Notes and Comments

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 28, 23 January 1931, Page 8

Notes and Comments

By

SWITCH

N®5w ZEALAND listeners who find that 8AR, Melbourne, has become very weak lately will be interested in the complaint of a listener residing in Caulfield (an outside suburb of Melbourne), published in a recent issue of the "Listener In" :-Sir,-Consider-ing the power used by 3AR, this station should be received in Melbourne suburbs as loudly as any other, yet, strangely enough, it is one of the weakest, and, although my two-valve receiver brings in all other stations, including amateurs, 3AR is the weakest of them all. . , * ae GHORTWAVE listeners will soon hear a super-abundance of telephony from the Philippine Islands. Radio telephony is now being installed throughout the Philippines, in order to place Manila in conversational reach of every point. Later the inter-island tadio telephone service will be extended to connect with the United States and Hawaii. " * * OR. a while recently patrons of the Wellington dirt track speedway missed the cheery voice of Mr. Geof. Shrimpton, the official announcer at the speedway microphone. Mr. Shrimpton, however, is back’ again in the arena, and his lively remarks are making the crowd laugh as of old. This well-known amateur radio transmitter appears to have given up his hobby. * * = OME disappointment was expressed among listeners when it was announced that Miss Mercedes Gleitze had accepted an invitation to leave shortly for Sydney to compete in the ladies’ endurance swim there, as many were looking forward to listening to the progress reports broadcast from the accompanying launch during her swim across Cook Strait. Miss Gleitze, however, has reassured us by stating that she had come to New Zealand for

the special purpose of swimming Cook Strait, and she would return from Sydney to carry out her intention. * * * HILD listening to Mr. Scullin’s address in the Ashfield Town Hall, Ashfield, Sydney, recently, "Switch" found that 2FC, Sydney, was decidedly weak, Switching over to 2NC, Newcastle, he received Mr. Scullin’s speech many times louder than from 2FC. Within half ‘an hour, however, 2FC recovered, and the volume soon overshadowed all the other Australian stations. An unusual steadiness was also maintained. Atmospheric vagaries may have accounted for 2FO’s. behaviour on that occasion. * * * N indifferent receiving set can sometimes be improved 50 per cent. by the use of the "best" valves, and the "best" set may not perform within 50 per cent. of its capacity with indifferent valves. "Switch" is moved to reiterate this warning to listeners, as only a few days ago he inspected a friend’s set which was obviously not pulling its weight, although six months previously it had done well. The reason was clearly deterioration

in the efficiency of the valves, which had not given more than half the period of usefulness obtainable from first-class makes of valves. "PHD ship’s barber on the Union Company’s new San FranciscoWellington liner "Monowai" has a firstclass American screen-grid a.c. broadcast receiver in his barber’s shop on the vessel. For an aerial he ran about 30 feet of insulated wire out of his cabin port-hole up to a stanchion on the boat-deck aboye his cabin. He obtains good loud-speaker reception of American stations far out in the Pa-

cific, and gets the New Zealand "Y.A." stations hundreds of miles out from Wellington. WITCH" notes that in last week's "Record" a correspondent, "Jaka," mentions that the new Australian station, 2MV, is one degree above 2NC, Newcastle. "Switch" hears the newcomer nightly, and, in fact, he finds. that .when either 2NCO or 2MY "swing" slightly they clash a little. 2HD, Newcastle, is now well below 2NG, but "Switch" is quite certain that a little while ago he heard 2HD and 2NO metaphorically rubbing shoulders,

"Rov" (Kelburn): writes: "When searching for, distant stations lately I have experienced loud clicking which considerably interfered with reception. I made a tour of the vicinity of my home and found a street light flickering with every gust of . wind. What do you advise?" The street lamp was undoubtedly the cause of the interference. The best thing to do'is to take the number of the post.:to which the street light is attached and write or *phone to the city corporation electricity department. . The trouble will then be rectified. * * * ‘ A®FTER a splendid record, 2FC, db. ney, has at last dropped back Second to 2BL, Sydney, in volume. Seasonal effect may be the cause of this lapse, and yet it may be due also to technical causes. A defective valve at the transmitting station would weaken transmission. Still, as 2NC, Newcastle, has been: relaying 2FC, and the Newcastle station has good volume, the programmes from the Sydney station have been readily available, in the early portion of the evening when 2F'C is weakest. * * . " "QWITCH" always enjoys that prince of entertainers, Mr. J. F. Montague, of Auckland, who is touring the YA stations. Mr. Montague is a cul--tured performer, who carries his personality over the air. "Switch" has ! figuratively followed him from station to station, and has found him consistently entertaining. THAT there are still a number of radio "pirates" in and around Wellington is evident from the whispers heard from time to time, This is nothing less than theft, and should be punished by a penalty commensurate with the offence, instead of the trivial fines recorded in the daily papers against those stealing broadcast programmes. ALTHOUGH it was 2YA’s "silent day’ when Mr. Guy Menzies landed in-the West Coast swamp after great flight across the Tasman, the Wellington station was promptly put on the air, and the surprising news of the Southern Cross Junior’s departure from Sydney for New Zealand was flashed throughout the country. A country listener living in the Wairarapa informed "Switch" that he picked up 2YA on that afternoon, muca to his surprise, and received the news promptly. He, himself, spread it far and wide by telephone messages to his friends. = * 8 THE foregoing paragraph again ex-, emplifies the value of a powerfu broadcast station at Wellington for use in reaching the. public of New Zealand in case of ‘national emergency. The geographical position of the capital city justifies the placing.of New Zealand’s most powerful station there.