Over the Aerial

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 248, 19 October 1928, Page 17

Over the Aerial

(By "PHONOS.")

WIRELESS NEWS FROM FAR AND NEAR.

The 40,000 mark in Dominion licenses has again been passed, on this occasion, it is firmly believed, for the last time.

Mrs. Birch-Johnston, better known -n New Zealand amateur theatrical circles as Miss Winnie Birch, will be heard from 2BL to-night.

3ZC, the Canterbury amateur station, has been testing on 50 metres during the week, and is desirous of receiving reports upon reception.

The police in New South Wales have been reaping a big harvest at the expense of unlicensed listeners in that State. In a fortnight no less than 1176 of this class were hailed before the courts, and mulcted in fines and costs of £2922.

Radio announcers are not immune from colds, which in their case must be serious handicaps. It was evident on Tuesday night that all was not well with Sir. Clive Drummond's throat, though the 2YA announcer did very good work under the handicap.

On Tuesday night 2ME, Sydney, and 2XAF, New York, were heard endeavouring to establish two-way communication, apparently with not the best of results. Both stations, however, were heard at splendid strength in Auckland, where the number of short-wave listeners is increasing rapidly.

On Tuesday night it was announced from IYA that there would be no broadcast of the Municipal Band on Wednesday evening. It was a pity that the reason for the cancellation was not given. The band provides one of our most popular evenings, and in view of the continued discussion on municipal music that has been raging, many listeners were somewhat perturbed at the abandonment of Wednesday's relay.

RADIO "WAVES."

In an effort to gain further knowledge as to tie propagation of radio waves over long distances some experiments recently conducted in America have produced results which are of more than passing interest. Curious "echo" effects lave been noted in many signals sent over distances of thousands of miles. These effects are caused by the arrival at the receiver of an "echo" to each signal, and in some cases of a series of echoes, shortly after the signal proper has been received. The effect was first noted several years ago, and was attributed to the transmission of the wave both ways round the earth to the receiver. As wireless waves travel at the rate of about 186,000 miles per second, there would, in nearly all cases be a small but appreciable time interval between the arrival of a signal at a receiver from one direction round the earth, and its arrival from the opposite direction. Knowing the distance between the transmitting and receiving stations this time interval could be calculated fairly accurately. Recent observations have shown that the time interval between the arrival of the signal proper and the echo signal is considerably shorter than would be the case if the signal were merely travelling both ways round the earth. It is, therefore, believed that in many cases the echo is caused by portion of the wave radiated from the transmitter attaining a much higher altitude thai, the mi.in part of the wave. Tha portion of the radiated wave which takes the high altitude path would clearly travel farther than that taking a comparatively low altitude path from the transmitter to the receiver. It v. uuld consequently take longer on the journey, and arrive at the receiver after the low altitude portion of the wave, thus causing the echo. The interval between the a r rival of the two waves is usually only a few thousandths part of a second. Although this effect at first sight appears inconsequential it is likely to prove an important factor in the relaying of programmes sent by wireless instead of telephone. It is clear that if every sound transmitted from a wireless station produces an "echo" at the receiver, the echo will become superimposed on the succeeding sound. The two distinct series of sounds will then not be heard separately, but will be jumbled together, and considerable distortion is likely to result. This echo effect is probably the cause of much . distortion, which is often noticed when receiving signals from distant broadcast- ' ing stations.

PICTURE TRANSMISSION IN BRITAIN.

It is now fairly certain that the 8.8.C. will this autumn start the transmission of still pictures receivable in the home. This must not be confused with television, or the transmission and reception by wireless of moving pictures.

The Postmaster-General has indicated that in the opinion of his officers, television is still in the experimental stage, and the 8.8.C. has no immediate experiments in view with reference to it.

On the other hand, important experiments have already taken place in the broadcasting from SXX, the senior Daventry, of photographs and drawings. These may be reproduced on apparatus with a small rotating cylinder on which the picture is traced.

To overcome the problem of synchronisation at the transmitting and receiving ends it seems probable that the apparatus used will be one that is started and stopped by the broadcast signals.

