ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24624, 21 July 1945, Page 2

ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM

COMMUNICATION BY RADIO TESTS FOR USE IN EMERGENCY /.s soon as the conditions resulting from last Saturdays’ snowstorm return to normal, trials of radio equipment as a permanent emergency communications service on the Public Works Department’s electric power system in the South Island will be carried out, said Mr R. G. Mac Gibbon, district electrical engineer to the department, in commenting yesterday on a letter to the editor of “The Press.” It is intended to make tests of radio communication from Addington substation to the three main generating stations. Waitaki, Highbank, and Lake Coleridge, and to certain of the main sub-stations. 'Che correspondent, signing himself “Wattless." wrote as follows: Sir, —“During the 1918 snowstorm Christchurch lost telephone communication with the Lake Coleridge power station. As a result, the electrical branch of the Public Works Department decided to carry out investigational work as to the suitability ol 'radio for inter-station communication. Twenty-seven years have passed; radio is a cheap and highly efficient means of communication; but apparently the canny Public Works Department is still investigating, and the South Island power distribution system is without a radio link. The cost of an adequate radio communication system would be a fraction of the money it would save and could have saved when the Public Works Department’s telephone lines are damaged. The recent snowstorm has shown how urgent the need“s. and action should be taken immediately. The weather may not wait while the Public Works Department deliberates for another 27 years.” “The department is fully aware of the necessity for wireless communication. and during the storm arranged with the Air Force Station at Wigram for such communication," said Mr MacGibbon. “The matter of radio communication for the system in the South Island generally is not merely under consideration: actual tests are to be carried out shortly. It is certain that another 27 years will not go by before a radio service is established> Value of Land Lines “Radio communication is ideal in its way, but the provision of land line communication is also a vital factor and will be given careful consideration in the light of the experience in the recent storm The department proved the value of land line communications by the fact that, when the railway communication lines on either side of Bankside were completely disconnected it was still possible to communicate by ordinary telephone with Hororata. Lake Coleridge, and the West Coast.” The land line from Hororata to Bankside gave trouble in the early stages of the storm because of trees falling across it. said Mr MacGibbon, and finally communication with Highbank was made when the damaged section was cut out and Highbank was connected directly through to the Lake Coleridge power station. “The department’s trunk lines, erected on its own poles, will stand up to any storm such as we experienced last week, but at certain points the line Droved to be too close to snowladen trees." he said. “This will be rectified as soon as possible. The wire for these land lines is No. 6 B. and S. copper weld, the advantage of which is the strength of the steel core and the gftod conductivity of the copper shell.”