RADIO CONTROL

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 19, 22 July 1932, Page 8

RADIO CONTROL

NEW REGUIiATIONS

IMPORTANT CHANGES

SUNDAY PROGRAMMES

Licensees- obligations

Owing' to the advance made in radio matters in Tecent years, it has been found necessary by.the Post and Telegraph Department to bring the radio v regulations up-to-date. The regulations have been in operation since 1925, and many of them "have become obsolete. Advantago has also been takon of the opportunity, to consolidate tho regulations and also to amend them in several important- directions. ■ .'Provision is made for three main classes of licences—receiving station licences (ordinary, special multiple, and temporary), transmitting and re-' ceiving station licences (mobile, broadcasting, private commercial, and privato experimental); airrt radio-dealers' licences. '"Special" licences are to lie issued in tho case of receiving stations in theatres and other such placqs-of entertainment, "multiple" , licences in the caso of hotels, flats, and clubs, which are.so wired as to permit the reproduction of received signals simultaneously at a number of "points connected to ono receiving set, and "temporary', s'licencos in tho caao of receiving stations at show grounds, exhibitions, and other such places, whertv tha station is to lie operated for ,a limited'time, Tho Minister is empowered to grant a licence, without fee, in. cases in which temporary authority is sought for demonstrations of radio telegraphy in connection with lectures t>r scientific proceedings. ALLOCATION OF TEES. " ■ .Apportion of the annual fees paid Vi- licensees may be paid by the Minister td,persons or companies with whom ■'any agreement for a broadcasting service has been, or may be, executed, in terms .of the Post and Telegraph Act, 1928: TKc aggregato amount to be paid in respect of tho licence fees is not to , exceed the following'portions of tho licence'fees paid:— , ' 4l\ Becelrinr station licences:—• ■ <■ In the case of ordinary rtoelTlng station licences .. Five-sixths. In tho case of special re- , colvine station licences .. Tivc-slxths. In, the case of multiple re- ,_ : celving station licences ~ Five-sixths. In the case of temporary racolvlng station licences .. Five-sixths. ft) Transmitting and receiving '- ' station licences:— • '• 1 In the case of mobile station licences No payment. 1 .. i In tho case of broadcasting '• ' Tn s£l i<m H<*nces No payment. In the case of private com-' merclal station licences .. No'payment In the case of privato experimental station licences Five-sixths. , <3)* In 'the ' case ■of radio-'' •'dealers' licences 43 per cent.' Tho regulations provide that in the event of an emergency arising in which if is expedient in the public interest that the Government should have control over the transmission or reception , of messages by the apparatus of any licensed I-radio station the apparatus may be taken" possession of by any officer ,of the Army, or- Navy or any other authorised person. Tho 'apparatus may also be ordered to be dismantled. ' *• , TRANSMITTING STATIONS. Transmitting stations are to be allocatedcall signs by the Minister on the following basis:— v ' - Fixed and land stations: ZKA-ZMZ (three Setters). 'Ship stations: ZKA-ZMZ (four letters). ' -. ' • Aircraft stations: ZKA-ZMZ (five let-' ters). , . , Broadcasting, stations: Number of radio district in'which station is situated followed by two identification let-' . tors—e.g., 2YA or 3ZA. .'Private experimental (amateur) stations: Letters of nationality ZL, number of radio district in which station is situated, followed by two identification letters—e.g., ZL2AB. 'Private experimental (research) stations: Letters of nationality ZL', number of radio district in which station is situated, followed by two identification letters, of which, tho first shall bo . X—e.g., ZL2XB. , With- the exception of broadcasting stations, every transmitting station is to bo'©quipped for reception also, and the licensee is to Jcanse a listening watch ,to be kept during the1 whole time the station is open, except during such time as the station is actually transmitting. In all radio-telegraph services the'following order of priority is to bo • observed: — I.' Distress calls, distress messages, and distress traffic. 2. Communications preceded by the urgency signal. • '■ 8. Communications preceded by ' the ' safety1 signal. • _ 4. Communications relative to direc-tion-finding hearings. i ,5. All other communications in the following order:—(a) Government radio-telpgrams; (b) radio-telegrams relating to the navigation, movements, and requirements of ships, and the safety and regularity of aircraft sor.viees, and radio-telegrams containing ■weather observations destined for an , official meteorological service; (c) service radio-telegrams relative to tho ' • operation of the radio-electric scrvico or, to radio-telegrams previously , exchanged; (d) public correspondence. NO COMPETITION WITH GOVERNMENT. j _ Licensees of every transmitting station are to keep a log. Unless specially provided,'radio stations aro not to ■> bo used in anyway to compete with Government communication services, ; and are not to transmit or receive radio communications the transmission or communication of.which is calculated, in, .the judgment of tho Minister, to cause'loss of revenue to tho Post and Telegraph Department. Nevertheless, messages of warning, having for their .'Object tho preservation of human life, thi protection of property, or the detection of crime, may be transmitted without reference to the Minister. Transmitters guilty of impersonating other stations or of transmitting com- ' munications of a false, seditious, profane, obscene, libellious, or offensive f nature will become liable to a fine not , exceeding £50 or imprisonment not exceeding six months. A_now regulation of considerable importance has been included. It reads: — ; ."Except with tho.permission of the , , Minister,* no person shall commit t6 ; writing, for. the purpose of publication in a newspaper any matter transmitted from any radio station." Holders of receiving Station licences 1 are to see to it that their sets do not ' cause interference with the reception - 1 of other 'licensees. ' BROADCASTING STATIONS. , The regulations governing the control ,of broadcasting stations contain several, irftjerobting features. Ono roads as follows:— The license© shall, if the Minister so directs, debar from announcing duties ( any person who 'in the Minister's i 'opinion is 'unsuitable for such duties. The location of a broadcasting station

is to be approved by 'the Minister and is'not to *be changed without the written, approval'of the Minister. -

Except with the Minister's approval, any studio or room housing the microphone apparatus is,to be separate from the room -/.containing the transmitting apparatus. It is to be reasonably free from interior reverberation aiid extraneous 'noises and' so • designed as to conduce to'maximum efficiency of operation.

The call sign of a broadcasting station isj" as a general rule, to be I announced every thirty minutes, • but; may, if desired, bo given at tho commencement of each item. The 'full name and address of the station may, | howover, be' announced only at the, beginning and end of the programme. A regulation provides:— I (1) A broadcasting station shall not I be; Used for the dissemination of propa-' gfcmda of a controversial nature, but [ wall, bo restricted to matter of an educative, informative, or entertaining j character/such as,news, lectures, useful information, religious services, musical or elocutionary1 entertainment, and other items, of general public interest as may be approved by the Minister from time to time. (2) The licensee shall super rise with all reasonable care, to the satisfaction of the Minister, the matter broadcast; and shall carefully select the matter to be broadcast in order to give effect to the requirements of this regulation. No form of advertising is to be undertaken .by the licensee from any broadcasting station, 'unless specially authorised by^the Minister. On Sundays, during the hours of 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., and 6.30 to 8 p.m., preference is to be given to the broadcasting; of religious services and kindredmatter.' The Minister may pornrit of the use of musical recordings for the whole or a stipulated part of the timo occupied by the station in transmitting programmes; '-~ Becorded music is to bo announced as such.and the nmiouncements may include brief remarks indicating the title, and make of the lecords. . There are other regulations, mainly of a technical'character, governing the control of mobile stations, privatp commercial stations, and, private experimental stations.