Radio Round the World

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 33, 26 February 1932, Unnumbered Page

Radio Round the World

HE new Spanish Government has prohibited the use of radio receivers in prisons. The prisoners hare protested against this decision. + * e "THE American station WABCO had the original idea of broadcasting on October 31 the deafening roar of Niagara Falls. A reporter "uked with his microphone in the neighbourhood of the falls, and in this way the voice of the mighty Niagara Falls was heard throughout the world. PPHE West Australian Radio Traders are inaugurating a Radio Exhibition for April, and a startling feature connected with the opening is promised. New stunts, features and surprises will be arranged, and in conjunction with the A.B.C. one of the best exhibitions yet staged in West Australia is foreeast. * a = ALTHOUGH the new Australian Broadcasting Commission, which will take control of broadcasting on lines similar to those of the B.B.C., will not come into operation until July 1, 1932, already work is being found for it. The thorny question of the broadcasting of race descriptions has been left for the Commission to decide as one of its first tasks.

ie England the recent elections have given rise to a new legal problem. The results of the elections were broaidcast by the BBC to the radio listencrs. When doing so the BBC expressly stated, however, that this report was exclusively intended for the radio listeners, and was not to be published. Those who did this in spite of this warning by placing their loudspeaker in such a position as to render the reports audible to the public, or who passed them on by means of light projection or .bulletin. have become inyolyed in legal conflict with the BBC. pus Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Zaleski, has sent on behalf of his Government a_ circular letter to all the States which are to

take part at the Disarmament Conference, in which they are requested 10 study the means by which friendly international relations can be re-estab-lished at any moment by means cof "udio. By this means sixty-four governments have been given an opportunity to make practical propositions in this respect. Poland, too, has taken the good initiative of coming to an agreement with Germany, by which the two countries promise to refrain from any political broadcast propaganda which might be detrimental to the other party. a" % at HE effect of the B.B.C.’s gift to the British Treasury will not be felt till April, when some departments’ cxpenditure will be cut by half; contracts for series of performances will be discontinued, and plays and revucs will be produced twice to save authors’ and rehearsal fees. Our informant suggests that British listeners may then prefer one good programme eyery evening to a choice of two poor programmes; und that the alternative programme system may be abandoned. ft bg * TPHE following interesting cuse occurred in America. A motor-car thief who had stolen a care in North Dakota, drove it to Winnipeg. The car was fitted with every imaginable convenience, and had also a complete radio receiving set with loudspeaker. The thief set this apparatus in operation, partly for his own pleasure and partly to enable him to follow any police reports which might-.refer to his sinister trade. Arriving at Winnipeg, i policeman on point duty stopped bim unsuspectingly in order to show him a parking place. Just at the same moment the police radio reported the theft of the motor-car, stating the make and number, and this report was faithfully and loudly rendered by the loudspeaker in the car. It goes without saying that this report was followed with great interest by the policeman and that, after comparison of the stated number with the actial number of the car, the astonished thie? was arrested on the spot. s & s Por building a transmitting station the erection of the large aerial masts requires considerable sums of money. So it is quite natural that the English Marine Transmitter at Gibraltar has put to good use the high rock of Gibraltar as a support for the aerjal. This rock is 400 metres high; the transmitter building is about 12 metres high and the aerial masts also 12 metres. The aerial wires are suspended between the top of the rock and these masts. As a matter of fact the power radiated in a southward direction is slightly absorbed by the rock; but as the rock: contains no ores this absorption is velatively small; moreover, the radio traffic with the respec-

tive part of Africa is not so very busy, so that. this slight drawback is of little consequence, a 2 s ¢ HE decision,of the Board of New York Metropolitan Opera to allow its performances to be broadcast opens one more ayenue to those itterested in hearing good-music ‘on. thé air.", Américan listeners haye been very fortunate of late in the musical programmes which have been presented and they are congratulating themsélves that this new source-perhaps unique in the musical world for the perfection of its’ rendering-will shortly. be available. The engineers at present. engagéd in installing the. necessary equipment expect to have everything réady for the first broadcast early in January, 19382, if not before. When. that occurs the New York Opera will join thé Chicago Opera, which for some time past has permitted broadcasts of its performances. ; * *- * } é A MOBILE broadcasting station 3YB has appeared in the country districts of Australia, giving a one-night programme in each of ‘its stopping places. The station is a commercial yenture, and is based on the belief that certain commodities such as sheep-dip and plough-sharés are adrertised better in the country than in the city. The station is housed in two motor vehicles, one equipped with the transmitter and the other fitted as a studio. Two collapsible steel masts, 40 feet in height, are carried, and these are erected 120 feet apart to support the aerial. There is a petrol engine for generating power, and the programmes are provided from 400 gramophone records, which may bé supple, mented with local talent. The tions are that the venture will pay-its vay. ry 2 2 HE "Yorkshire. Post" reported recently the achievement of three officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who, at the outpost established at Bernard Harbour, in the Arctic, logged 300 stations with their sef. It appears these policémen have heard all the stations of the Canadian National Railways from , Vancouver to Monkton, New Brunswick, New Orleans, Miami, Tampa. México City, and Havana. They picked up nearly al the British stations and a number of others, Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Sweden. Russia, Iceland, and even some from China and Japan, and from Brisbane, Australia, The = set used was a super-heterodyne. The curious thing is that the report of this fine list of stations received was sent to Montreal and travelled most of the way by dog-sleigh. In all, thec report took 185 days to travel from TIarbour to Montreal. 4 ‘HE British Broadcasting Company intends educating English listeners to listen more frequently to classical Inusic, not by simply thrusting a stream of classical music on to the microphone, but by acquainting the listeners with the personality of the composers and by broadcasting radio plays in which the lives of great mastrs are dramatised, and which bring the listeners ings the atmosphere of their music. The radio play "Chopin" broadcast recently obtained a big success with the listeners, and this has‘stimulated the BBC to prepare also radio plays referring to "Mozart" and "Haydn.",