THE NEW SERVANT

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 143, 18 June 1924, Page 12

THE NEW SERVANT

WIRELESS IN THE COUNTRY . . '

-ENTERTAINMENT AND HELP. The role of wireless in the country is a subject of great interest, and is well worth attention by New Zealand farmers and their associates. It is not every farm that can be connected with the.telephone service; every farm cannot be alongside the post office ; every farm cannot have the daily paper ■dropped at thegate, fresh from the press ; "every farm cannot supply auditors to city concert halls every night. But most farmers can afford a wireless re- _ ceiving set. For about £50 at the outside one can buy in every detail a wireless set which will receive transmissions from.'. every broadcast station in New Zealand, with more than ample loudness for so employing the curious electric head-sets to go round the family. ,:.-The. installation"o£ the set is a simple ' matter for any handy man; and the up---.'keep.cost:..is'negligible. Ifc should certainly not "exceed £5 a year. As for the operation of the set, "a child can do it." In fact the difficulty usually is to prevent the children doing'it. Until recently the use of a sensitive set employing the curious electric lamps known "as "valve's" was complicated by the fact that accumulatorsl had to ba ■used to light them, and this meant .a good deal- of trouble in keeping them charged. Nowadays this drawback has goiie; valves'of high efficiency are available for use with a few dry cells. The first cost mentioned .may be considerably reduced if the purchaser is content ■with less volume of sound or if he does not _ want to receive the more distant F-tations; on the other hand, a slight increase will extend the receiving range enormously, and in favourable atmospheric conditions a Teally good set will give enjoyable reception," for part of an evening, of concerts- broadcasted from California, as well as from Australia. The farmer user of a wireless may regard his outfit from two point's of view —as a source of! entertainment and "as a business help. Even, now, when broadcasting has been only tentatively established and is'by no means what it ishoped at' will become, both these services, are ./..being carried out in many country - homes. Within a - short time, inea-surable in months, a plan for establishing' broadcasting services upon a much, better: basis : is' to be brought into.opelation-• -Pour big stations will be -.Tun,.each sufficiently, powerful to be audible up .."to. perhaps' fifty miles .' with very cheap receivers^ costing £S'-'or so,'all in. j These,! according- to the .-plan,- will broadcast _ concerts of high quality. Such a. system, of course, will cost money, but the cost-will. be. distributed among, tho users,-who' will be-charged ,a-license fee.' The /exact amount has notl, yet been fixed,,-.but it will be'in the neighbourhood of £1 a year—a low enough charge for,- a choice of four concerts a niglit, 3bear' in" and year out. ; Some .people who have not.experienced a- >.vire]*ss -concert, or -who have perhaps I been unfortunate in hearing a bad de- ' monstration, have their doubts ; but the J fact is that music and speech heard by J wireless, when the apparatus is operated j according to simple rules, is delightful. I Wireless transmission is, or should bej clearer than over a- good telephane line, j with every delicate shade of musical j tone clearly and properly heard. . ' As art aid to his business, the farmer can rely npon wireless to a definite, though necessarily limited extent.. Broadcasting stations distribute market reports, by speech, and they get to tho interested parties by the quickest route. There is no- delay of mails about radio. The chief limitation is that one cannot ask questions.