OVER the AERIAL

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 37, 13 February 1931, Page 15

OVER the AERIAL

AN HISTORIC ACCOUNT.

Dr. Lee De Forest, the American radio engineer and inventor, who added the third' electrode to the Fleming.valve and thus made possible radio a? we know it to-day, tells, in the following article, something cf "the good old days" of radio, as they are sometimes .called. "Let me turn back to tno'se cavs winch saw the rise of an infant industry before its sudden phenomenal growth. Hallbedrooms have figured' in the history ot the world as pei'haps no other kind of dwelling place. It was in a hall-bed-room I first evolved the idea that led to the invention of the audion or threeelement vacuum tube, by means of which wireless developed into radio. This was back in 1904. Few there are; who cannot remember those days. I patented my invention, which WSs given over to the Western Electric Company, and I took to designing and manufacturing radio telephone seta for the ships of the United States fleet that was to sail around the Avorld under Admiral ("Fighting Bob") Evans. To test these radio telephones a phonograph, playing directly into the mouthpiece of the transmitter, was used, the experimenter

listening to tlie results from an adjoining room. It so happened that George Davis, chief electrician of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, heard the testing, and became greatly excited aver the possibility of using the radio for widespread .musical entertainment. Others in and about New York were equally impressed. This was broadcasting for the layman who wanted to be entertained when he wrapped his head inside a pair of earphones. "In March, 1908, I was in Paris trying to sell the wireless telephone system to the French Government for use on its battleships. The Eiffel Tower was used as a structure from which to drape the aerial. When everything was in order the ships of the French Navy were told to listen. This they did. And as far awaiy as Mery-sur-Mer, near Marseilles, on the Mediterranean, a distance of some 550 miles (a long distance in those days)' the messages were heard. The tests were successful. The First Broadcast. "Returning to the United States in 1909, I decided to give the idea of radio entertainment a .trial, going to directors of the Metropolitan Opera Company with the request for permission to 'broadcast' one of their performances. That body condescended, and a radio-telephone transmitter was installed in the musty old attic of the Metropolitan Opera House. The microphone was placed at the back of the stage. Of all* the people who should be willing to have his voice broadcast to an earplioned public sitting in wire-strewn rooms before dials and bulbs, but one, Enrico Caruso, a not unknown tenor of that day! In the opera 'Cavalleria Rusticana' he sang the 'Siciliana' backstage before the curtain rose. He sang right before the miscrophones, which were rushed away as Soon as the aria was finished. Then the radio experimenters repaired once more to the friendly shelter of the wings and attic above. But the affair was no triumph. The beautiful aria sung by Caruso was intercepted by a limited audience composed, for the most part, of wireless operators on shipboard. One point, at least, was settled on that eventful evening. The directors of the Metropolitan Opera Company waved the performance a 'frater, ave atque vale,' hail and' farewell. It was not only the first, but also the last operatic performance permitted by that body ever to stray on wings of air beyond the four walls of the unctuous opera house. Search for Talent. "Forthwith, still 1900, wo decided to broadcast from a private studio, established one such at 103, Park Avenue, New York, and began the search for talent to place before the crude microphones. As luck would have it, Oscar Hammerstein, theatrical impresario, agreed to allow Mine. Mazarin, the brilliant French contralto, to appear at the studio. "Let us pass over the next few years, during which the audion was steadily improved, till it was used to establish telephone communication between New York and San Francisco in 1915, then radio telephone communication between Arlington, Va., and Paris, and later between Arlington and Hawaii. Armed with the perfected audion and the audion amplifier, I went to the Columbia Phonograph Company with the offer to broadcast the latest records made by that organisation. A radio-telephone trans* mitter was installed in tho company's New York recording studios, and three afternoons each week broadcast the latest Columbia records. Regular Service Starts. "The results were so encouraging that the organisation, soon outgrew its location, and the station was moved'to High Bridge, on the Harlem River, and still in New York City. Here was instituted the first nightly broadcast service in history. Between records the products of the De Forest Radio Company were announced, mostly radio parts, with full particulars and list price. For, be it remembered, these were ' still the good old days, before radio commissions and the abolition of advertising from radio programmes. "The first radio dance also dates back to those days,, when a programme of dance records was put on the air for a dance that wag held at' Elizabeth, New Jersey'. Loud speakers were used,

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

"The first election returns ever broadcast were those of the Hughes-Wilson contest of 1916,: sent from the High Bridge station. The Boom. "The World War interrupted broadcasting in the United States; ■ But with the Armistice came the lifting of the bans, and the High Bridge station wae once more under way in the World Tower Building at Times Square. The days of High Bridge were gone —long live the World Tower studio! The station continued to broadcast its daily programmes. But not for long. A knock at the door, and in walked the Federal radio inspector of the district. 'What are you broadcasting? ( Entertainment? Silly, foolish entertainment? Frivolous concerts. And, besides, where is the official sanction for moving the station? Have none. Then get off the air.' And off went the station which cluttered up with phonograph records the air which should' be saved for important code signals! "In the meantime the equipment wae supplied to ambitious amateurs and organisations who wanted to go on the air themselves. The following J ear, 1920, KDKA blossomed forth, and soon stations sprang up like mushrooms."

CONSULTING THE LISTENER. s Many months ago the Postmasteri General, Hon. J. B. Donald, promised ! that, before any radical changes in - broadcasting were made, listeners, those 1 most vitally concerned in such changes, ; would be given an opportunity to . express opinions regarding them. No i better, cheaper or more comprehensive ■ way of securing the opinions of listen- . ers could be obtained than by handing ■ each listener a questionnaire, containing , the salient points uppn which the ; Department desires to glean information. The questionnaire could be , handed to each licensee when he applies • for a renewal and contributes his 30/ after March 31 next. Thus could be obtained, inexpensively, a comprehensive idea of public views upon such mat- ' ters as broadcast control, programmes, and hours of transmission. The listeners are the sole financial support of broadcasting, and as such they deserve to have their interests consulted. If they have the enthusiasm to urge some proposal such as this upon tlie Minister, and to urge it while there is yet time, their action should redound to their own advantage. Important decisions must soon be The Department lias some big radio problems ahead. Shall it renew the agreement with the Broadcasting Company, shall it adopt the system followed by the 8.8.C., shall it adopt the Australian plan, or shall it evolve some entirely new ideas for the successful conduct of broadcasting? The opinion of the majority of listeners upon these points would help to a solution of them, and would probably bring „ resultant satisfaction. Unanimity is far too wonderful a thing to hope for.

Miss Gladys Wilson, contralto, will make a first appearance at IYA on Wednesday niglit.' Amateur transmitters in the earthquake area rendered signal service, in more ways than one, last week. Three* who came in for particular commendation were Messrs. Tyler, of Napier, Mills, of Hastings, and Hands, of Gisbome. A service from Pitt Street Methodist Church, and a Municipal Band concert from Albert Park, will be relayed on Sunday night. It is noticeable that there 'is not that quality of tone from outdoor band relays which is observed when a band is playing in the Town Hall. The Wellington short-wave station, which belongs to the Government, was used on February 5 to convey to Australian and American stations, for rebroadcast purposes, details of the Napier disasters. Particulars were given by Mr. John Ball, whose voice was transmitted on the Australian and American networks. At different times Commonwealth stations were heard rebroadeasting 2YA, and the wireless telephone service was used by some Australian journals, which rang up Dominion _ newspaper offices inquiring for particulars. In many Avays wireless again proved its utility. During more recent nights the information service undertaken by the YA stations has brought quick news of individuals and their welfare, to many a home where anxious inquirers were listening. - I