From LONDON to your Sitting Room

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 43, 3 May 1935, Page 10

From LONDON to your Sitting Room

12,000 Miles of Wonderful Precision

OW many hundreds of radio listeners throughH out New Zealand eagerly await any opportunity to tune in to broadcasts from the B.B:-C. in London? Yet-how many of these fans _ realise exactly how the broadcasts are arranged? All they have to do usually is to tune their sets in to the nearest National Station. Do they appreciate the tremendous amount of organisation and accuracy recuired, to allow them to hear the items true to schedule? For instance, during the week of Empire Broadcasting, in connection with the King’s Jubilee celebrations, a speech by Mr. E. A. Ransom, the Acting-Prime Minister of New Zealand, will be broadcast from the B.B.C. in London. Do the listening hundreds stop to consider the complications that such an item incurs? The Acting-Prime Ministers of the various Dominions will each make appropriate speeches, and all will be broadcast by the B.B.C. in London at the scheduled ‘ time. How is this done? Probably the average listener has never for a moment thought of any difficulties being attached to Empire broadcasting, but also, probably he would appreciate his programme a great deal more if he -had, -an inkling as to what was going on "behind the dials." He probably has a vague idea that someone, somewhere turns a switch or two, somewhere else, and the rest then just sort of "shoots the works." Let us attempt to enlighten hima little. To-come:

~ ’ back to the Acting-Prime Minister." "Actually the speech will pass through six stations before it,is finally received in London. Because it is such a great distance from England, New: Zealand, ii: contributing her portion, has perhaps ‘the hardest, task. of all the Dominions. The speech. from. 2YA is through the telephone exchange, relayed to the terminal equipment of the: radio telephone channel on Tinakori Hills, From there it is sent by the short-wave tra mitter to'the Australian receiving station, La Perouse, and-on to the Sydney-London radio channel terminal equipment at the Sydney G.P.O. Ina similar manner, the G.P.O. sends it on to Pennant. Hill, a short- -wave station of considerable power, which is situated about nineteen miles from Sydney. In its turn, Pen-

nant Hill transmits to the London receiving: station, which completes the cycle by connecting direct to the B.B.C. . As may be seen, exact synchronisation is both difficult and essential, and every one of the stations concerned must, ‘following a. warning signal, be ready instantaneously to put through the speech. One slip by any one of the stations would. be fatal, and perfect comhination is most necessary. For New Zealand to broadcast an event from the B.B.C. is not so difficult. From the B.B.C. the pro-° gramme is relayed tq the Empire broadcasting station. From there; either GSB or GSD, whichever is the more suitable at the time, is received directly by the respective ( New Zealand .studio receiving stations, and is put through the national network. Each of the main staHons has its own receiving plant close to the studios, and each receives its own separate relay from the transmitting station in London. -« However, occasionally when reception is poor, one of the receiving plants might receive for the whole of New Zealand, and rebroadcast throughout the national network. Just- because important items and events. which are to be broadcast to the Empire from Daventry on short wave do not coincide with convenient times for reception. overseas, we are not deprived of the pleasure of ‘hearing them. The system-of electrical recordings has been: so ‘we'l. developed during the last few years that’ the records made when the actual broadcast is (Continued in.col 1, next page.)

(Continued from previous page.) being carried out are now used to re- . live the moments when any event occurred which was broadcast directly. Two recent outstanding examples of the perfection of this service were the Ox-ford-Cambridge boat race and, only last Monday, the great Cup Tie Final at Wembley. Both of these as rebroadcast by New Zealand stations were thrilling and realistic, a great credit to both the New Zealand and the English ends of a marvellous system. During next week, as the programmes show, there will’ be at least. five rebroadcasts of Daventry for the King’ s Jubilee celebrations.