NEW WIRELESS PLANT.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 136, 11 June 1929, Page 10

NEW WIRELESS PLANT.

FOR WELLINGTON STATION.

EXTENDED COMMUNICATION.

PICTURE TRANSMISSION UNDER CONSIDERATION.

The Hon. J. B. Donald (PostmasterGeneral) to-day informed a "Star" representative that his Department had recently ordered from Sydney a modern short-wave transmitting and receiving plant. This is for erection at the ZLW (Morse) station at Wellington and will cost approximately £0000. The new plant will render obsolete the high power spark stations at Awanui and Awarua, and will effect a considerable annual saving. The transmitter will be used primarily for communicating with the Pacific Islands (Samoa, Rarotonga, Tonga, etc.), but will afford an emergency means of communication with Australia, and with the short-wave stations in the United Kingdom during certain hours of the day. The plant will bo completely assembled in Sydney about the end of this month and will undergo extensive efficiency tests before being dispatched to New Zealand. As it is desired to obtain the maximum efficiency from this station it has been arranged that Mr. J. R. Smith, engineer in charge of the Department's laboratory, under whose supervision the plant will be installed, will proceed tso Sydney in order to be present during the testing operations to ensure that the best results are obtained and in order to facilitate the work of installation.

The Minister added that while in Australia Mr. Smith would investigate the many radio developments which had taken place in the Commonwealth during recent times, such as long-distance short-wave telephony, picture transmission, modifications in the beam system working to Canada and the United Kingdom, broadcasting technique and extensions of the Commonwealth Post and Telegraph laboratory at Melbourne. In connection with these developments and other technical problems which are common to Australia and New Zealand and upon which considerable correspondence has passed, it will be of great value to the Dominion to have one of its higher engineering officers visiting Australia at this stage to collaborate with the Australian Post Office engineers.