THE MAGIC SPARK.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 281, 27 November 1925, Page 11

THE MAGIC SPARK.

INTENSIFIED HOWLING.

MORE ABOUT DUNEDIN.

AUSTRALIAN STATIONS OPERATING

SHORT WAVE DEVELOPMENTS,

(By "PHONOS.")

I It is generally understood that the aerial of the local commercial station, I now on the post office roof, will shortly be transferred across the water. I j The novelty of listening in is now being experienced by motor bus passen- ; gers in Auckland, according to a para- , graph in this week's news. A facetious ' t listener, who has been straining hard to ; pick up the Scotch city, is anxious to ; know how far the bus was on its way I to Dunedin when it picked up the Ex- j ' hibition broadcast j , Palmerston North has an enthusiastic . Radio Society that is now undertaking . broadcasting from its own station, , "2G1," which was on the air for the first ; time on Monday of last week. j According to Southern papers, the i various radio associations there also ' endorse Mr. Salt's actions as their re- j '. presentative on the advisory board. ' > According to the "Dominion" *the Wei- ' ! lington opinion is that Mr. Salt has ' proved himself a thoroughly competent ; and alert representative of the licensees, and be is to be complimented on the ; efforts be has made on their behalf. j DUNEDIN BROADCASTING. • I There is still a very general feeling of dissatisfaction with the transmissions i from the Dunedin Exhibition. They are ■ now certainly audible in Auckland, or as i one listener in put it, they are "chaee- ; able." "Aerial" in the "Dominion," has ! the following comment to make: "The ■ strength of the station (Dunedin) is still i far less than what it should be, coni sidering that it is supposed to have an : output of 500 watts*. Then there were ■ J two changes in wave length, which ■ rather surprised one Ultimately VLDN landed close on to the Sydney station, ■ 2 BL. A speaker from VLDX made complimentary reference to the broadcasting from the station, but his remarks appeared rather premature. The tone of the music was not consistently good, this being due in part to frequent and intense fading. The cause of the latter may have been atmospheric conditions, but fluctuations in electric power could also have been responsible for it. If one were to regard VLDN in the light of a first class station, the transmission up to and including last Saturday was not satisfactory." Taken on the whole, the broadcasting from the I Exhibition has been utterly disappointing, and it is high time that a representative protest should be lodged. Promises were made that there would be first-class broadcasting, but the transmission has fallen far short of the mark. LOCAL TROUBLES. 1 YA 'is now transmitting on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, consequently Wednesdays and Satur- I days have now become "pandemonium nights." One cannot imagine confusion worse confounded than it has been during the past two weeks The howling valve nuisance lias ceased to be a nuisance. It has become an absolutely choking factor of wireless development, j so far-reaching in its effect that many set owners will throw up the game altoI gether .if ' its evils are not remedied. '.There are two causes —crass ignorance and gross carelessness. One is partly forgivable. . As for the other, there is provision in the Government regulations I for the cancellation of the license of a 'listener who energises the ether to the detriment of others, and it would he well if active steps were taken to impress.upon these "air hogs" that they have no exclusive right to the atmosphere. The conditions at present are worse than they have ever been. According to a licensee who has done considerable reception work in England during the development stages there, nothing m the Old Country ever approached the , chaos of sound that howls through the i phones here in Auckland. Nothing is I more likely than, with a continuation of present conditions, the Department will issue restrictive regulations upon types lof sets to be used. It would be wise,! therefore, for many set-owners to remember that they are expected to use their valves for reception, not for miniature transmision AUSTRALIA'S STATIONS. There are eight "A" class stations now in active operation in Australia—the maximum number allowed by the regulations. In addition to the two Sydney stations, there are 4GQ in Brisbane, using a wave length of "385 metres on a power of abouf 500 watts; the Melbourne I stations 3LO, on 371 metres, and 5000 watts, and 3AR, using 454 metres and 11600 watts. Then there is the SA ] station, which has just opened up on 484 metres, with a power of 500 watts. , Others are 6WF in Perth, using a wave length of 1250 metres and a power of 500 watts, and 7ZL, in Hobart, which employs a wave length of 410 metres on a power a little less than 500 watts. To those with sufficiently sensitive sets, the choice of services is a wide one— is only Australia's great distance which places many of these stations beyond 'range of the average set. But this disability is perhaps balanced by the lack of interference here. In America, where the choice of services is probably the' most comprehensive in the world, interference due to the overlapping transmissions is bcoming a problem which, for the present, looks like ending in a deadlock. In addition to the "A" class stations — those which derive direct revenue from the fee 3 paid by listeners —there are numerous of the "B" class, which obtains no direct return, but which gain their repayment through - other channels', or who perhaps make. a hobby of it. In ■ Sydney there are three stations of this type worth mentioning, 2BE, 2UW, and 2UE. Another "B" class station worthy of note is SDN, Adelaide —popularly ! known as "oDon N;" for reasons of clarity and pronunciation. In two years, then, Australia has made rather remarkable headway in broadcasting in spite- of the fact that she ! was late in starting, compared with parts of the old world and America. But, to some extent, she has been able to profit by the experience of others and has managed to miss many of the pitfalls which confronted the pioneers of this entirely new product of science.