WIRELESS NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 19328, 14 August 1926, Page 21

WIRELESS NOTES

£By Eleotbon.]

LOCAL BKOADCASTDJG. Daring the last few weeks station 4YA has been executing some very fine transmissions, and the relay work has been outstanding. There is no doubt that 4YA is meeting local requirements as far as programmes are concerned, and the only cause for complaint is the broad tuning. The transmissions from the Savoy on Friday evenings are greatly appreciated, the relay transmissions from the Empire Theatre provide further welcome variety, 'and _ the programmes relayed from His Majesty's Theatre have been very acceptable. The church services are no doubt enjoyed by hundreds of listeners who cannot attend church, while the relay from His Majesty's Theatre of the Sunday night band concerts is of outstanding merit. Latterly we have had some exceptionally fine entertainment; for instance, the Orphans' Club concert, relayed irom tho Savoy last Tuesday. This programme was very entertaining and well transmitted. The studio concerts arranged by prominent local artists have given ns some excellent talent, arid personally I think the gramophone recitals well worth listening to,.though many, listeners have an unaccountable prejudice against' "canned music." With tho class of entertainment we have been given lately there can surely bo no ground for complaint, and _as soon as the matter of sharper timing is attended to the local station should make a name for itself. IYA, AUCKLAND The new station at Auckland, which was officially opened last Saturday, proved a pleasant surprise to local listeners. Wo were certainly anticipating hearing something, but would not havo been surprised if the new station had disappointed us. _ As it was, the station was heard with good volume and excellent tone. Early in the evening, using five valves, Auckland was louder than the Australian stations, but after 9.30, when the evening programmes commenced en _ tho other side, the Aussies were considerably louder. This is to be expected, for 10,000 watts at 1,200 miles should bo louder than 500 watts at 600 miles; but,_ all tho same, the new Auckland station came in very well, and provided quite an interesting evening. The outstanding feature was the tone of tho transmission, this being mellow and pleasing, very similar to the tone of 2BL; while the announcing and rou-1 tine proved very effective. Wo noticed considerable fading at fairly regular intervals, but this feature may disappear as time goes on. Undoubtedly IYA will prove a great acquisition during the summer months, when the Australian stations will bo weaker; and when tho Christchurch station gets under weigh listeners will be well catered for. The opening speeches from IYA were very interesting, coming, as they did, from authoritative speakers, and tho musical items were excellent. 4AB, DUNEDIN. During the week 4AB was heard on the air, and showed marked improvement in transmission. The relay work was good, particularly tho piano, and I must congratulate the staff on . its successful result after so much effort. RECEIVING CONDITIONS. During the week reception has been so poor on the average that I was beginning to think that the radio season had ended, and we had started on the months of poor reoeption, but tho last few nights have shown improvement, though conditions are far from perfect. On the other hand, Yanks have been coming in with remarkable volume, and I think last Tuesday night was the best night we have had for some time. KEON was particularly loud, without regeneration, while KG IT, KFSG, and the higher-wave stations were quite good. I mislaid the. weekly summary and cannot remember the outstanding features during the week, but reception has been so poor that anything less than five valves would be very weak on tho loud speaker. 4QG has been relaying from the Wireless and Electrical Exhibition, where it has the studio fitted up, while 3LO, Melbourne, seems to be much louder lately, and boxing contests have been quite thrilling. I heard 2BL, Sydney, describe tho arrival of Captain Cobham, relayed from tho aerodrome. Incidentally, the ' Sun ' newspaper, with its receiving outfit, took down the broadcasted description verbatim at the newspaper office, and was able to publish a graphic description a few minutes aft* l * the arrival, without tho necessity o. sending a reporter out to tho nerodrn'./e, with the attendant delay in receiving the report and writing it up. This is an example of the value of close co-opera-tion between the newspaper office and the broadcasting station. 4ZP,fINVERCARGILL. !

At long last tho Invercargill Radio has been granted a broadcasting license. For some time its now transmitter has been ready to use, hut tho delay in granting a- license has held it up. The new call is 4ZP, and on August 10 a mooting was hold to arrange for the necessary details before commencing. Programmes will he relayed from tho studio of Mr P. C. Ilazeldine over a land line, and we look forward to hearing 4ZP on tho air shortly. VALVES. Lately I have been testing different varieties of valves, and find that there is a great difference in operation between valves, even of the same type. Tho only way to obtain a good arrangement of valves is to purchase half a dozen and toy them out in the different stages until yon have tho best combination. The new Philips C 509 valve, which is similar to the 201 A, operates very well as radio and audio amplifier, and is even better than the 201 Aas detector.. It seems to be both louder and clearer than the 201 A, particularly on loud music. The U.X2OIA valves vary considerably, and I found that changing tho radio frequency valves necessitated rcneutralising the set. This is a great disadvantage to a country receiver, since it means that if a radio frequency valve burns out and is replaced the set may not ho neutralised. With the advent of now valves the prices have become stabilised. and the standard retail price of most 201 A type valves is now 1 0s 6d.