WAVE-LENGTH SITUATION

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 91, 14 October 1926, Page 16

WAVE-LENGTH SITUATION

Listening to 3YA' on Monday- night, the writer noticed at times a definite fluctuation in the Wave-length of the transmission, sufficiently marked to require re-tuning of the -receiver. One' effect- of "the variation was -to -bring about » very;-clear difference in the separation-between ■ the Christchurch and Brisbane transmissions, for, whereas at one time Brisbane could be heard without a trace of Christchurch, at another 3YA began to "jam." The effect was peculiar. The particular interference .noticed occurred during a statement by the Christchurch announcer, and' owing' to the: overlapping of the side-bands of the two transmissions, the- Brisbane music was punctuated with shairp, short squeaks. . This degree' of interference is beyond remedy, byany class of; receiving device. , Owing to the inauguration of the Theosophical Society's powerful station on; 316. metres, there have been many complaints of. difficulty in reading either -that Station or- 2BL without the other. The Sydney problem is due not to the small separation of the two stations—nearly 40 metres is ample—but to the high power of. the two stations; coupled with the fact that the receivers are, not sufficiently .'selective. .The only remedy in such cases is to improve the selectivity of -receivers. The agitation which has resulted has, however, 'brought'-1 statements that <. a'• rearrangement of wavelengths of the Australian stations is probable. If this is correct, something .ought '■ to be done to arrive at an arrangement for the comfort of New Zealand enthusiasts by some degree of co-ordination between the two countries. There should be no difficulty about reaching , a suitable agreement which would abolish the present rather absurd arrangement, in which 4YA, 4Q6, 3YA, and SCL are all crowded together with margins, which many listeners find quite insufficient. Now Zealand only has four stations at present of any importance, and an increase in the number is hardly likely. It is apparent, from the present clashing, that the ' official wave-lengths are not being adhered to, and two reforms are desirable—to give the stations more suitable wave-lengths, having regard to the Australians, and to see that they stay on them. It may not be found expedient-to put crystal control apparatus on the two existing stations at Christchurch and Auckland, but there is no reason against adopting that vory effective device for the stations, which, sooner or later, will • be constructed at Wellington and Bunedin.