:: Over the Aerial :: WIRELESS NEWS FROM FAR AND NEAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 181, 2 August 1929, Page 16

:: Over the Aerial :: WIRELESS NEWS FROM FAR AND NEAR.

On Tuesday evening next the IYA Choir makes its radio debut. Listeners hope that it will provide a pleasing variation from the perennial quartet. According to a London paper 4000 television sets are now* being manufactured under Baird patents in preparation for the experimental television transmissions shortly to be undertaken by the 8.8.C. Tuesday evening's broadcast description of the boxing bouts at the Town Hall lacked all the brightness and racine«s that made the wrestling contests of the previous week a subject of favourable comment in many New Zealand papers. On Thursday evening 2YA will present another Maori pageant. Last year's broadcast on these lines was quite a historic one, and was put on the air by Australian stations. It is to be hoped that, if a relay line is not available, IYA will at least rebroadcast part of what should be a splendid programme. 2YB has made a feature of broadcasting the Saturday afternoon football games at New Plymouth, but financial stringency threatens to bring about an abandonment of these sporting broadcasts unless those who particularly enjoy them are prepared to assist in the expenwe, the main item of which, is a relay line charge. The 8.8.C., by the way, appears to be •having many family troubles of late. It has lost quite a number of its staff through resignations, most notable among them being Capt. P. P. Eckersley, whose name has a world-wide recognition in radio circles. The general reason given for the resignations is "too much red tape." The 8.8.C. is not the only broadcasting concern so afflicted. "You provide the dance music; we will run the dance and hand over the proceeds to the station." Such is the gist of a proposal put forward to 2YB, the New Plymouth station, by a country district. An endeavour is to be made to secure the co-operation of other country townships on these lines, on the same night, so that the Taranaki co-operative station funds should benefit considerably. j

Germany is rapidly approaching Britain in its total of licensed listeners, which now stands at well over two and a-half millions. In at least one district a novel method of increasing listeners is in vogue. Every listener who successfully canvasses for another and gives his name and address, receives a money prize equivalent to one month's license fee. How about trying this in our Cinderella radio province of Otago? Two of the promised relay stations for the Australian Government broadcasting system have already been ordered, and instructions for the construction of others .will soon follow. One of the first two is to be erected at Newcastle, and should be working in from six to nine months. These relay stations will nightly devote one hour of their time to local broadcasting, and for the remainder of their transmitting hours will utilise land lines from the big plants in Melbourne or Sydney. The new relay stations will be almost as powerful as 2FC and 3LO, which themselves will shortly' be replaced by transmitters of double the output power. Wednesday night's broadcast of "Ariadne" from IYA was admirable in many respects.- The characters rendered their lines with noticeable clarity, and their enthusiasm was evident. Yet the presentation placed an undue strain upon the listener, for there was generally lacking that necessity for a successful radio drama, the power of each character to convey by voice only his or her peculiarities so that anyone following the crisp dialogue might visualise both the person ana the circumstances in which that person is situated. The majority of radio plays presented in both New Zealand and Australia have, not reached this standard, which is one insisted upon in Britain and other lands where the drama on the air has really developed.

The Rev. Clyde Carr, M.P., formerly announcer at 3YA, had something pertinent to eay in the recent Parliamentary discussion on broadcasting. He hoped the Department would consider sanctioning the payment of licenses quarterly, as°at present numbers of young enthusiasts could not afford to pay the 30/ in one lump sum. Speaking of the monopoly enjoyed by the New Zealand Broadcasting Company, Mr. Carr stated that the only license granted "was one for five years, commencing in 1924, which would normally have meant that ths monopoly would cease this year. However, he understood that subsequent to the last elections, but prior to the present Government taking office, the monopoly was extended for three and a-'Juvlf years. Was that so, and, if so, could it be justified ? He also believed that a large amount had been paid out of the • Consolidated Fund for patent rights. This was irregular and merited an investigation. With regard to the B class stations, he asked the Postmaster-General whether he would make a statement as to their status in relation to the A class stations.

(By "PHONOS.")

The "classical night" for next week has been transferred to Friday. A much more suitable evening, too! A proposal is now afoot to hold a radio exhibition in Christchurch at an early date. Shall Auckland lag behind? Miss Sarah Stacpoole, always a welcome vocalist, will 'be heard from IYA on Wednesday evening, after a relay provided by the Piano Students' Association. Miss Etta Field, well known to Aucklanders, sang from 2FC on Wednesday evening, and will be heard from other stations later. This is Miss Field's first broadcasting engagement in Australia. Under the new regime in Australia j only one of the Metropolitan stations in Sydney and Melbourne supplies' children's sessions in the evening, market reports, and Sunday night church services. According to official programmes there will be no evening relay next Sunday. A IYA studio concert is scheduled, at which four well-known artists —Madame Humphrey Steward, Miss Doreen Atkin, Miss Doris Gower, and Mr. I. O'Malley— will contribute. According to the Postmaster-General, over 200 different types of sets have been tested by officers of his Department. Before receivers can be imported for sale in New Zealand one of each' type must be submitted for inspection to see that it complies with regulations. There are doubtless some home-constructed sets operating which do not so comply. Their owners are probably lucky in not having received a visit from a radio inspector. Radio figures are so numerous that they cease to be astounding, yet even those abhorrent of statistics will be surprised at the marvellous' development of trans-Atlantic radio telephony, as illustrated by the most recent figures. As a result of the utilisation of the radio channels now available across the western ocean, no less than 32,500,000 of the world's telephones —over 80 per cent of the world's total, in fact —can now be inter-connected, with the advantage tha t speech can range a cross two continents and the world's busiest ocean.

| The "Record" features tlia recent Wellington display as "the first radio exhibition held in New Zealand." As a matter of fact, a most successful radio exhibition, was held in Auckland some /three or four years ago, tinder the auspices of the old Radio Society. The University authorities kindly placed rooms in their science department at the disposal of exhibitors, and the displays, lectures and demonstrations were splendidly patronised. The recent Wellington exhibition was a remarkable success, over 7000 visitors attending during the three days it was open to the public.