The Shortwave Bands

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 253, 22 July 1936, Page 13

The Shortwave Bands

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Empire Wavelengths. a Readers anxious to test out the full possibilities of Empire transmission should try out their sets on some of the transmissions other than transmission one. Transmission one is primarily intended for New Zealand, but it is quite possible under suitable conditions to receive other transmissions. Transmission one may be heard almost any afternoon between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. There are two stations, GSD and GSB, working on 11.75 me. and 9.51. GSB is usually the better of the two. It is also possible to hear, transmission two on some occasions. There are two transmitters on this job, GSH and GSG, working on 21.47 me. and 17.79 me. The best time to pick them up is between 10.30 p.m. and midnight. Sometimes it is also possible to hear transmission V, despite the fact that it is intended for Canada and U.S.A, listeners. There are three stations handling this duty, GSP. GSF, and GSC, working on 15.31 me., 15.14 me., and 9.58 me. They may be heard between the hours of 10.30 a.m. and midday. As the 8.8. C. quite often do not transmit the same items from different transmissions by careful anticipation it is sometimes possible to receive what one wants. Cricket Broadcast. Listeners to the 8.8.C.’s programmes from Daventry at the end of the week have ample opportunity of following, by means of running commentaries and eyewitness accounts, the progress of play in the second Test match between England and All-India at Manchester. Howard Marshall will again describe the match for the benefit, of Empire listeners, and he may have the assistance of some of the local Manchester enthusiasts, whose rich, northern dialect adds so pleasantly to the interest of a cricket broadcast. The description will be given in transmission 2 on July 25 at 10 p.m. Starlight. Gordon Harker, the twelfth of the famous men and women of the British stage to be heard in the series of programmes will broadcast from Daventry to-day. Cockney humour, of course, is what the world expects from him to-day. And yet—“l can’t say that I have made a special study of it.” he admits. “But one can’t go around London and not absorb it. At least, I can’t. It was, I think, the success of the Cockney part that I played in ‘The Ringer’ that originally stimulated my interest.” His reputation as a Cockney character comedian was responsible fora tribute to his worth that, because it was intended to be a criticism, he prizes-highly: “Some people

were talking about my film ‘Rome Express.’ Said one man: ‘I don’t like that Gordon Harker’s work in the film. He tries to be a gentleman in it, and he just can’t’ Which,” said Harker, “was exactly the impression that I tried to convey.”

Empire Announcers. W. M. Shewen, chief Empire announcer to the 8.8. C., said in a recent interview that the Empire announcers worked more or less on the same basis as other announcers, but at a slower rate of speech. One difference between . Empire listeners and Home listeners was that the Empire listeners did not like gaps in the programmes, and if an Empire announcer unexpectedly found himself with a couple of minutes to spare owing to the programme running short, he would tell his listeners something about the weather in London, or any other topic of current interest. There was no doubt that the news bulletins were the most eagerly awaited items of the Empire programmes; and the Empire service has received many expressions, of appreciation for the accuracy and impartiality of these bulletins, especially in dealing with foreign affairs.

New slation. A new shortwave Canadian station, stated to be more powerful than any other in that Dominion, has been opened-at Drummondville, Quebec. The station operates on 6,005 kilocycles, 49.96 metres, and its call sign is CFCX. Italian Stations. «.

The Littorio Press and the Radio A/O (Italian East Africa) services have been amalgamated into one radioroma service giving detailed information from all the world and concerning especially news from the Italian Press and the events in Italian East. Africa. The radioroma service is transmitted via Italoradio in Italian, French, English, German. Spanish at the same hours and wavelengths and speeds (w.p.m.) of the bulletins of Radio A/O; i.e.. in Italian from 10.30 to 11.15 a.m. and from 5.30 to 6.15 p.m.. hand transmission; in German from 11.15 to 11.40 a.m. and from 7.5 to 7.30 p.m., automatic transmission, speed 30 ZSO; in English from 1 to 1.25 p.m., and from 6.15 to 6.40 p.m„ transmission same as German; in French from 1.25 to 1.50 p.m., and from 6.40 to 7.5 p.m., transmission same as German; in Spanish from 1.50 to 2.15 p.m., and from 7.30 to 7.55 p.m.. transmission same as German. Times indicated are Italian standard time (10 hours, 30 minutes difference with New Zealand standard time). There are no transmissions- on Sunday.