THE WIRELESS YEAR

Evening Star, Issue 20995, 8 January 1932, Page 7

THE WIRELESS YEAR

STEADY PROGRESS MADE WORLD-WIDE ACTIVITIES While a survey of the 1931 radio year shows no revolutionary developments, it records steady progress in the various phases of wireless (says the Auckland ‘ Herald ’). The principal feature of the 1930 radio year was the introduction of the wireless telephone, which revolutionised communication by speech. The Jinking of the world by radiophone was carried on last year, and there are now very few countries which are not connected. A service between New Zealand and England via Australia was opened in July. The service spans a total distance of over 13,000 miles, and is the longest regularly-connected one in the world. The distance of 17,000 miles between Sydney and Valparaiso was recently bridged by radiophone, and this record was broken in November, when communication was successfully maintained between Christchurch and Buenos Aires, a distance of 19,000 miles. The voices were conveyed from Buenos Aires to London by means of the transatlantic wireless > telephone. The dominion was linked with Germany, Belgium, and Holland in September. A number of radiophone channels between various countries were made available during the year, the last one to be opened being from Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Siam on December 17. NO IMPORTANT INVENTIONS. There have been no of note in the scientific field. Television, in spite of promising experiments in the United States and England, is not sufficiently advanced for general commercial purposes. World-wide application of the fultograph and other systems of transmitting facsimiles of maps and pictures remains for the future, although successful tests have been extensively conducted in overseas countries. New Zealand has not yet made any attempts to utilise the science of wireless in connection with aviation, but with the increasing number of aviation services in the dominion wireless direction-finding apparatus and radio beacons should be introduced into New Zealand in the near future.

The design of the modern receiver shows no radical changes in technical construction. The superheterodyne circuit has won considerable popularity in New Zealand, and pentode and vari-able-mu valves are being widely used. There has been a decided swing in favour of the midget set. Numerous refinements have been effected to both superheterodyne and radio frequency tuned receivers.

EUROPEAN ETHER CONGESTION. In Britain and the Continent the most acute problem is that of the ether congestion caused by the unchecked erection of European super-powered stations. The Prague Plan, under which European stations operated on a nine-kilocycle separation, has proved obsolete, and tests are being conducted to see whether a 12 k.c. separation is practicable. The International Radio Union had discussed the question at several conferences during the year, but nothing has been accomplished. The union will meet at Madrid this month. Similar trouble is being experienced between the United States and Canada and America and Mexico.

The most important development in England from the point of view_ of New Zealand and other dominions was the decision of the 8.8. C. to erect an Empire broadcasting station at Daventry. The first experimental transmissions in connection with the scheme began early this month. The North Regional station at Moorside Edge was opened during the year and the erection of the Scottish station at Falkirk is well advanced. The corporation is hampered by lack of finance due to the large sums taken by the Treasury and the Post Office. This year the British Exchequer will receive at least £1,000,000 out of an estimated gross receiving license revenue of £2,250,000. A feature of the British programmes was the introduction of relays from the United States and the musical centres of Europe. There were approximately 4,000,000 licensed listeners at the end of the year. CHANGES IN BROADCASTING CONTROL. The question of control has loomed largely in a number of countries. The Royal Commission appointed in Canada in 1929, recommended a change from control by pi’ivate companies to Government control on the lines of a joint stock company, but legal difficulties were raised by northern provinces. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last year that the dominion had full jurisdiction over radio, and the scheme, which provides for the erection of a chain of stations, should be launched early this year. In South Africa a change from private control to Government administration has been contemplated for two years, but no steps have been taken. The Governor-General of the Union, Lord Clarendon, was formerly chairman of the 8.8. C. The Australian Federal. Government has decided to transfer control to a board in June, when the three-year license of the company terminates. The Indian State Broadcasting Service, which operated stations at Calctta and Bombay, has ceased functioning, owing to the adverse report of the Economy Committee, Control in Germany, where, as in Japan, a comprehensive regional scheme is under way, has been placed under the Post Office, or Reichpost, which grants several companies broadcasting rights. The licence revenue of 2s a month is shared between the service, or the Reichs Rundfunk, and the State. NEW ZEALAND LISTENERS. Chief interest in broadcasting in New Zealand centred in the battle royal over the system of control. The announcement that the license of the company -was not to be renewed was made by Mr J. B. Donald, when Post-master-general, in 1930. Urgent problems before Parliament resulted in the question being shelved for the greater part of last year, and the swing of the political pendulum resulting in the appointment of a new Postmastergeneral, the future of the service was in doubt until the end of the last session. The company can give a good account of its stewardship, and has handed over to the Broadcasting Board a sound service. Licenses in New Zealand continued to mount steadily in number. Receiving licenses, which comprised 60,625 in January, rose to 62,462 by the renewal date, April 1, and the seasonal decline reduced this number a month later to to 45,842. The January total was exceeded by about 3,000 at the end of August and the year closed with about 71,000 licenses. There arc upward of 1,000 dealers and 500 amateur transmitters. The value of the transmitters’ work was illustrated during the earthquake in February, when radio was for the most critical days following the disaster the sole means of communication with the stricken areas, ,