"PEACE IN THE ETHER"

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 104, 29 October 1925, Page 14

"PEACE IN THE ETHER"

EUROPEAN WAVE-LENGTHS.

;Thc British and' European broadcasting authorities recently held a conierencc to attempt to allocate wave-lengths so as to reduce to a minimum the interference which the multiplicity of stations was beginning to create. Altogether, including nineteen British, sixty-two stations were listed, and a period of experimentation was entered upou, after a number of the stations had adjusted their wave-lengths to the new values allotted. The following is a. list of the stations, with l tho British indicated by the letter- '?B." Somo of the stations arc very close together in wave-length, but it is no easy matter to keep them all properly spaced, especially in an international arrangement. Three of the British stations (Nottingham, Bradford, and Stoke) were pulled clown to below 300 metres, which previousIv'was tho minimum i.allowed. .. : .

Station.- . Metres. Station. Metres. Budapest .. 572 .^ IS.- Hull ...... 335 (iraz 561 B. Dundee .. 331.5 •Berlin 531 B. EdinZuricli K2 "burgh 32T.D Berne 513 Holsingfors ... 325 ■ Sundsvall .. 312.3 Hamburg . 317.5 Eberfcld .. 304 B. Liverpool 314 B. .Aberdeen 491 i Prague ; (2) ■ 311 B. Swansea <ISS Danemark . '■ . .308 P.isa. 4SS Gothenburg. . 304.fi IS. Birmingham 4SO Nuremburu . 208.5 Konicsbcrg .. 472.5 B. NoitlngVieima .... 450 ham - 202.5 Lcipstp; .. 444.5 Minister ... 287 B: Belfast .. 438 ' Lyon ...;.. 284.5 Toulouse .. 432 lircslau .. 282 Stockholm .. 425.5 Dresden .. 27G.5 K. Glasgow 4i!o Malmo ■ . 271.5 -Munich .... 414 I'nlunr .... 260.7. fragile (I) 408. , Nortoning. .. 284.3 B. Newcastle 403 Brussels .. 2«2 Dortmund .. 307.5 Jonkoping .. 257.5 Oslo ;;02 .Mnkoplng .. 253.2 E. lfounio- Trolhattan .. 24!) mouth 387 Uaflo •..'....'. 24(1.3' Frankfurt .. :iS2 U. Bradford .243 IJ. Manchester 377 B. Stoke .... 23!) Sluttpart .. 3(iS" Bremen 226.5 B. hoiulon .. 3(13.5 Ekilstuna .. 224.7 3J. Cardiff .. 351 Cassel 223 I'aris 347 Karlstadt .. 221.4 B. Leeds .. 342.3 Hanover .... 220 B. Plymouth 339

In order to test the efficacy of the allocations, listeners were invited to report on the degree of interference experienced, with ' interesting results. According to the "Daily Telegi'aph," the staff of the 8.8.C. was, at the time of writing, overwhelmed by the flood of correspondence, which' required a great deal of work to sift it to prepare a-report. The'general impression, as far as Continental reception of British stations is concerned, the paper says, may be summed up in-the rough statement that "London, Aberdeen, Cardiff,' Glasgow, and New.castle are being well received, and that Dundee, Manchester, Bournmouth, and Leeds-Bradford, are badly interfered-with. . ' . ..'

..."A German correspondent, writing to";the 8.8.C, 'and'referring to the reccptiou" of German -stations, says, "Hopeless! It was bad enough originally on the old wave-lengths, but even that was better, than on this, redistribution. ';; ' ; He ."suggests -drastic; remedies. "Demolish the German rc|ay stations," ho says, "or reduce their power-to 250" watts r,,aftor ..the example of the English and Swedish stations. In the present hopeless coiu'litipujMs .isjill that remains t'ov Germany to do, and do it she* must"." Tho organised effort for peace in the ether," 'however," is" on a substantial footing, continues the "Tolegraph," and, presuming that tho future may iind us free from the conventional interference of stations one with the other, a vital -source...of;,interference still remains untouched; and must-ba grappled with sooner or later "by universal action. This is the interference caused by spark transmission, principally .from ships at s£3." Tho common-sense remedy seems 'to be-the adoption of a different wave band for soa signals from that now employer!—3oo,6oo metres. Although this may necessitate -alterations in ships' sets (many of which are antiquatrd) the problem should be attacked immediately and!.with, energy.-- ;; : •■ ■ -