THE MAGIC SPARK.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 24, 29 January 1926, Page 11

THE MAGIC SPARK.

FURTHER DISAPPOINTMENTS. SITUATION REVIEWED. INTERNATIONAL RADIO TESTS. IBy PHONOS.) .\:i!.>nz this wi-i-k"* visitors to Air-k- - -- - i |.a- iK'i'ii Mr. Ivan o'Meara, the i\fl!-'.i: .'.vn lii-'mrne amateur who has n ;,;.•■,! ! .1 wur'i 1-widt , reputation fur his v ,.-\ mm -: i■• r _ wave-lengths. Mr. , -V. ,:.. : 1- :..nnd it no unusual n< - , ■•:•:■.■: ■•r .1 '.!<■) ! convnr-ati m wit h ,i:i;.i ■• - i: - 1; '-''■■• rMiit inents ilurins nne c- ■ •α-j. '.'<■ ••'itiy ill , ha-. Uivn relaying 111, - ■:;;-: 1! ■■•■; l!;ii n-. An amateur in i'ir- ii.i- bi-i-ii \ .TV of Imio ii ■ ::. ■::,;■:!•: ,:i u;th h> friend in »,.:. li !':■•■:■ 'i 1:: !<■•' :,\:\a.< Ilavina !; ,■, ■ •■■.■!! !,..! !i',_' Mor-f i-onveree •: -. .:-:, M-. 1 ■■\!-..:■..'- i;;..!..,nie station. ii , ! - !■.:"■> h.-t .1 ro-iiient Aas tc~tL: j "-.it i , .i!!y iiiii-trt;.Led transmi' - ,; -' =•■■'' liii! ia< a ten watts input. TN , j'iiii'; ''.i- run fur three hour? wi-' , r-ni 'rkii'i> -u.ces?. both volume an 1 niM.lil iti-'ii l.fiiiL.' -ii partii-nlarly 31.n.] a= :■< ! •••;_• i , :a\ ouru'jie co'i'ment ir.im ....■•■:.- ■■: wi.inly -c.itiiTpl li-tPner*. n :■.•■•:>'■ iu-iitrndyne. reports having ]~__,_,.! -,i ;• I,i • v ,■, weeks the following ?t;i::..nv I V\. l Yl',. 1 i;l. 1 YC iW juij.ir-.-: 2 Yl\. 1 Wellington!. :? 1.0 an.l -'I AR 'Me!':- urn.-. 2 WE (Sydney). 2 V.M and several* U.S.A. (in Friday, from 11 p.m. to 11.13 p.m., Ea-tern t'.S.A. stations only will broadcast; for the following 15 minutes the Central ones will be on the air; and then the Mountain Zone and Pacific Slope stations will each have a quarter of an hour. On Saturday. January 30. another variation of the DX contest will be arranged, and after the conclusion of the hour broadcast from all American stations for the benefit of overseas listeners broadcasting stations in Canada will have the air exclusively to themselves during the first fifteen'minutes of the silent hour. Sixteen minutes after the silent hour has begun broadcasters in the northern half of the United States will take up the broadcasting, while the Canadian stations shut down for the remaining; forty-five minutes of the test hour. The third quarter of the hour will be devoted to stations in the southern half of the United States, while the last quarter of the silent hour will bring Mexican and Cuban stations on '.he air to entertain listeners throughout the entire American continent. Wednesday's meeting of the Broadcasting Advisory Board has brought firiy■thing but consolation to a long-suffering body of licensees. The New Zealand Broadcasting Company entered into a written agreement with the Government to provide a two-station efficient service within six months of the signing of the agreement. Xow they have been granted an extension of time for a period of fmir months. It is quite feasible that the company over-estimated its capabi!iti'.-« in agreeing to supply the agreed >erv>e in the specified time, and though riier? will be disappointment at another of the vexatious delays that have marked the whole history of radio broadcasting in the Dominion, the Government, has chosen the wiser alternative in granting an extension of time in preference to determining the agreement, as if, h;ul power to do. The latter action would hire produced further delay, thoujh there are many who contend that in the end it would be to the advantage of our future radio service. Where the real grievance lie*, however, is in the one-sidedness of llie present situation. There has been so much of extravagant prophesying, and so many piecrust promises have been made, that out of all this maze of the past has arisen among radio amateurs and dealers alike a feeling- of utter disgust at present conditions. The general public may be interested to know th it "from April 1, 1925. the owner of a licensed listening-in set has been charged a fee of 30/ per annum for the privilege of hearing Dominion broadcasting under a Gcvernment-supervised scheme. From September last the Dominion Broadcasting Company has been receiving its share of five-sixths of this revenue for proT : d:ng this service, and when those who understand the conditions make com- • jiarirons between the present and the pre-agreement conditions they have ample reason to grumble. From the Auckland station, just a year ago. there was a service of about twenty hours per week, which cost neither the listener nor *'ie Government anything. Dozens ot local amateurs willingly gave their servrces gratis to entertain those wno donned head-phones or sat before loud speakers. To-day, when listeners are paying for service, Auckland station is running for but eight hours weekly, and there has been a most decided falllng-off i*; the quality of the entertainment provided. In Wellington conditions have been even worse. There the crystal set owner was mulcted of his thirty shillings, and for months could hear nothing at all, for the local station wae closed down entirely. At present it is supplying programmes for eight hours a week. The amateur station at Taihape. run by that enthusiast. Mr. Morton Ooutts. has been off the air for some time, apparently tinder Government instructions. Much was expected from Dunedin, where the company undertook the broadcasting of the Exhibition concerts. With the inception of this southern broadcasting came various assurances that a real radio treat was in store for New Zealand, and that this would be provided in a thoroughly up-to-date manner. To those in the North Island, the Dunedin broadcastings have been more often a hideous howl than an enjoyable entertainment. Apologists have deprecated the flood of adverse criticism that has been poured upon Dunedin broadcasting, but their excuses cannot justify its poorness, especially the one that a temporary broadcasting station cannot be made to servr- the whole Dominion. At the Advisory Board's meeting. Mr. Salt, whose technical opinion is as good as can be given in New Zealand, stressed ■the fact that the Dunedin station's poor modulation was a remediable defect that the controlling company had failed to rectify. On to"i of all this comes the announcement that the Government hae no legal power to grunt a remission of fees tor the period pending the establishment of a satisfactory radio service. Briefly. 'lie radio licensee will have provided his 102.J contribution, and four months of his 102(i one. ere he gets the type of broadcasting he had been led to expect ore this. Naturally he feels very sore that the company can get consideration in an extension of time, while he has to pay in full. Surely that elastic system cf Orders-in-Council lias the facilities to provide him with a redress that he justly deserves.