RADIO Round the World

Radio Record, Volume VI, Issue 14, 14 October 1932, Unnumbered Page

RADIO Round the World

= ~ foe [THe maximum power allowed by the Federal Radio Commission of U.S.A, is 50 k.w., and very mauy stations have mude application for this limit in advising the Commission that they are desirous of building new plants, Experimental stations with permits to increase power to 500 kw. have been licensed, but the excess of stations in the country seems to urge the necessity of keeping power below that of the super-stations of Burope. % % % FORM of broadcasting conscription is proposed in a Bill to be introduced in the Icelandic Parliament. Ivery civil servant will be required to give radio service during two months of the year. Ile may be required to serve ina variety of. ways, one of then. being to deliver lectures before the niiecrophone without payment. Travelling expenses only will be allowed. ff % 2 AMERICA’S claim to have the tallest mast used exclusively for broadcasting (Eiffel Tower is used for other purposes), is to be contested. W5M, Nashville, has one must $78 feet high, but it is stated that Nauen will have two masts, each S80 feet high. # "% ue NEW type of aerial has been adopt- ed with Breslau’s new transmitter, its shape differing considerably from the usual equipment. It is claimed that the new aerial has the advantage of creating greater field intensives, "and that the nearest fading: zone occurs at a greater distance, which means that a lurger area is served by the surfuce waye. & ws = SMALL regional radio exhibitions are to be organised in Switzerland during the winter in place of the usual nationul exhibition. By this arrangement it is believed that more enthusiasts may be able to become acquainted with the latest developments in radio. Bd 2 RECENT decree issued by the Kastern Inter-Collegiate Association is causing some concern among radio listeners in the U.S.A, Harvard, Yale and other universities have intimated that during the coming seasou they will not permit the broudcasting commentaries from their footbal) games, us they have definite proof that broadcasting reduces gate | money. S yIGHT years ago Mr, A. W. Macnamara began to manufacture radio parts, with a capital of £00, in a shop with a weekly rent of seven shillings and sixpence. He recently handed the Mayor of Birmingham a cheque for £25,000 for the Birmingham General Hospital. As a boy Mr. Macnamara sold papers in the streets, and at one time had to undergo a serious operation. He was so grateful for the care and atten"tton shawn him that he vowed he would one day repay the debt he owed to the hospital authorities, and the gift redeems his early pledge.

A™ "Anti-Static Congress" in Paris is drafting a parliamentary Bill for the suppression of electrical interference with broadcast reception. epresentatives of radio clubs, leading techniciuns, and legal authorities were invited.to attend, and mayors and councillors were asked to report upon the prevalence of interference in their different districts. _ * * % YADIO servicemeyz in Latin America u often take on strange commissions. Recently a coffee planter near the Mexican border offered a fee of fifty dollars and four days’ aeroplune travelling expenses, to a technician, to examine his receiver, A fifty cent resistor curgd the trouble. Another urgent call nectssitated two days’ journey through the jungle on a mule, to replace a valve that had worked loose in its socket. % % 2 ERY soon after landing in an Ital- _ dian village Professor Piccard, who recently explored the stratosphere, was approached by the broadcasting autherities to go on the air, and give a brief account of his experience, This he did and his address was relayed to all thé chief Italian stations and rebroadcast. throughout Americu by the N.B.C, chain. The professor confined his talk to generalities. which many listeners siy were extremely. interesting, as he Was under contract to a Scandinavian organisation for a full report on the scientific side of his adventure. % a WIRELESS pirate in Lancashire recently brought forward a new excuse to the magistrate. when he was proceeded against for failing to obtain ai license, The pirate asserted he had been waiting for the Post Office collector to call, .~4 % bo "THE Spanish Government, which recently granted home rule to Catalonia is in conflict with that province over broadcasting matters, Catalonia demands «a 100 kw. transmitter, and treats. with contempt the 20 kw, station proposed in the national Spanish scheme, In the meantime contracts are being withheld and the regional system development is being held up. ba) m- a FRENCH colonial broadcasting stffers from the circumlocutory methods of many Government departments. The Colonial short-wave station officials in Paris required a map of Western Africa, and asked for it in a letter addressed to the West African Office in the Palais Royal in Paris. A formal reply was received stating that the request was being trunsmitted {o the Governor of Dakar, s zB a AN American amateur, Mr. F. F, Purdy, of Tennessee, claims to hare established in three years nearly 18,000 two-way contacts with other amgteurs in different parts of the world. This constitutes a record of about 17 contacts averaged each day for the period.