THE MAGIC SPARK.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 257, 30 October 1925, Page 11

THE MAGIC SPARK.

BROADCASTS !N BRITAIN. GREAT DAVENTRY STATION. NEWS OF THE WEEK. (By "PHONOS."i Mr. D. H. Shiphevd, well-known to radions when in charge of IYB. is now announcer of IYA. Mr. F. B. Hobbs. a well-known Hamilton wireless enthusiast, and the leading spirit in the transmissions from IAR. Hamilton, has forsaken the Waikato to enter the radio business in Auckland.

There will be no informal me.-ting of the Auckland Radio Association during the month of November.

At the last meeting of the executive of the A.R.A.. at which tlte report of Mr. (i. .Salt, listeners' representative on the Broadcast Board was presented, a unanimous vote of thanks io Mr. Salt for his work in the interests of listeners and of confidence ni him as their representative was passed.

Through a misprint in the typed copy of Mr. Salt's report on the lirst meeting of the Broadcast Board a wrong impression may have been gained. The report (as published) stated that Mr. Salt "commended the efficiency of 4YA iDunedin)."' It should have read that he "condemned it." Incidentally, it may be mentioned, that although 4YA, has increased its power, the muffling which has characterised this station in the past is still present. A parently clarity of the Dunedin transmissions is obtained only by considerably rescuing the volume.

Though there is still little to pick up iv the way of New Zealand transmissions, the majority of valve set owners are enjoying the superior fare provided by the Australian stations, and there are abundant reports of reception at loud speaker strength from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.

Those who have had the privilege of ' hearing the details of the station to be erected in Auckland by the. Broadcasting j Company of New Zealand are very definite in their dictum that it will be a first- I class one. The situation of the aerial, on top of George Court's building in Karangahape Road, will be on the finest ( location procurable in Auckland, and the j 103 foot masts that will tower from the ■roof there will be outstanding landmarks for the city. The plant, too. will be of j { the latest design. Of the date of com- j j meneement, however, there is little cause < for optimism. The agreement specifies | ( the end of February, six months from the | date of signing. "Phonos" will be agreeably surprised if the new station is in ( working order by .lune, 1926. , This will interest local listeners: In England the programme is exactly timed, and is kept to time, and the speaker or musician who is unpunctual does not have much opportunity to repeat the \ offence. A WORLD REVIEW. The '"Radio Times," the official organ of the British Broadcasting Company, contains a most interesting summary of broadcasting efforts in various parts «£ the globe. The article is from the pen of Mr. Bernays Johnson, a prominent figure in the American wireless world, who has just completed a radio tour of Europe. He mentions that in Germany he found broadcasting highly developed, and was particularly impressed with a new microphone that the Germans had evolved. The main feature of German radio work was the way in which the people there were using broadcasting to inculcate a knowledge of languages amongst listeners. It. was at least amazing to find that announcers, in delivering their bedtime stories for children, were using both German and English. It was in Britain itself, however, that this pilgrim from the home of broadcasting received his greatest awakening. I for, in his own words. "In all my {travels, whether in the old world or the j new, I admit I have struck nothing to equal the British broadcasting system." This, in passing, is the system that was referred to in the New Zealand Parliament as "hotch potfh." Mr. Johnston states that the British system is based upon a thoroughly democratic spirit, and thinks throughout of the crystal user— the man who can afford only the least expensive and elaborate apparatus. Starting with a definite prejudice against the British system, he comes to the conclusion that it is immeasurably superior to any other, and he is sure that in no other country of the world could such | plans be developed with the efficiency I and expedition that is indicated by the ' present programmes of the 8.8.C. A BRITISH TRIUMPH. SXX, Daventry, England, is the last word in wireless telephony transmitting stations of the British Empire. Its 500 ft , j masts alone are a feature of the lanrl- • scape, and the fact that it extends the reliable radius for crystal set listeners to a distance of a hundred miles makes ', this station a feature of world-wide interest. Within its "crystal"' radius dwells a population of no less than 25 millions, and, with its advent on the air, < has commenced a return of the crystal boom in southern Britain. Daventry is ■ perhaps at the present time the greatest ; station in the world from the technical ; side, and its operation will enable Home broadcasting to be relayed confidently ! throughout Europe, and even across the I Atlantic. It should even be clearly , picked up across the Western Ocean under ordinary conditions by those , whose sets can tune in to its 1600 metre ' wave, for even its present input power ! is 25 kilowatts. Provision has been made. ■- however, to extend this power up to CO ", kilowatts, a quantity undreamed of in { telephony transmission but few months ago. Undoubtedly Daventry will be followed \ by similar stations in the various coun- " tries, which will help to establish interi communication between the nations. j High power broadcasting is having very "careful study here, and it is nnder- \ stood that in the very near future a ' station of considerable power will be ' opened in the neighbourhood of New 1 York City.

One of*the greatest benefits of superpower broadcasting is the overriding of static due to the increased signal strength; fading is also another factor which* Will be reduced.

There is one last point, however, which will require careful government legislation, that is, the prevention of too many stations being erected in any one zone, for, unless there is some control of this nature, there will result chaotic jamming and "beating" of signals.