Over the Aerial WIRELESS NEWS FROM FAR AND NEAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 209, 4 September 1931, Page 13

Over the Aerial WIRELESS NEWS FROM FAR AND NEAR.

(By "PHONOS.")

■via* Merle Miller, of Christchurch, and « artist Mr. E. B. Waters, baritone, IEZSbm IYA to-night. Miss STnuetto and Mr. Elton Black M I RUDPIy humour. To-morrow there W ! be a relay of the Municipal Band Itrt from the Town Han, qimday is the first birthday of IZM, jlanurewa. This will be marked by ti.il programmes from 10 a.m. to 2 and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The ■ | tter session will be a studio concert it well-known artists. A children's Lion from 4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. will follow and the birthday programme will Include with a studio concert from si pjß- tOIO - 30 P- m - FROM IZR. Children's sessions at station IZR will he held on Sunday at 9 a.m. and at 6.45 Church services will be broadcast [ t 945 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. A talk will ? e given hy "Maorilander" at 11.15 a.m. ! n Monday. There will be a "KitchenLft» talk at 11.15 a.m. on Tuesday, Mowed by the latest gramophone releases A "Travel" talk will be broadcast at 11.15 a.m. on Wednesday, and at 720 pm. an address on "Motoring" will be given. Thursday's programme will include "Feminine Interests," by "Karere" at 11.15 a.m., a lecture on "Sun Spots" a* 7 - 20 P ,m -' and an °P eratic evening. The morning talk on Friday will be on "Numerology," by "Linette," followed by a wrestling and sports talk at 7 V- m -> community singing and a concert programme. A talk on "Canary and Cage Birds" will be given at 7.20 p.m. on Saturday evening, followed by a concert programme.

FROM SYDNEY NEXT WEEK. ; On Sunday at 9.30 p.m. 2FC will broadcast a programme by. tHe Professional Musicians' Ensemble, while 2BL, at 10 p.ni., will 'feature Haydn string quartet. Tlie : singing through 2FC will be: from : M 63man Town Hall.;. 2BL. on that night will relay .an hour, of the concert by the Musical Association of New South Wales, and will follow this with two bright radio playlets, "A Seat in the Park" and the Wodehouse farce, "Leave It to Jeeves." '• - : -> - Tuesday is radio dance night at 2FC. The sister station is to relay the Sydney Male Choir concert. "The Chinese Puzzle," a'drama from 2FC, and a recital by Clive Carey, baritone, are the main attractions for Wednesday, while on Thursday the Bondi Beach Concert Band is to broadcast from 2FC. "Sidelights of Old Sydney" still continues to be an attractive talk topic from 2FC, the next chapter being due on Sunday night at 10.35. The story of early Auckland, similarly bandied, could be made most attractive to the younger generation as well as those whose memories hark back to village days and nights, and if tackled with thorough preparation, wpuld,do much to extend a generally patchy appreciation of the growth of this city.

A POLICY AT LAST. Among alt interested in radio there, will b'e, yery' general relief at the- Post-master-OeneraFs statement issued last Saturday. There was a considerable danger that, in the intensive consideration being given to major matters affecting New Zealand, the-question of a broadcasting service might haVe been |helved, or so little, time have been left for any pew scheme that the,old order of ; things Bight perforce have been continued. We are promised control on the ' Sp.C. model—the finest in the world * i ■* ** 8 encouraging to realise that at last we.are going to Britain f6r a guide in radio ■ matters. Partly of necessity,"through a similarity of con? mucins, American influence has been Fedojuinant in the past. The vast majority of the receivers now operated are American-made; we listen weekly to So a ?V- r ? c °rded programmes from u-b.A,; ,-ive' dance to American jazz records, and'we hear our own service and equipment compared with those of■ the S es ,:~ : .A trend towards British sets, witish recorded programmes, and com? pansonj_. with British standards, may nS Uo *»l o «r"patterning of 8.8.C. control. ,"?. principle of the bill is « itself pregnant of a bright future for "u-eiess. entertainment in the Dominion. NEW TELEVISION ACHIEVEMENTS, m» + resear ch experts and experi'Sß? ust work rapidly, within the ««twelvemonths if the television protons of leaders in the radio industry *f8 to; come true in 1932. So television Ws to climb above the sidewalks of com hopes that dreams will 6dT *!"-'' Ima g e s are to leap into. -■w&SP": an : aerial atop the mooring fiSi P "? et Up 0Q the Em P ire state aS*^ l^ -during the past few ti two important revelaar M :, the aerial the clearer yne.; pictures a t the receiving end. " are a few ™ length Ropwrng. marked promise in carrying across the housetops, so Jv^ that television seems to work nsJir? f ett6r when a high aerial"is engineers to wonder could accomplish fctrni an teT 6 -, equip P ed with a transmitter ' ioj„ B ® llds aut waves about seven inches feswF' however > th « goal of the c£?V? en not lm S distance. iT»W and fair-sized pictures £e most desired. If an area of 25 miles ital^ 6 * with a face ti»t'. car. be a sign that can be read en»L ***? from the transmitter, the "gmeers. are -satisfied. Distance lends SSfSS^*^* 6 *•» Present task, to develop a visual receiving set «*t *ffl entertain the public at home.

