Wireless News

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20956, 9 September 1933, Page 7

Wireless News

[By ARIEL.]

Our wireless sets are getting smaller Two or three years back the console radio was a fairly weighty piece of furniture to drag about. My own somewhat cumbersome set is just too large to be hauled througn the door of the sitting-room, and I have to remove the door from its hinges it I wish to move my set into another room. In its turn, what was known as the mantel model was * imallcrAnd now arrives cigai-bo.t radio. . ~ ci^ar-box What exactly is . the "«> o ai r " 1 model? What exactly is isa«. Can 1 thai \t 5 thorite have cast doubts on ! models that have so r his country on the ground of then Lick of electrical fool-proofne s and so far as I am aware, there is none of these sots as yet on the New ZcataldcSS2?ondent from California informs me that he has just purchased one of these models, that it cost him 12 dollars, that there js a boom for the "cifar-box" in the United States, and that the manufacturers hope that iwo or three of these small sets wm be°pScSUd in households that have hitherto been content with only one contain their own aerial and speaker, they arc about 10 inches long, eight inches high, and six inches deer/ All that is. necessary when a programme is required, is lo plug the cord into a power socket ana tune in. ~ . . , ~.,r 1;, 1 I hear also that this type of ladio is proving very popular in Australia, whore it sells for approximately ;LIU. So it seems that when the sets are made sufficiently shock-proof to satisfv the authorities, the cigar-box will come to New Zealand. And it will come to stay. , The advantages of the small ana transportable receiver arc many, it may be used as a tender to a largci set, in the same way that a baby car is attached to a household where there is already a larger car. We may keep a baby set by our bedside, and a friendly voice from a local station will tell us that it is eight o'clock in the morning, that the day is cold and windy, that the bus leaves for the city in 30 minutes' time. And here I must digress for a moment into realms not of radio. A verv amusing apparatus is being sola in England. It consists of an electric lamp an electric clock, an electric kettle, a teapot, milk jug, sugar basin, and two cups and saucers; all combined in one box. The apparatus sells for £4. At night, the required amount of tea is placed in the teapot , The clock is set for any required | hour. When that hour arrives, the: lamp lights, the alarm tinkles, and the kettle boils. Automatically the boiling water is transferred into the teapot, which already has the requisite quantity of tea therein. Again the alarm tinkles. And there is your early morning tea. Now, supposing this apparatus war, combined with a midget radio. Each morning, without any trouble, the early cup of tea awaits you. Automatically, the radio is switched on. 'Hie, dulcet voice of the radio announcer informs you that you will now hear two fox trots .... Is not the idea excellent? I wonder. And now back to the cigar-box. It. has other advantages. It is comparatively inexpensive. Many who can not afford to pay £2O for a larger-size radio will cheerfully pay £lO for a •'cigar-box." It can be used to obtain alternative programmes. I want to listen to dance music. You, with your superior mind, want to listen to a talk on the Mendelian theory. Very well, then, take your cigar-box into the next room and listen. But it also has its disadvantages. First there is the question of the license fee. Thirty shillings is a lot of money. Then there is the question of tone- The midget model, with the best, will in the world, cannot be given a superlative tone. There is not enough baffling area for the speaker. This disadvantage will no doubt be overcome in the near future, but at present the tone of a midget speaker compares with a portable gramophone as opposed to a superior table model. Car Radio. In the United States, for a little less than 40 dollars it is possible to obtain a superheterodyne radio for your car. This sum includes complete installation. The set itself is stowed away •behind the dash, the control panel is clamped on to the steering column. The set is all-electric, with an electrodynamic speaker, and it is claimed that interference from the electrical parts of the car is completely eliminated. It really seems that radio in the United States is becoming an obsession. Radio in the early morning, radio while you bathe. Radio for breakfast, radio while you travel to business in your car. Radio in every room of every hotel. Radio for meals, and radio at nights. And what radio! Radio in those circumstances ceases to be a sympathetic companion, and is metamorphosed into a demon opiate. Incessant radio in the United States must tend to have the same effect on the brain as a mixture of bootleg whisky and an overdose of the tabloid press. Overmuch radio is pernicious. It abolishes conversation, it abolishes thought, it abolishes criticism. If I go into a house and the radio is blaring when I enter, and it is still blaring when I leave, I say to myself: Nitwits! "A Topical Half-Hour." I have been listening to a recorded programme of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Called "A Topical Half Hour," it gave in quick succession a number of topical events which doubtless had appealed some 12 months ago to English audiences. A giant liner leaves Liverpool on her maiden voyage. We hear the cheers, and the hooting of sirens from the tug boats in the Mersey. Mr Pelham Warner speaks to England before leaving with the test team to take back the coveted ashes. He tells us that the test matches will cement the friendship between England and Australia. We hear from the control tower at Croydon Aerodrome pilots of Imperial Airways asking for their positions. We hear a V.C. piper playing a swirling tune on the very bagpipes he played during the battle of Loos. A very excellent little news bulletin this is. It. shows that English audiences demand variety—and receive it. An interesting point was that the description of some dirt track motor-cycle racing was not good according to our standards. Another interesting point was that the incidental music that appeared between items was superlative—according to our standards. And that also reminds me. The 3YA orchestra is improving somewhat. I heard it play the "Coriolanus" overture of Beethoven. I have not heard any better playing from any studio orchestra in New Zealand. The strings were weak and wavering, the wind a shade optimistic. But compared with some of the "orchestras" I have heartf, the general effect was gratifying. Some weeks ago I suggested that the services of Sir Hamilton Harty might possibly be obtained for New Zealand. A few weeks i.fter this, I read that this eminent conductor had agreed to go to Australia

