Radio Round the World

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 26, 8 January 1932, Unnumbered Page

Radio Round the World

ee JA’ MINISTERIAL decree recently published in Belgium prohibits ‘all private Belgian stations to make use of advertising ‘in their broadcasts. This has caused a certain amount of perturbation among the private stations, three of which combined to make a simultaneous broadcast protesting against this decision. * ae % RANCE has a law compelling all owners of radio sets to declare fhem and pay the equivalent of twelve cents ‘in taxes, but it is more honoured in the breach than in the observance. Recently an owner who had not paid this tax was fined four cents fer his dereliction. Bg * * "THE Columbia Broadcasting System ' announced recently that the "American School of the Air’ would begin its third season of educational broadcasts on November 9. Over a network of sixty stations, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, history, ge0graphy and travel talks will be given, in addition to musical appreciations. poetry and dramatic interpretations of folk songs. Other subjects dealt with will be commercial art and writing as a career. Ten talks will be given by officials of Government departments on farming, foreign trade, and the opportunities offered to technically-trained persons by the Bureau of Standards and the Army and Navy.

N a recently published book entitled "T/Ami du Peuple,’ by Michael Ferry, is an engaging analysis of English characteristics. According to the author, the British listener "hardly ever listens to foreign stations, but settles down on one of his own without touching his condensers." It appears that "the Englishmen do not like the comie and other ditties so dear to the French heart. When an accordion plays he cries, ‘Oh, shocking!’ He adores serious and grave, patriotic, warlike songs. A reveue or a sketch fills him with inexpressible joy, but he remains impassive before his loudspeaker while overflowing inside himself with endless laughter. Neither a lord nor a Liverpol docker would tolerate conversation during a reception."

MOTORISTS with radios attached to their cars must announce this fact to Customs officers when going into Canada, and must also pay a fee of one dollar, which is the license fee required for all radios in that country. ° * * * NDER the direction of Mr. C. W. Horn, general engineer of the National Broadcasting Company, the aerial for a television station has been. erected on the top of the Empire State Building, 1000 feet above New York. Many tests were made on the top of other buildings, but the tower of the Empire State Building, which is the highest construction in the world, was found to be the best point for a station operating on short wavelengths. The station will be on the eighty-sixth floor of the building, where a 5 k.w. transmitter, scanning apparatus, and studio will be installed.

I" there were eight more broadcasting stations in the United States, that country would have half the transmitters in the world. America has 612, while the other countries haye 620. The United States has a population of 122,000,000, while the remainder of the earth has 1,906,000,000 inhabitants. % bd % RAvrIO played a very prominent part during the political proceedings in the recent general election in Gréat Britain, and thus once more proved, as it did here, its utility, not only as a source of entertainment, but as a factor that can actually play a significant part in influencing affairs of State. As in the previous election in 1929, the B.B.C. again placed their microphones at the disposal of party leaders, whose speeches were broadcast throughout the length and breadth of the country. As in the recent New Zealand elections, the actual election results were broadcast as they came to hand, several of the high-power British stations staying on the air till well after midnight. "Loudspeaker campaigning" by means of public address vans was also very nopular among candidates. |

"PHE place television will occupy in the radio spectrum has long been troubling broadcasting authorites both in Europe and America. Although as yet nothing has been definitely decided on, experiments now being conducted in America indicate that visual broadcasting will probably be established in the high-frequency band between 43,000 and 80,000 kilocycles. At present there are twenty television experimental stations operating throughout that country, and most of these are experimenting on both high frequencies and those just above the present broadcasting band. * # * HEN the presence of ores is suspected beneath a piece of land, the usual procedure is to install expensive drilling apparatus, sink shafts, obtain specimens taken at different levels and await the geologist’s reports, adays, mining engineers use ‘whegee assist in the search for lodes, transmitter or oscillator is operated on the ground any lodes beneath the surface will have current induced in them. This will create a magnetic field which can be detected by special receiving apparatus. In this way all ore deposits occupying an area of at least 50 superficial yards and at a depth of not more than 200 feet can be accurately locate. Zine ore, however, owing to its not containing sufficient sulphide to render it conductive to high frequency currents, cannot be located by this means. It is the only ore which will not react to induced currents. * ES * UCH attention is at present being paid by Continental authorities to the problem of power interference with radio reception. The P. and I. authorities in Austria recently organised a systematie search for causes of interference, and issued an appeal to radio listeners to allow inspectors instant access to their apparatus for examination whenever desired. In Holland a Commission of Inquiry has been formed with the object of considering means of preventing interference, and legislation will shortly be brought down to that end. In England special vans have been fitted up to locate oscillating receivers and other forms of interference. One listener who took the matter into his own hands and put into operation 2 large induction coil in an effort to silence other interference was recently heavily fined. In this instance the cure proved to be worse than the disease. * se * LANS for the construction of *~ new broadcasting stations to Widtn the service being furnished by the fitteen existing stations of the Japan Ce1)tral Broadcasting Corporation have recently been approved by the Japanese Department of -Communications. The present radio system is run under Govyernment monopoly, with censorship of programmes by the Department of Communications. Owners of radio sets, of whom there are nearly 800,000, pay a-lieense fee of one yen (about 2/-) per month for the listening privilege. Advertising is barred. The radio manufacturing industry in Japan consists mostly of the assembly of sets from imported parts. Valves also are largely imported, although there are several valve manufacturers operating, the largest of them being an American subsidiary. There are at least 100 makes of radio sets, including American, British, German, and Dutch makes, ds» sembled and-sold in- Japan,

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