THE MAGIC SPARK.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 215, 11 September 1925, Page 11

THE MAGIC SPARK.

— ■ DECREASED LOCAL SERVICE. LACK OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT. INCREASING AERIAL CAPACITY. (By "PHONOS.") It is not generally known that broadcasting has provided quite a windfall for music publishing firms in Australia. According to copyright law there (and presumably the same law exists in New Zealand) the general run of songs may not be broadcasted without the payment of a royalty. Music dealers, either as principals or agents, receive quite a substantial portion of the annual license fees paid in the Commonwealth as a royalty covering the items broadcasted. Many a radio enthusiast will smile broadly over the plea of "wireless insanity", advanced in a recent Southern court ease, and will chuckle at the way in which the plea was accepted. The enthusiasts who spend long nightly vigils in attempting D.X. reception are no more likely to be affected, adversely mentally that those who burn much midnight oil in study, novel reading, bridge parties, and hundreds of other pursuits. Do we hear these advanced as excuses, not causes, of lapses from grace? The great obstacle that the average radio enthusiast has to face is that the general run of the public who know nothing of the intricacies and the fascination of his hobby, regard him as a crank. Even law courts, apparently, are not immune from this view. With the improvement in both quality and power of the Sydney and Melbourne transmissions, it would be interesting to secure a general opinion of the extent to which these stations are tuned, in in comparison with the reception of our local programmes. There is certainly a greatly increased tendency to reach out for the "Australian stuff" noticeable in Auckland in recent months. Still further will the desire to hear from across the Tasman j be increased after the end of this month, for it is understood that then IV.A. will revert to its old system of transmission on only four nights per week, while the afternoon broadcastings will also cease. This state of affairs is due, apparently, to the cessation, as ; from September 30, of financial support by the local radio trade. From the time ' that IV.A. came on the air, the trade has j been its greatest financial support. For | the past few months, certainly, there ] has been a revenue of £15 per week j from Government-collected license fees, I and this, if the station continues during i subsequent months, will seemingly be its | only source of income. Certainly our I local station has had a hard row to hoe. and, if it were to shut down entirely, its action would cause regret, but not surprise. Equally certainly it was very had policy on th part of the, Government to collect a 30/ fee for the support of a broadcasting scheme before I it was assured that such a scheme would ! come into immediate working order. Its action has undoubtedly given a serious . set-back to a beneficial forjn of enter-. tainment that in almost all other lands has progressed at an amazing rate.' Interesting developments in connection with local radio matters may be expected within the next four weeks. BROADCASTING IN JAPAN. The recent reception of Japanese' broadcasting will make the following j particulars of radio development in j Nippon of interest. Restrictions in the : Far East are evidently more severe than j they are here, while, in comparison, our I 30/ license fee does not seem Extortionate. Although it was only in March that the Japanese Government authorised the operation of the first Japanese broadcasting station, wireless is booming in the East to an extent that induces 1500 new applicants to seek permits every week in Osaka ilmie. The demand for radio apparatus has ex- [ hausted the supply, and valves are prac- j tically unobtainable. Owners of sets operated within 100 miles pay approximately 3/ a month in license fees. INCREASING AERIAL CAPACITY. In many congested areas it is impossible to sling an aerial more than 20 feet in length, and this necessarily lacks capacity. A plan to increase it is given here. Two wire "bushes" are attached to the horizontal stretch near the centre but separated by at least five feet of wire. The "bushes" are made by taking four lengths of 7.22, and wiring to "twigs" which have been formed by unwinding the strands of ordinary twised aerial wire. Thus, if we cut off a length of 8 inches, each length can be untwisted till it has seven independent branches of its own. Two inches should be left at the bottom so that each "twig" can be wired to one of the four lengths which form the "branches." " As the object is only to increase the amount of wire in the aerial system, no particular pains need be taken in measuring off the wire for this quaint "foliage." But in order that it may have a presentable appearance the "twigs" should be bound to the "branches" and the "bushes" secured to the aerial in as neat a manner as possible with No. 20 bare copper wire. An alternative plan is to suspend from a short aerial an equal length of wire netting one yard wide. This is the netting usually used to enclose poultry runs. NEW RADIO WAVE. Static and "fading," the two most annoying interferences in the reception of radio programmes, may be remedied, if not wholly eliminated, by the use of a new radio wave—the horizontal polarised wave —according to E- F. W. Alexanderson, consulting engineer and radio expert of the General Electric Company. The new horizontal polarised radio wave has been used experimentally for some time by Mr. Alexanderson at the General Electrics experimental radio station in Schenectady. He has discovered that a radio wave travels in a corkscrew fashion, and Mr. Alexanderson believes that it is this twist which causes 'the annoying and baffling phenomenon known as fading. All broadcasting at present is done by vertical polarised waves and all receiving sets are arranged to intercept vertical waves only. Mr. Alexanderson believes that the magnetic attraction of the earth affects these waves and that when they turn the signal gradually fades away. Mr. Alexanderson's plan to overcome this is to broadcast simultaneously on horizontally polarised waves as -well- as on tho vertical waves, so that when this i corkscrew occurs the horizontal, waves will be turning vertical at the same time that the vertical waves arc turning horizontal, thus causing the pro"Tamme to be received on waves which are polarised vertically at all times.