NOTES FROM FAR AND NEAR

BROADCASTING TO DAY'S PROGRAMMES 3YA, OHKISTCHUECH (9SO Kilocycles.) 2.-15 p.m.: Relay of Kujjby Football Match from Lancaster Park. 3.30 and 4.30: Sports results. 5.0: Children's hour, conducted by Aunt Pat. CO: Dinner music. 7.0: .Vows iind reports. 8.0: Concert, pro-R-r.'unme. Relay of concert programme from 4YA, Dunedin. 9.0: Relay from 4YA (continued). Description of professional wres-'l-linjj content—Walker v Varga. 10.0: Sports results. J0.1.0-11.10 : Dance music. :iZO, CHBISTCHTJBOH (J2UO Kilocycles.) in a.m.: Morniiu: programme, (light r'.rordings). 7 p.m.: News, sporting results, selected, recordings. 7.55: Station notices. ti.o-11.0: Recordings and dance programmo. 2YA, WELLINGTON (720 Kilocycles.) 10 a.m.: Chimes. Selected recordings. 10.30: Devotional service. 12 noon: Lunch music. 2 p.m.: Selected recordings. 3.0: Relay of Kugbv Football Match from Athletic Park. 5.0: Children's hour, conducted by Aunt Molly and Uncle Jasper. G.O: Dinner music. 7.0: News and reports. (2YC, 1010 kilocvcles, After-dinner music). , 7 -' i , o , : W.K.A. Session, Professor \V. 11. k"" 1 ! 1 - "Homo Aspects-of Child Life—The Child s Conquest of Speech." 8.0: Relay from Blenheim of tlio finals of the New Zealand amateur boxing championships. 10.0 (approx.): Sporting summary. 10.10 (approx.)-11.10 (approx.): Dance programme. DAVENTRY, ENGLAND fiO a.m.: Tims Signal from Big: Ben. Military Band Concert. (gramophone records). (Time signal from Greenwich at 6.15 a.m.). 7.1.0: Variety programme. 7.408.0: News bulletin and announcements. 11 0 a.m.-1.0 p.m.: Transmission on an omnidirectional aerial: 11.0: A concert. 11.4,p: Musical corned v programme, (gramophone records) ; J 2.15-1.0 p.m.: Orchestral concert. SUNDAY SYA, CHBISTCHTJECH !>.(): a.m.: Selected recordings. 1.0 p.m,.: Dinner music. 2.0: Selected recordings. 2 45- Talk. 3.0: Selected recordings. 5.30: Children's Song Service, by tin; children from the Oxford Terraco Baptist Sunday Schools. G. 15: Chimes from the Studio. 6..'U>: Re In v of Kvcning Service from the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church. Preacher: Rev. L. A. North. Organist, Mr Melville Lawry. Choirmaster, Mr Victor Peters. 7.4.:.: Concert programme. Selected recordings. 8.15: Recording, overture, The Berlin Svmphonv Orchestra. "Daughter of the Regiment" (Donizetti). 8.21: Presentation of a specially recorded 8.8.C. Programme, "F.U.-in Vnnnin Through the Ages." (A Manx- National Programme). 0.1: Weather forecast, and station notices. 9.3: Recording, orchestral. The Royal Opera Orchestra, Covent, Garden, "March JTongroise" (Berlioz). 0.7: Soprano, Lilian MeDonaJd, (a) "Romance" ( Masr.agni) ; (1.) "Slow HorFOK, Slow" (Mallinson): (•■■) "The, Bailiff's Daughter of Islington" (Old English): (it) "Down by the Riverside (Polk Song); (e) "Love- Was Once a Litllo Hot" (Old English). 9.10: Recoiling (violin). Tossy Spivakovsky, "Hungarian Paneo No. 1 in G Minor" (Brahms, arr. Joachim). 0.23: Bass, (has. L. James, (a) "Bord.