RADIO NOTES

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 199, 20 May 1936, Page 15

RADIO NOTES

Elaine Hamill to be on the Air QUEEN MARY’S DEPARTURE (By Etiiek.) There is to be a recorded concert programme from IYA next Sunda evening. -La Boheme” will be presented and the programme lasts the entire cteniug. Ou the same evening a comedy in three acts, entitled "The Circle," will be presented from 2YA by members of the J.C. Williamson Dramatic Company. me cast includes Elaine Hamill and other wellknown members of the couipany. J-IJobC who prefer the "Woes ol a Conti a to should tune to 3YA. The rubbish collector will be interviewed Lrom 2YA on Monday evening. May -%m the called "Serving the Public. ibis '> eilL -> judging by correspondence received by the broadcasting authorities, has been par ticularly popular. There is to be a Uebate from Dunedin the same evening <m the subject "Are Party Politics the Best Form of Democratic Government. Dorothy Helmricb is to be featured in a programme of works by famous hemian composers from 21A on iue»dav evening. This will include a jecital of MahleFs songs. The Ngati-Poneke Society is staging "Ao-te-a-roa at the Wellington Town Hall on M ednesdaj, Mav 27. The entertainment is due to be broadcast from the ''' e * l ’” sto l , - n torl tion from B p.m. until 10 P-" - L “ [ ’ r innately the Christchurch Orchestral society is also down to. perform for an hour from 3YA, starting at the same time As it is still impossible to listen to two different items witli any comfort, listeners will just have to select t Lest Of Iwo goo.l tilings. Listeners no doubt will make a special note of the itbroadcast from the Empire station of the Queen Mary’s departure lor New York from Southampton. 1 Ills iiiniiin„ commentary of the star! of a maiden voyage is timed to begin at 4—o p.m.. and for that reason many people will miss it. It is to be noted that the I uree Musketeers, with new ideas, is to be a feature of the 2YA programme on I'll- - evening. 'The next evening IYA is presenting a cabaret vaudeville item called "The Radio Night Club. Empire Noises.

Many Empire listeners have complained about the overwhelming crowd noises during outside broadcasts, particularly of I'ootball matches, which sometimes make the description of the commentator unintelligible. The normal practice of the 8.8. C. engineers during such broadcasts is to have two microphones, one in the commentator s box and another outside to pick up local atmosphere. hi the control van the output from these two microphones is suitably mixed, so- that while the voice of the commentator is quite intelligible the en t.husiasm ot the onlookers can, to some extent, be communicated to listeners al tin: some time. Unfortunately tor Empire listeners, atmospheric noises sometimes attendant on shortwave reception combine with the crowd noises to such an extent as to make the commentary difficult to follow. Plans are now being made, however, on ocasions of this nature to have a separate landline from the site of the broadcast to Broadcasting House, so that while Home listeners receive the same balance ol crowd noise and commentary as before, Empire listeners will hear the voice of the commentator with the extraneous noises at a greatly reduced ievel. M bile this method will not always he possible, since, between London and Edinburgh, for instance, there are not always three lines available for one broadcast — (1) to carry the "Home" signal, (2) to carry the "Empire" signal (3) for control purposes—it will be adhered Io whenever possible. The Empire programme director will welcome comment from sports fans overseas on future broadcasts. This Miracle Age.

From our mail bag emerged recently a letter from Southern Rhodesia, says the 8.8. C. "When we got our wireless on tint farm about a year ago,’ our correspondent wrote. “1 thought I would give some of my native servants a treat and allow them to listen to a programme from the 8.8. C. Empire station. 1 asked one ‘boy’ afterward if he thought it was very wonderful. He replied,, ‘Il the white man wants to listen to England. there's no reason why he shouldn't. If the white man wants Io fly. why not.' The most wonderful thing the white man does. 1 think, is to gel sardines into a closed tin.' ” Empire’s New Station.

.Much progress has been made with the erection of the building which.is to house the new Empire transmitters. Otte additional high-power transmitter has now been ordered, bringing the total number of new transmitters up to three. The future of the present transmitters has not yet boon deeded. Il is possible that they may be combined to form one transmitter of high power, or they may be retained in their present form in order to serve the. nearer parts of the Empire. A contract for the erection of eight new masts with an average height of 300 ft. will shortly be placed. At present: there are two masts with a height of 500 ft. and two with a height of 350 ft. It is expected that when the new scheme of transmission has been completed there will be altogether 22 different aerial arrays. Brevity. To assist identification. Danish announcers have been instructed to. precede remarks at. the microphone with the words "Radio Danmark.” instead of the call "Kobenhavn-Kalundborg of Danmarks Kortbolgeseuder.” Now the Kaiser. The cx-Kaiser Wilhelm II is reported to have become "a convert to radio.” Until recently the ex-Kaiser is understood to have been strongly prejudiced against broadcast reception, but in order to follow the funeral ceremonies of the late King George V he ordered the installation of a receiver at Doorn. So impressed was he at the beauty and dignity of the broadcast that, it is reported, his prejudice against broadcast reception has "completely disappeared.”