Radio Round the World

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 20, 27 November 1931, Unnumbered Page

Radio Round the World

Es ‘problem of man-made: static formed one ‘of the principal items on the agenda of the~ International Congress of Amateur Transmitters, which met recently in Paris. Other matters discussed at this gathering of Buropean amateurs were wavelength allocation, call-signs, sharing of wavebands for’ telegraphy and telephony, and the issue of licenses, The importance of the radio amateur is evidently recognised .by the French railway authorities, for they allowed a 50 per cent. reduction in fares to delegates attending the congress. * # * * FRENCH contemporary announces that a new broadcasting station designed for an unusual purpose is shortly to be erected in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.. It is stated that the transmittér will use id less than. 100 k.w. of power, and, somewhat remarkably, will be used almost.exclusively for advertising,;purposes. It is apparently intended that the station should have a range covering the whole of Europe, and that its resources‘ shall’be available to any firm in any’ country. ‘desiring to advertise by radio. ‘While the scheme is certainly a novel one,, it seems unlikely that listeners will-be attracted by a constant stream of advertising. 7 * . Ed "ME almost unbelievable score of 11,872!" is the description applied can Radio Relay League, to the triumph of Mr. H. ..0..'O’Heffernan, a British amateur transinitter operating. under the call G5BY, who, for the fourth suc-

cessive time, has won first place in the International Relay Tests. Mr. O’Heffernan sat up every night for two weeks, and by his industry captured more than double the number of points of his nearest competitor. The basic principle for seoring was that a oneway contact gained a single point. both for sender and receiver, while for twoway working both stations secured two points. s aa.) _® REDUCTION in the number of broadcasting stations to relieve congestion in the ether, and.as.a means 6f-ap-proaching "ideal radio" for, the listener, is being advocated in’ LU. S, A. Overcrowding of stations. ou the limited wavelengths is ‘recognised generally as the root of all broadcasting evils, but the commission controlling. broadcasting in America has been hesitant.in considering summary removals of stations because of the questionable status of the radio law. New York’s metropolitan area, which embra¢es many New Jersey stations, constitutes. one'of the

worst of broadcasting problems, because of the great concentration of stations, > * * " ANIM ATED trade marks" is the way Hollis Baird, the youthful television inventor, describes the sponsored television programme of the future, -It seems to be accepted among American radio circles that television will derive its support from advertising.,in. the same manner as sound broadcasting of to-day, inasmuch as practic¢ally- the same interests which developed. soynd broadcasting are doing the miiijor de-. velopmental work in the visual radio art. Lo ¢ * * : HE Bishop of " Augsburg, Gerfiany, has issued an order to ‘the effect that all churches in his diocese ‘having electric bell-ringing systems that. ‘Interfere with the local reception of’ Sunday programmes must install the necessary apparatus for preventing interference with radio sets in their, neighbourhoods. -------

PPREHENSION is being’ felt.in Eu- ~ rope lest American interests are backing the new super-power -broadcasting station now being erected in the independent duchy of Luxemburg for the avowed purpose of disseminating advertising programmes along American lines. . Since Luxemburg is bordered by ¥rance, Belgium, and Germany, the station’s programmes will undoubtedly command large audiences in those countries. It has been reported that French interests, and not American, are behind the project. In France advertising on the radio isthe yogue, with most stations devoting their time largely to the broadcasting of recordings. ® x * (THE effect of broadeasting publi "upon the mailbags of the Un States stations is phenomenal, according to some statistics "published by the National Broadcasting Company. The number of letters received by that company during the first half of -this year is no less than 2,196,684: ‘The rate of growth in this respect may be gathered from the fact that;"in 1927, the number of letters received was 540,263. This huge.increase is attributed to the commercial, programme sponsors, who advertise samples -of their products over the air.’ One advertiser, a2 cigar‘maker, recently broadcast an offer of a motor-car for the best twenty-word ad"vertisement submitted, each effort to be written’ at the rate of one word on each of twenty of his cigar bands. He is now receiving letters at the rate of 10,000 a day.