From The Mailbag

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 31, 13 January 1939, Page 39

From The Mailbag

HE number of schools registered , for listening in April, 1935, was | 3656; in April, 1938, it was 8250; and by the end of May, 1938, this number had increased to 8477. Of . the total 8250, 891 were secondary | schools and 7359 were elementary and other schools, , TODAY'S problem which is exer--cising the mind of the BBC iswhether two, or perhaps three, 100. kilowatt stations could cover the British Isles effectively in the event of a national emergency assuming such serious proportions that the closing-down of most of the transmitters became unavoidable. It is a foregone conclusion that only those transmitters which are more or less remote from air raids would be able to continue in service. In the construction ot Start Point, therefore, provision is being made for a power unit oi 100 kilowatts, although, it should be added, that power may not be used when the station first comes into service next spring. Burghead, in Scotland, operates at present on a power of 70 kilowatts, capable of -Gnerease to 100 kilowatts. These two transmitters, with the addi- . tion of Droitwich, can, it is esti- , ; serve the whole of the British Isles.

A RECENT traffic census carried out by Imperial Airways reveals the remarkable extent to which air aa transport is used in the wireless | industry. Not only does this form of conveyance reduce the time ele- — ment to a matter of hours instead of days, but it dispenses with elaborate packing and makes breakages practically unheard of. Firms who at one time found it necessary to keep large stocks of components at their branches abroad, to ensure against running short of supplies, now find that urgent orders can be fulfilled in a few hours. The result is that supplies in hand can be kept down to a minimum with a subsequent saving in floor space and the certainty of stocks being fresh. While heavy batteries and accumulators still go by steamer, during practically every working day throughout the year a consignment of wireless valves leaves Croydon by air.

BOUT two hundred of Iceland’s fleet of seagoing fishing vessels are equipped with Post Office radio-telephonic apparatus. Calls can be put through to any subscriber ashore at the rate of 1.5 kroner (approximately 1/4) per period of three minutes. This service is the resul: of experiments successfully carried out by the Icelandic Post Office in 1932 when the significance of such a scheme was appreciated by the authorities and then quickly taken advantage of by owners of small crafi, THE most enthusiastic radio subscriber in the world musi surely be C. M., of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Recently he sent a cheque for 12,000 dinars (about £54) to radio authorities to pay for his wireless licence until January 1, 1988. LTHOUGH the: name of the Vienna broadcasting station changed to Reichsender Wien in March on the annexation of Austria by Germany, the former Austrian broadcasting company, Ravag, still exists, but under the direction of Dr. Glasmeier, Direc-tor-General of German broadcasting in Berlin. He has been appointed acting DG of Ravag until the company has been liquidated and the shareholders (tne Government and Municipality of Vienna) have been paid out. —

The Austrian transmitters were not Government-owned, but on the completion of the winding-up of Ravag they will become the property of the German Post Office,: as are all the transmitters in Germany, where the broadcasting authorities provide only the pro- . grammes. .