k x QN2 of the greatest benefactions any generously-disposed wealthy person in New Zealand could bestow would be the presenting of radio sets to the blind. Some time ago a lady who attended a meeting of. the Wellington Radio Society told of the great benefit and pleasure a radio set was to her bed-ridden husband. But how much greater a boon would radio be to the blind who cannot afford to pur-' chase a set? The American Foundation for the Blind has, during the past two or three years, distributed several thousand completely equipped radio sets to needy blind people throughout the United States. | * T the recent York Radio World’s air a fourteen-valve superheterodyne attracted a large crowd to the booth where it was on display. It is called a circumnavigator, and is reputed to sweep aside all barriers of distance-"to bring you everything

that’s on -the air." The fourteenvalve’ circuit is said to have the power "to startle every listener with undreamed of sensitivity, mighty power and magic reach for distance." Tt ‘t were used in Wellington and broughti ‘n "everything that’s on the air" the ywner would soon abandon it with’ lisgust. There are so many electrical coises in and around Wellington that. .£ would not be possible to get any-. thing more out of such a powerful set than out of the average 8 or 9-valve outfit. The noise interference level in the Capital City applies a power-: limit to radio sets. -_ 2 % 2 HE "New York Times" comments on. the fact that the type of listener, who builds his own set is becoming in- . creasingly rare. The modern a.c. set does not offer many opportunities for: experimental construction. However, only the other day the writer met an enthusiast who has commenced building his own a.c..set. , ¥ * baal HE Japanese stations came in. well last week and were at their best at about 1145 pm. JOHK, Sendai, remains the loudest, but another station which threatens to rival JOHK of late is JOCK, Nagoya. The latter is on-a, wave-length of 370 metres (810 kilceycles), which is a little shorter in wave-length than 8LO, Melbourne. Both: JOHK and JOCK employ a power of 10 kilowatts, but for some obscure reason the former has always been received with more volume than the latter. = = = DTD®SPITE the economic depressionwhich exists in the United States at present, the radio industry is thriving more than ever. The representative of one large manufacturer reports that his company has orders for £2,000,000 worth of sets. A representative of a valve manufacturing company estimates that from 75 million to 80 million valves will be sold this year in America. ©