OVER the AERIAL

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 210, 5 September 1930, Page 14

OVER the AERIAL

WIRELESS NEWS FROM FAR AND NEAR. (By "PHONOS.")

To commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, a special feature programme has been arranged at 2YA on Thursday night.

Miss Berta Can* will be the principal soloist in to-night's programme from IYA. Those who tune in 2YA will be able to hear a relay of the Wellington Competitions Society's festival. The singing circle of the Pioneer Club will render a programme from 2YA on Monday night. From the eame station on Tuesday evening will be broadcast a studio presentation of "The Belle of New York." ' The dismal financial outlook in Australia is having no detrimental effect upon the increasing number of radio licenses. During July an additional 10,812. licensees were added to the Commomvealth total, which now reaches 323,00 Q. Every State contributed to the increase, New South Wales heading the list with a jump of 4000. It is .understood that the "recorded" broadcast programmes shortly to be tried in New Zealand are mainly of the disc type, similar to. .those used to synchronise with the, screen in the cinema. A disc of this type is capable of giving a 20-minute continuity. In comparison with tITe sound recording on film, it has the disadvantage of very slightly perceptible needle scratch. However, it will probably be found that Mr. Harris has made arrangements to secure broadcast film programmes also.

At present the maximum power allowed for a broadcasting station in the United States is 50 kilowatts, but last month an application was made to the radio authorities there for permission to erect a transmitter for KDKA, Pittsburg, with the revolutionary power of 400 kilowatts. It was stated that this station was required for testing purposes, with a view to future radio developments, and therefore would be operated at its maximum strength only between the hours of 1 and 6 a.m. If the permit for this giant voice of the air is granted we should certainly hear the new KDKA well even in New Zealand.

America is becoming more and more interested in British radio fare and it is expected that there will be a regular interchange of programmes between the two nations in the near future. Strange as it may seem, a talk upon such a subject as ancient monuments of the land would probably bore the majority of British listeners, yet it would prove most fascinating to an American, merely because it throws direct light upon a phase of another country's story. Generally speaking, the United States' programmes are not noted for their variety, but this is counteracted by the wide range of selection offered to anyone operating the tuning dial. This does not exist to nearly the same extent in Britain, where the programmes provided, even though they may not be particularly.bright, are always well varied. New. Zealand is a radio listener's paradise. Such in effect is the pronouncement of the wireless men who returned with the Byrd expedition to United States, and related their experiences to the New York "Times." Here is what one says: Radio listeners who want to be really fascinated by tuning in on all the world should go to New Zealand, called by the radio men of the Byrd expedition, "a listeners' paradise, a vast ethereal whispering gallery." Antenna wires stretched , above the mountain terrain of these islands in the South Pacific pick up radio waves from all over the world; in fact, it seems that New Zealand's air is a focal point for the broadcasts., of many lands. Accompanying members of the expedition was Mr. H. M. Shrimpton, vice-president of the New Zealand Association of Amateur Radio Transmitters, who added interesting particulars regarding broadcasting in our Dominion. He Avas somewhat beyond actuality when.he stated that the transmissions of pur four main stations are "quite continuous throughout the day between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m.," but otherwise he gave Americans quite a fair idea of broadcasing and reception here, particularly from the point of view of the_ short-wave enthusiast. His closing remarks are, worth quoting. "Most of the broadcast receivers sold in New Zealand are imported from the United States. However, a few manufacturers of Auckland and other cities are beginning to supply, the increasing demand for sets of the all-electric type which are not too costly. Most of the imported sets are equipped with tubes of British manufacture, fitted specially with bases to match the sockets in the receivers. The New Zealand listener considers British vacuum tubes better than those obtained in the United States. Many listeners build their own sets and link them with dynamic speakers, which are 'all the rage/"

■To-morrow evening the chief Dominion attractions will be found in the Municipal Band concert from IYA and the "Eight o'Clock Revue" from Wellington.

Britain now claims that, in proportion to population, she has a greater number of listeners to broadcast programmes than the United States. At a modest estimate of four listeners per set, twelve and a half million people hear the services of the 8.8.C., and the number goes on increasing steadily. Broadcasting in England has now reached a stage where there appears' little general enthusiasm discernible among set owners. Listening lias become more of a habit than an exciting diversion, and a receiver is a necessity rather than a luxury. What a remarkable revolution has thus occurred since the time when, a couple of years after the war, Captain P. P. Eckersley founded his little experimental broadcasting station in Essex. Today it is estimated that over 5000 schools alone listen in to the special instructional lectures sent out for their benefit. In fact, broadcasting as an instructional movement seems to have developed faster and more substantially in Britain than anywhere else in the world. Further, it has become a boon to the Treasury. In 1929 the gross revenue from licenses, at 10/ per set, was £1,470,000. Of this huge sum, the post office claimed £153,000 for administrative purposes, the Treasury took £341,000 and an additional £60,000 for income tax, while less than £900,000 was left to the Broadcasting Corporation.

If your aerial runs horizontal to that of a neighbour, turn it so that it takes an oblique.course. If there is an aerial on either eide of your own this variation in direction may uncouple, it from both. Horizontal wires interact and make it very difficult to tune keenly. It may be affirmed that non-selectivity is most frequently occasioned by aerial coupling.

There is promise of more than the usual variety and. attractiveness of the IYA programmes for the coming week. On Tuesday evening there will be a> classical night under the direction of Madame Towsey; Wednesday's chief items will.be supplied by the Auckland Methodist Choir; on Thursday Mr. Elton Black and his Radiolites offer a bright novelty programme from 8 till 9.30; a studio concert concluding with a gramophone lecture-recital by Mr. Karl Atkinson will fill Friday's evening session; on Saturday the Municipal Band will be relayed, and there will be the usual dance programme hour from 10 to 11.