-r Ballad" (Cowen): (b) "The Minstrel Boy" (did Irish). 9.30 : Recording, isstrumentai octet, J. H. Squire Celeste Octet, "Putting the- Clock Back" (Famous Folk Songs of Britain) (arr. Squire). 9.38: Soprano, Lilian McDonald. Oil Bel Reggin" (Rossini): (b) "The Winds in tho South" (Scott), (c) "Tis June, My Dear" (Sprnss); (d) "Angus Mneilonald _ (Koeckcl). 9.49: Recording, 'Cello, Lauri Kennedv, "Londonderry Air" (Irish Folk Melndvj (arr. Kennedy). 9.53: Bass, Cbus. L .lames, (a) "Down Amoujr the Dead Men" (Old English); (b) "Devonshire Cmam and Cider" (Sanderson). 38C, CHEISTOHTJRCH (1200 Kilocycles.) 9 a.m.: Programme of selected recordings. 0 30 p.m.: Programme, of String and Orchestral selections. 7.55: Station notices. i-.O: More selections from Operas and Classics. 2YA, WELLINGTON 9 0 a.m.: Selected recordings. 1.0 p.m.: Dinner music. 2.0: Selected recordings. 3.30: Recorded recital, John Gielgud, (a) Othello'B Speech ("Othello" —Act 1, Scene III) (Shakespeare); (b) Hamlet's Speech ("Hamlet" —Act 11. Scene II) (Shakespeare). Selected recordings. 6.0: Children, b Song Service, conducted by Uncle George, assisted by the Children's Choir from tho Salvation Army Vivian Street Corps. 7.0: Relay of Evening Service from the Church of Christ, Vivian Street, Wellington, Preacher, Pastor W. G. Carpenter; Organist, Mrs A. Shepherd. 8.15: (approx): concert programme. Gramophono recital, arranged by Mr L. B. Strachan, entitled "Work." An atmospheric presentation in song and verse. DAVENTKY, ENGLAND 0.0 a.m.: Time Signal from Big Bc.n A religious service from a studio, conducted bv Rev. L. S. Thornton, followed by "God and tho World through Christian Eyes," a religious lecture* "Man and S.ocial Order," by Rev. li. S. Thornton. (1.45: Vocal and instrumental recital (gramophone records). 7.15: Light orchestral concert (gramophone records). 7.45-8.0: A summary of the week s news. 11.30 a.m.-1.0 p.m.: Transmission on an omni-directional aerial: Btudio concert of light music.

to conduct orchestras for the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Flinders Petrie says that a colony is no younger than its mothercountry. But Flinders Petrie is wrong. New Zealand, culturally speaking, is an infant-in-arms. Radio, properly used, is a medium which may give us the rudiments of a culture. Eleven years ago, D. H. Lawrence said of Australia: "Talk about crude, raw, and self-satisfied. If every American is a King or Queen, I'm sure every Australian is a little Pope all on his own, God's Vicar. 'There is nothing better than me on earth,' he seems silently to proclaim, not with tongues of angels or tones of silver, either and not always silently." Australia has realised the truth of D. H. Lawrence, and is applying a remedy in the form of its radio programmes. New Zealand must do likewise. New Zealand must have art, must have music, must have culture. New Zealand must have adequate radio. New Zealand must have an - adequate orchestra—and an adequate conductor.