The tests carried out so tar by the 8.8.C. have been after broadcasting hours, and ordinary listeners will have heard only a series of strange sounds. It is probable that any experimental service started will likewise be after the usual broadcasting hours, so as not to interfere with the broadcast programmes of the vast majority of listeners. The 8.8.C. will have to consider the kind of picture that is likely to be popular with the average wireless set owner. Possibly the pictures will be largely of topical interest.

At this year's meeting of the British Association for tiie Advancement of Science matters appertaining to broad- j casting take no small place. At the | gathering, which was held in Glasgow !on September 7, a model atndio in Uni-1 versity Place, Glasgow, where members of the British Association were able to address their friends through the medium of loud speakers was installed in an adjacent room. It was possible |to judge to what extent, from the scientific point of view; the speaker couldj 'held the attention «<an nnaeen audiences

LESSONS FROM FLIGHT BROADCAST

The New Zealand broadcasting stations deserve heartiest thanks from all listeners for the way in which they the return flight over the Tasman. For a full twenty-four hours the staffs stuck to their jobs, and, in appreciation of the results, those who followed the journey of the Southern Cross are apt to forget the human element which made the description possible. It is to be hoped that some, at least, wrote a word of appreciation to operators and announcers for their unremitting toiL IYA certainly put up the finest performance to its credit since the establishment of the station. It rebroadcast 2YA's description of the take-off, and added details. It sent out messages from the plane as they came to hand through the day and the evening. Then, most wisely, as midnight approached, the Auckland station j picked up 2BL, and, with hardly an in- I termission, retransmitted Sydney's story of the awaiting crowd, the reaching of the coast, and the wonderful landing. In its procedure IYA eclipsed its bigger sister, and, with the clarity and volume of its rebroadcast, gave crystal owners in particular a rare treat. The hour from 3 to 4 a.m. was well worth the loss of sleep it entailed.. Congratulations to Mr. Hayden, Mr. Halcrow, and the rest of the staff.

To the many who heard 2BL's graphic account of the landing and of the moments prior to it there must have been one outstanding impression—what a marvellous asset is an announcer who has the versatility to describe impromptu. Both at the studio microphone and at Richmond there were men whose every word was vivid, and who had that rare gift of holding a vast audience scattered over thousands of miles. In comparison, the effort from Blenheim in the small hours of Saturday morning was quite tame. For real descriptive work there does not exist the scope in New Zealand such as one finds in Australia, but there is a lesson in last Saturday's flight for New Zealand stations, and that lesson is that the man at the microphone can make or mar the occasion.

Summer time is now with ue, and there is little chance for some months of a repetition of Sunday morning's achievement, but IYA demonstrated what can be done, and done well, in rebroadcasting Australian stations. One hears many things from across the water that would be of absorbing interest to New Zealanders, and listeners would welcome, rather than object to, any breaks in the scheduled programmes if Australia was •put on the air through IYA. Let us hope that our station will develop the trail that it has blazed so well.

BROADCASTING IN BRITAIN.

After six years since the inception of the old 8.8.C., broadcasting shows no signs of losing its hold upon the public. The latest return for wireless receiving licenses shows that 2,511,736 people have paid 10/ each towards the upkeep of the 8.8.C., and, incidentally, also towards the upkeep of the General Post Office. The steady improvement in all kinds of wireless receiving apparatus and the marked decrease in prices have contributed to this growth of license revenue, and a further stimulus should be provided by the 8.8.C.'s regional scheme, which will enable all parts of the country to be within service range of a programme, even with the cheapest and crudest set.

The 8.8.C. has some big problems to tackle. At present it is in strong disfavour in Wales. The patriotic inhabitants of the Principality, who still adhere to their own. language and their own national music, desired a special broadcasting service for themselves. The 8.8.C. duly considered the request and turned it down for two reasons, one, that such a proposal in operation would interfere with the regional scheme, and the other, that Scotland would demand the same privilege.

The 8.8.C. is most favourably situated for relaying from Continental stations, but as yet has not made extensive use of the facilities so far as regular programmes are concerned. It is not easy to find a whole Continental programme that will appeal to British listeners, and little consideration is given to piecemeal efforts. Last month, however, the Sunday concert of the Kursaal Orchestra at Ostend was reproduced in England, with gratifying results.