Our Mailbag

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 36, 20 March 1931, Page 9

Our Mailbag

Quarterly License Payments. THE time is drawing near for the renewal of radio licenses and in this connection I would like to make an inquiry. I desire very much to continue listening, for I think radio is an excellent antidote to the despondency that seems to be in the air these days. However, in common . with many other people in these times, I have not too much money to spare, and would like to know if the Postal . authorities would consider a quarterly payment of the license fee. This I can manage, but I am afraid 30/- in a lump sum is beyond my present limited resources.-‘Oroesus" (Auckland). [We would advise you to state your case. to the postal authorities.-Ed.] 2YA’s Seasonal Fading. ig last week’s issue a correspondent inquires if 2YA has been fading. It has been, badly, and the distortion was painful to listen to. This has been happening for the last two or three weeks, and is getting worse--‘Fixit" (Linwood. {Every year about this time we receive numerous complaints concerning. fading and distortion from 2YA. This is definitely due, not to any defect in transmission, but to seasonal effects. You have perhaps noticed that reception is worst just at dusk. At this time of the day in succeeding belts of approximately every 100 miles distant from 2YA, the sky waves reflected from the Heaviside layer arrive out of phase with the ground waves. This is due to the discrepancy in the length of the two paths traversed. In the daytime, however, your signals are derived mainly from the ground wave, and at night, from the sky above, hence the distortion is slight and scarcely noticeable. At the transition period, between daylight and dark, however,._ the signal strength is derived from both waves equally, and fading and distortion igs at its worst. Twilight at this time of the year is protracted, and hence the effect is much more noticeable. ]