World Radio News

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 21, 5 December 1930, Unnumbered Page

World Radio News

editor of.the "Times," Berlin, has received a visit from a young German who: displayed a miniature wireless receiver constructed: from material smuggled to him while serving a term, of several months’ imprisonment. The receiver could be held completely in the hollow of his hand and, in spite of the warders’ vigilance, ‘he heard concerts, reports of meetings, and theatrical items in his cell each evening. During the day the ingenious wireless énthusiast easily concealed the whole of. his apparatus in the breast

of his tunic. His secret was. never discovered. | ; im + have evolved an idea to prevent broadcast artists introducing distortion through being the wrong! distance from the. The carpet is of a draughtboard pattern

and most of. the squares bear numbers. When rehearsing the artists ave allotted numbers and must keep to these during the actual performance, ; " * 8, tm! ‘ HH Italian Government, to encourage home production of radio receivers, is instituting an annual com-. petition among manufacturers. The firm which produces the ' most suitable set for public use, will be granted a one-year contract for a supply of sets and instruments. . These-are to be made available to the public on the instalment plan. * 8 * O commemorate the tenth anniversary o£ the invasion of Poland by the Bolshevist army, 2 representation of the battle was recently staged ten miles from Warsaw. Microphones were taken to the battle-ground, and with the aid of artillery, rifles, and bombs lent by the military authorities, listeners were entertained with all the thrills of the engagement. ze ® Ld ‘HG «successful introduction of broadcast receivers on German and French trains has attracted the attention o£ Italian railway officials, and experiments are shortly to be conducted. on the Milan-Turin route. The receiver will be in the care of the guard, who will issue headphones to passengers on payment of a small fee. ae 8 B A LUADING London daily publishes ‘an interesting statement made by Marconi in reply to the question, "What do you want most out of life?" in which the following passage occurs: -T do not demand wireless communieation with Mars, wireless-controlled machinery, or even television. These things will not successfully operate in a perfect manner for many years to come. But I do think that I have time and the knowledge for making wireless transmission better than it is." * Eo * NIUW type of accumulator is on the point of completion by an Irishman, Dr. Drumm. It is an ailkaline battery, having a voltage of less than half that of an ordinary accumulator. It ig very light and charges up at eight-minute intervals instead of 8 to 10 hours, as is the case with the lead and Hdison types. The installation of this accumulator in a 65ton electric train was contemplated, but, one of the electrodes being made of silver, the equipment of one engine would have cost over two millions. Ps s s WIRELESS is becoming increasingly popular among the native population of North America, owing, in great measure, to the excellent propaganda work which has been accomplished by "The Giant’s Voice," a travelling wireless installation and loudspeaker. The

a — wireless installation consists of two motor-vehicles, one for the actual broadcasting and the other containing the power unit. The plant has a modulated output of more than 600 watts, derived from an, overall input of 2 kilo--watts.. The large valves are specially 1 mounted to avoid vibration. There is a studio with two.microphones, one for announcements and lectures, the other for items .of music. Items are also relayed from other stations. The huge multi-cone loudspeakers have a wide range-in certain circumstances, up to.six miles. — * * 2 NEW use for wireless telephony has been discovered by the Canadian National Railways. ‘The train ferries operating between the mainland at Tormentine, New Bruns= ck, rf and Borden, Prince Edward Ag convey, passenger. coaches and cars. Although the distance covered is not great, weather conditions frequently lengthen the time required for the passage. To maintain communication with the ferries at all times, the company has installed two small iC0watt wireless telephone transmitters and asociated receivers. The ship sets are operated by remote control from the captain’s cabin. ‘You are at this moment in the central cage of the Pezon Menagerie" was the announcement which recently thrilled listeners to the broadcasting station at Lille, France. For threequarters of an hour the programme consisted of the snarls, grunts, and other vocal efforts of a company of lions, tigers, leopards, wolves, hyenas y and bears. B B Ld "PoE most powerful broadcasting installation in Europe recently underwent its final trials at the Marconi works at Chelmsford. This is a long wave 158 kw. transmitter which is shortly to be erected near Warsaw for the Polish Broadcasting Company. The two aerial masts, 600 feet high and 750 feet apart, will’ be the highest in. use at any Huropean broadcasting station. It will be interesting to see if any of New Zealand’s d.x, enthusi‘asts succeed in logging this giant. * Eo * LL attendance records for previous wireless exhibitions have been smashed this year at.Olympia. In ‘the first six days more than 170,000 visitors passed through the turnstiles. "the daily average exceeded that of i929 by cearly 6,000. ‘This year’s Show has corclusively proved that the radio industry is one of the most prosperous in England at the present time (scates a contemporary). Orders were taken which will keep quite a number of firms busy for four or five months. R e c AH opening of the first course in broadcast salesmanship is announced by the College of the City of New Work. The instructor, it is stated, has travelled 10,000 miles studying "listener reaction" and is an expert in } making the programme suit the pro-