PROM iYA NEXT WEEK,

The service to be relayed on Sunday night will be from St. Matthew's. It will be followed by a studio programme, the Savoy Male Quartet, and the Whisker Instrumental Quartet contributing. On Monday there will be the usual wrestling broadcast. The lecturer during the recorded programme evening on Tuesday is Dr. E. P. Neale, who will deal with "Some Aspects 'of International Trade." Two new artists, Mrs. J. S. Smith, soprano, and Mr. W. H. Harvey, basso, are to appear on Wednesday evening, when there will also be a lecture by Mr. H. Hollinrake, on some of the instruments of the orchestra. A programme by the Auckland Society of Musicians is to be presented on Thursday. OVER 60,000 AGAIN. The persistent popularity of listen-ing-in is again exemplified by the latest official figures of licenses. These now total 61,576. In round figures the district totals are: Auckland 18,000, Wellington 25,000, Canterbury 10,000, Otago 7500. The cheapness, low tunning cost, simplicity in operating; and power of reception of the modern electric set are probably the chief factors in this healthy growth of listening-in these difficult times. The above totals were for licenses issued up to July 31. If the steady demand now being experienced in the radio trade continues there: is every likelihood that the 70,000 mark will be passed before next March.

PACTS TO BE FACED. If the change-over forecast last week comes at the end of the year, there will be much to be undertaken in the way of transfer and adjustment, but nothing "thaOhould interrupt the- continuity of service:.- The Wellington "Post": points out new board should, like the 8.8.C., have defined borrowing powers, while the immediate cost of all purchasing will represent only a portion of a single revenue. It is stated that the company's assets consist of four main transmitting stations, three of these (in Auckland, Ohristchurch and DUnedinj being of half-kilowatt power and being housed in rented premises. One transmitting plant, 2YA, is in a building owned by the company, while the studio is a rented one. The company also possesses furniture and office and studio fittings, music, musical instruments, records, etc., and other equipment necessary to its use. The important point is, what Will it cost the new board, if coristit. ied, to take over all of this, remembering that the Government itself has a £15,000 interest in the present service, and that the company has made provision for approximately £20,000 in depreciation ? The "Post" quotes a parallel in Britain. "The equipment handed over by the old British company to the British corporation was valued by the corporation at £175,000. It comprised 21 broadcasting stations—the famous high-power station at Daventry,. of 25 kilowatts, was then the most powerful broadcasting station in the British Empire, eight were "main stations" (one of-three kilowatts afid seven of 1 i kiloWatts), and the rest were relay stations of about half the power of IYA, 3YA and 4YA. Of the total value, £22,300 represented freehold and leasehold premises; £40,500 furniture and fittings; and £12,238, musical instruments and, music. The value of the plant itself was £99,897. The total represents an average of about £8300 per station (including the freehold property). It is to be noted that the freehold property in the case of the New Zealand stations is limited to part Of one station (2YA) only." WHOSE MOUSHACHE? So far this year two television stations have been opened oh Manhattan Island and on each occasion Dame Nature saw fit to flash a thunderstorm. There could be nothing worse for a television performance. The images, •no matter how fast they travel or how elusive they may be, find it a difficult art dodging streaks of lightning. Static is a bad thing for television. It freckles and blotches a It may rip asunder and mangle a face beyond recognition. And it doesn't matter to static whose face it attacks. Even the Mayor may be freckled, but the other night at W2XAB Mr. Walker for some reason was given a moustache somewhere between the electric eyes and the receiving set. Those who saw Lombardo, an orchestra director, on the television observed that he had a long beard- When asked for an explanation of these ethereal tricks one of the engineers said that "it is just one of those freak things we must learn how to overcome." "CHOOMP ON THE WIRELESS." One of the foremost London vaudeville stars is of the opinion that one year's fairly con:iant broadcasting is worth ten yary r$ stage work when it comes to making a name, and he quotes an incident to strengthen his conclusion. In the street one day he was discussing a celebrity with a friend, who declared: "I bet you're so well known through your broadcasts that if you were to ask the first three people who came along t ' Jther they had heard of you, one of them at least would say yea." The comedian agreed to try, and the panapproached a navvy who was working on a hole inthe road, -At-the- question, "Have you ever heard of Stainless I Stephen V the workman grinned broadly and replied, "Aye, you mean t'silly