RADIO NOTES

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 297, 12 September 1934, Page 6

RADIO NOTES

High-Powered Stations MODERN TENDENCIES Technique of Announcing

(By

"Ether.”)

The fact that the hew transmitting stuciou at JJroifwicii, EugianU, will be no less than 30 times us poweriui as station 21'A. WeliiDgwti, makes tine' wonder. At tne moment, Aew Zealand is In tile throes ot inst.gutiug a programme of changes in citations suggested over u year ago by a commission Set up lor that purpose. By the time that ail the suggestions have been carried, it may well be that the first innovations will be more or less out ot date. None of the suggestions embodied stations of particular high power. At present about half; or slightly less, of the proposals have been put into effect. Hetero the end is in sight, It may be necessary to set up another commission to report ou the situation which changes more rapidly than might be imagined. The tendency elsewhere in the world is to scrap low-powered stations and replace them by fewer stations of much greater power. Australia is about to embark upon a programme of this , xiattii'6. The time may yet come when one, at the most two, very powerful stations will be found sufficient for New Zealand—certainly, one high-powered long-wave station would do the job; unfortunately, there are no seta llidt could tutie it in. Announcing. Although It is 12 years since broadcasting started ;u this country there is no established technique of announcing, us appears to be the case in Belgium ahd France, says a writer in an Englmh journal. Both countries .have recently deen tha establishment •of schools tor broadcast announcers. . In the syllabus of the Pans "Ecole du Micro,” which I have been privileged to Inspect, a quite elaborate course of study is laid out. The would-be announcer begins hie studies with articulation, reading aloud, punctuation and the pronunciation of foreign terms. The time js rapidly approaching when New Zealand Will also have to do something in this direction.

Coming Events. Probably the most important event of the near future is the celebrity concert that the radio authorities are to stage nt the Wellington Town Hall <?n Saturday, September 22, at 8 pan. This concert will be relayed to uil the main stations from Station 2YA. . Madame Lisa btralia and Senia Chostlakoif will be two World celebrities participating in the concert, not to mention tne local mussed choirs, and the full Symphony Orchestra gnder the “giie&t” cohductorship o£ Mr. a y rer. It Is sotno time yet to September 22, meanwhile listeners might care to spend nri hour with Schumann on Heptember 10, starting at 8 p.m, Comments and, Information during, the. recital will be given by Mr. Oiailde M. Hayddil, Those left cold by Schiiihinn should not fail to tune in station 3YA where they will be able to warm themselves before the 8.8. L. programme entitled from "Pole to Pole. Oh Tiiosday, September 18, Mttdiime Margherita Zdandia, coloratura soprano, Is to sing from station 4YA, arid those With suitable sots will have no difficulty in tuning in to the recital which Sturts at 0.22 p.m. It I? pethapfl of- Interest to add that two days later Madame. Elsa Stralia, soprano, of Covent Garden fame, will bo’heard In a selection fromi her repertoire from station 2iA at 8.30 p.m. Correspondence. / . ~ ' . ,- . 21 reader, “Sonbra,” who is having trouble with a battery operated set, aSks for advice. He complains of distortion froin the-loudspeaker, but good quality from the phone plugs. He.also complains of sparks from hie condensers. Good quality condensers wilLgive n'spark after they nave been charged (Connected, from the voltage source), and then shorted with a screw driver or other metal bridge. In some cases, a spark will be given after 12 hours or more. This indicates that the condenser is in good order. As regards the distortion, usually it is caused by the grid bias battery being run down. A faulty valve or a.break in a voltage dropping resistance will also give this type of trouble. Loudspeakers fhemselves sometimes go wrong. The best thing ‘ Sonora, can db is to entice someone to look at ris set who knows something about radio. Advice given from a distance is at the best merely a series of shots In the dark. Striking Economies. A strike at the local radio station on February 12 having deprived him of a day’s broadcast, a Burgundy listener recently refused to pay more than 49.863 francs out of the 50 francs radio tax.. He had deducted one three-liundred-and-«ixty-fifth of the sum. It is understood that the State officials, while admiring his arithmetic, refused to grant a license. Gliders and Radio. ■Wireless played a prominent part in the annual gliding competitions held in the Rhon district, Germany. The gliders' were equipped with a shortwave receiver, and by means of a spiall ground transmitter, were given instructions as to air currents and relative positions of the competitors. Onlookers were able to follow the proceedings by means of imblic address equipment. Shortwave Stations. A British official wireless message states that call signs and wavelengths in metres at present employed by the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Empire short-wave transmitters are as follow:—GSA, 49,50 metres; GSB, 31.55 metres; GSC, 31.30 metres; GSD, 25.53 metres; GSE, 25.30 metres; GSF, 19.82 metres; GSG, 10.8(1 metres; GSH, 13.97 me: res. The hours of transmission are (Greenwich mean t'me) 1—0.15 to 8.15 a.m., GSD and GSB; 11 a.m -to 1.30 p.m., GSG and GSF; 1.45 p.m. to 3.45 p.m., GSF and GSE; 3.45 b-m. to 5.45 p.m., GSE arid GSB; 0 p.m. to 10.30 p.m., GSD and GSB; 11 p.m. to midnight, GSD and GSC; midnight to 1 a.m., GSC and GSA.