BROADCAST OF ALL BLACKS’ MATCH

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25859, 19 July 1949, Page 7

BROADCAST OF ALL BLACKS’ MATCH

PRIVATE RECEIVER USED BY SERVICE (New Zealand Press Association.) DUNEDIN, July 18. The New Zealand Broadcasting Service on Sunday used the equipment of an amateur radio enthusiast at Long Beach to receive the broadcast on the first Rugby football test match at Cape Town. Technicians from 4/.B set up their equipment there on Saturday evening and took a complete recording of the commentary on a wire recorder, using the frequency which DXers had preferred to the relay from Perth. When the relay through Perth failed in the second half of the game the tape recorder was brought to Dunedin and shortly after 5 a.m. on Sunday the broadcast was played over by 4YA. It was recorded at Wellington and this record was used later on Sunday, enabling the Broadcasting Service to cover the game in spite of the conditions that made the earlier arrangements unsatisfactory. Long Beach, just over 10 miles from Dunedin, is well removed from electrical interference and has previously proved eminently satisfactory for difficult receptions. It is thought that Dunedin’s being about 400 miles nearer South Africa than Wellington would help to overcome the difficulties of the auroral zone, which were responsible for the relay being made through Perth.