MORSE BROADCAST FOR RESERVISTS’ PRACTICE

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27733, 10 August 1955, Page 16

MORSE BROADCAST FOR RESERVISTS’ PRACTICE

Leading articles from “The Press’ are regularly broadcast by the Burnham Military Camp transmitter to give practice in receiving morse for signals operators in the armed services and amateur radio operators throughout the South Island. Any person who has a household radio receiver and the inclination to tune in to 1460 kilocycles can pick up the broadcasts. The transmitter. Station ZMY32 goes on the air at 6 p.m. each day from Monday to Friday wi,h the words “This is Christchurch calling all service personnel.” The morse is in plain language and a foreign language. The army authorities think that a useful purpose is served in the plain language section by the broadcasting of leading articles on topical subjf cts and current affairs. The object of the practice is to tram operators serving in the fences and to bring them up to a satisfactory standard, to keep reservists up to standard so that they could be called on in an emergency, and to give an opportunity for amateur radio operators to practise. Formerly most army signallers were recruited from the Post and Telegraph Department and the Railways Department which had large numbers of trained morse operators, but with the increasingly wider use of teleprinters by the departments the army lost the men who used to form the nucleus for its signals work. Amateur radio operators make wide use of the broadcasts which help them to practise and get up to the required standard for their licences. But the army is helping itself too. because when amateur radio operators go into the army to do compulsory military training they are automatically placed in the signals corps.

From all parts of New Zealand have come reports of persons who have picked up the military broadcasts and one has come from as far away as Melbourne. In the South Island alone it is estimated that more than 2000 persons listen to the broadcast each night. Each morse practice is timed and is typed on to a perforated tape which is fed into the transmitter which automatically broadcasts the signals In this way perfect morse is assured’ The practice is split into four periods of 15 minutes each. During the first period morse is sent out through the transmitter at the rate of eight « ords a minute. The speed is stepped up to 10, 15 and 20 words a minute for each of the three succeeding periods. Each Seriod is split into two parts. The rst part is in plain language and the second part is in some foreign language (at the present time Dutch is being used). The foreign language is used to give practice in taking down cipher. The Burnham radio transmitter has an output of 170 watts and uses a common-type modified Wyndham aerial with four big 813 valves in parallel with screen modulation. The efficiency of the broadcasts, especially during the summer months, will be increased when the army’s new 170 ft mast at Burnham comes into use in about a month’s time. The mast is expected to give a 100 per cent, improvement in modulation. The station operates from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday to Friday but the same frequency is used for two hours more morse practice. At . 7 p.m. the Navy takes over and broadcasts for an hour from Wellington and Auckland (station ZLE) and continues from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. over station ZKV from Wellington.