RADIO Round the World

Radio Record, Volume VI, Issue 25, 30 December 1932, Unnumbered Page

RADIO Round the World

MEXICO proposes. to compete with the U.8.A. in wireless ‘transmissions when station XER increases its : power. The Government has issued a permit to the station to operate with a power of 500 kilowatts. The transmitter is situated just across the boun-, dary, and as the wattage will be ten times greater than any U.S.A. station, apprehension is felt that many of the northern, stations will be completely. blanketed. The American State Department has so far been. quite unable to do anything about the situation. |. * * * "THE Socialist station, WEVD, New York, has leased the fifteenth floor of Claridge’s Hotel, and the rent, deemed to be worth 500 dollars a month, will be paid by announcing the location of the station, and allowing the landlord of the hotel two minutes a week to ad yertise the premises. oak * * = ATIVE and foreign-born white resi: dents of the United States . run neck-and-neck. as to percentage of families having radio sets. The percentages are: Native, 44.4; foreignborn,. 43.6. While negro families. possessing receivers equal 7.5 per centIt is estimated that‘in all 40.3 per cent. of the thirty million families of the U.S.A. ‘own receivers. i ‘ * * * NOVEL. idea. was incorporated inine plan when the radio exhibits from Olympia were. transported to the Manchester -exhibition. © Gaily decorated vans were employed, and a stop was matle at Leicester, where a onenight show was held in conjunction with a hurriedly-arranged ball. The route was widely advertised, and, 1ero-_ planes accompanied the yans for parts of the way. Giant loudspeakers toured the byways and radio received excellent publicity from the idea. : "THE last of Italy’s high-power stations witl be erected at Milan, and will have a power of 50 kilowatts. With the completion of this ‘station ° Italy will be most effectively wirelessly covered. * % DURING their yisit to London the famous film comedians, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were featured as a surprise item on the London pro-' gramme. ™* Bd . TPH British Post Office, in announcing that a new drive is to be | made to rope in wireless pirates, has’ every. reason to believe*that evasion is ~ _Peing practised on a large scale. Al "though licenses amount to approximately five millions, it is assumed there are at least two millions still evading their responsibilitiés. Last year 4 drive in the London area alone saw the figures for London increase by 260,000. The Post Office has recently heen greatly impressed by recently compiled statistics. While Bournemouth has 186 licenses per 1000 of population, other areas are very substantially .ess. * * BEFORE the advent of wireless Britain was unable to boast of a single good symphony orchestra, The orchestras that subsisted were required to depend upon small special audi, ences and subscribers and consequently could not afford high-salaried conductors nor an adequate number of

‘pehearsals. Wireless popularised the éoncérts among the masses with the result that subsequently -the orchestras. weré subsidised by the B.B.C., and now. .tdnk among the finest in the world. mee 2 * s 'PHE new Crosley station of 500 kilo-. _~~. watts. will have a wavelength of ‘490 metres. It will be America’s most. poyérful station and will operate only ‘pfter other stations have closed down. Ic Seems possible that it may. interfere With distant listeners to 2¥A. Late * eo. ‘PHE management of B class Aus- + ‘tralian stations deny that restrictions placed upon them by gramgphone companies will affect them: Pwo manufacturing companies have-offered B stations full stocks, including latest reloases by leading American, English and European artists. Since arriving at'an agreement with the gramophone trust the A stations not only announce the title of a tecorded item, but advertise the name of the maker as well. The B stations have intimated that the trust may keep their.records. , ie bi) * "Pop first new regional station to be * serected under the Ferrie plan in Ivance will probably be at Nice and ~ Will have a power of 60 kilowatts. . fe rs] n A. MUNICIPAL order _protecting listeners from _ electrical | interference has been ‘made at Oran, North Africa... The au--thorities have ordered that all industrial, commercial and domestic electric machines shall be fitted with suitable devices for preventing: interference. Where a difficulty is experienced in machinery that is moved from place to place it is ordered that this type of machine must not be used after noon.

