Wellington To Have New 2YA Shortly

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 36, 15 March 1935, Page 16

Wellington To Have New 2YA Shortly

Station Twelve Times More Powerful Than Present . One Planned

pW ZEALAND’S isolation grows less and ‘less ‘every day, and when the new 60 . kilowatt Wellington. station, for which . tenders close in June, is erected: -pro- '. grammes from the Dominion will be:avail- . able to half the world. This new station,: which. will be Six times: as powerful: as the new 1YA (now the: most. powerful station in. Australia and New Zealand): and 120 times as powerful as the present 4YA, is to be built to satisfy the desire for .a- station which, in a ‘national emergency, can be received both day.-and night over the greater: part, of . the: Dominion. ‘The exact situation of the new station has not yét. been: finally determined, but it is.to be about 20: miles’ from Wellington. -Tenders will; close in June and:the station. is expected ‘to .be operating about a-year from that, time. , Mr. E.:C, Hands, general of the ‘New Zealand ‘Broadcasting Board, explained that in’ its scheme for iniproving the: ‘New’ Zealand broadcast: ing service the board had.included the erection of a new national station at: Wellington, planning: to: undertake. this. work’ after, the completion of the. new Dunedin station.. While the stations in the various éentres' were part of the national. broadcasting: system, there ° owas need for one central station: of "very high power, for it, was desirable to ‘make sure of giving a strong signal over the whole Dominion area. Such’ a truly national station by ‘its’ great . power" would overcome interference noises,.and it should: be received strongly day and night-in all parts-of New Zealand, though in certain difficult areas fading and local weakness of reception might prevent the signals ‘from ‘having a definite programme value. The-néw station, with’ a power of 60 kilowatts aerial energy, will be. the..most ‘powerful in Aus+ tralia or New Zealand. It will be six times as strong as the new Auckland station, 12 times as

strong as the: present 2YA,. Wellington, and 24 times as strong as 8YA; Christchurch. It will also far surpass any. Australian station, tor. the strongest in the Commonwealth haye-a power of only. 74 kilowatts; although others of 10 kilowatts are planned. When it is. ‘operating: ‘the ‘new station will have its studios in Wellington city as at present, the programmes being conveyed to the transmitter in-the country by land’ wire-as with the 8YA station at Gebbie’s Pass. | The present 2Y¥A, with: the transmitting station on Mount Victoria and the, studios ‘in’ Featherston Street, Wellington, came on the air ‘in July, 1927. — It was then. the most powerful station in Australia and*New Zealand: (possibly in the Southern. Hemisphere), and New Zealand was. very proud of*it. It-was built ‘by the Radio Broad--casting ‘Company, and, at’ that time, was 10‘times.as powerful as the stations’at Auckland and: Christchurch, and the second. most powerful station in, the British Empire. . At the openiig néarly eight years ago the Rt. Hon.. J.. G. Coates;, who was then Prime Minister, expressed.an opinion that was voiced -again when this new stdtion was mooted the other day. "You will note that this new station is capable of communicating with any part of New Zealand by day’ or by night," said Mr. Coates, in 1927, "At ‘pight it.can’ with ease speak to the Pacific Islands and Australia. All will realise what great advantage this station will be when. we Lave to face a national crisis. We will never lack the most direct means of contact with all parts of New Zealand, and we will be brought closer than ever to our sister Dominions across the Tasman, and: our dependencies in the Pacific. . From this point of view the station is- more than a pleasant means of passing the time. It is ready, should the time ever arrive, to become a part of our national equipment. If it is-not equal to actual personal contact, it is, at any rate, the next best thing." Wellington will miss the familiar masts and. night sign on Mount Victoria-but ‘it’ will-look forward with increasing interest to this new. station. which will bring back to the Capital City the honour of having one of the greatest radio stations. in the Southern Hemisphere.