Loudspeakers may. not be used unless the sound is’ strictly confined to the house of the owner. During the summer when. Oran enjoys a siesta betsveen noon and 3 v.m., the use of loudspeakers ig strictly forbidden. . . % cd NE of the most difficult announcer’s jobs in Europe is that at Brati-slava-the announcements being made in Czech, Slovak, French, German, Hungarian, and occasionally in other languages. Ed * * OME few months ago an American radio and television apparatus manufacturer started a factory in England for the purpose of overcoming the tariff imposed on important receivers. Recently the first entirely British-made sets of this firm were placed upon the market, nine months ahead of schedie. At present output is limited to 750 sets a week, but an extension of plant is contemplated as soon as trained employees are in sufficient number to warrant the extra capital expendi‘ture,

At a dinner given in his honour, Captain P. P, "Wekersley told the story of how Dame Nellie Melba took part in the world’s first broadcast perform‘ance, The high-powered station at Chelmsford was under construction, and the idea of broadcasting a performance was conceived. Melba was asked to.assist,. and a crude microphone was employed, to the delight of a few hundreds throughout England. .Later a formal teprimand was received from the Postmaster-General for the "frivolous employment of wireless equipment," and a warning was given- to

"cease activities calculated to hamper legitimate wireless service." = te Ed THE Bombay broadcasting station, after many vicissitudes recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. LJ y * HERE appears to be some disappointment with the results from the much-heralded new Breslau station, with its unique vertical aerial, suspended within a wooden tower. Reception at a distance no further than the South of England does not indicate that the new station is the success that was anticipated. & * HE B.B.C. plans to-erect at Droitwich a station ‘that will eventually replace SXX and 5GB. It will be a twin wave station with 100 kilowatts on long waves and 70 kilowatts on medjum wares. * = % FARLY next year the Dutch station ". Wilversum will open a new studio building. Included in the apartments =

will be a concert hall capable of se tng 500 people, with film facilities anc a kinema organ,’ in addition to it broadcasting equipment, =... * *.. E projected. 120 kilowatt station for. Madrid will trdnsmit on a wavelength above 1000 metres: * Ed * DURING 1938 the Soviet Union proposes to erect 440. broadcasting stations, with an aggregate power of 380 © kilowatts, : , * *.. * "THERE are persistent rumours in Britain that a radical change in religious broadcasts is imminent. The B.B.C. has always relied upon advice and support of the main, religious bodies, the advantage of which procedure has been the avoidance of special difficulties, and the alignment of the organised Christian community. A disadvantage has been an irregularity of standard of preaching, brought about by the admission of many clergymen possessing no microphone manner. It is now felt that the importance ef the service necessitates that the seléstion of preachers should be determined.fearlessly, with ,only a subsidiary regard for denominational affiliation. * om be) OME 200 broadcasting stations recently picked up a speech by Sir Erie Drummond, Secretary-General of the League of Nations, and rebroadcast it in various European countries, Canada, U.S.A., Argentine, China, Japan, and other countries, The transmission was one of the regular weekly summaries that are broadcast’ by the League’s short-wave station for rég. broadcast by any country interested if the deliberations at Geneva, . eS oR (QCCASIONALLY Leningrad, Moscow, and Kharkoy stations broadcast special concerts for workers on night shift. ; & mu. * PRAGUB, contrary to the principle adopted by French studios, has decided that, in future, only newly-issued gramophone records are to find a place in its daily radio programmes, ae mw i FroLLowin G the visit of the Scottish *pipers" to the Copenhagen exhibition, it is now stated that the Band of the Royal Horse Guards will give concerts on the Continent. Arrangements have been. made to have the performances broadcast, and it is hoped that Continental bands and orchestras may be induced to reciprocate by visiting Britain. . Se % * oR . N additional broadcasting conyiny has come into being in nd, and is'known as HIRO. It ineludes various social and religious bodies. Four hours weekly have been allotted to the new company, which will broad--east from the Huizen station. ‘THE musical box which is used at Oslo (Norway) for the opening and interval signals was designed by an Hungarian engineer, who devised the original apparatus adopted by the | Budapest studio, The signature tune used for opening the closing at Osl consists of a few bars of the National Anthem and the few notes used as an interval signal between items are’ a condensed theme’ taken from Grieg’s opera "Sigurd Jorsalfar,"