ON ALL WAVELENGTHS

Evening Star, Issue 22228, 4 January 1936, Page 6

ON ALL WAVELENGTHS

MUSICAL TALKS VISIT OF MB ROLAND FOSTER Professor of ■ singing and principal , of the Opera School at the New South - Wales State Conservatorium of Music, ‘Mr Roland Foster, P.G.S.M., has been engaged .by the New Zealand Broadcasting Board to give a series of talks on musical subjects from the national stations.? Mr Foster is also-the founder and honorary director_ of the -City of Sydney Eisteddfod, which is by far the largest event of its. kind in Australia.. . He arrived at Auckland last week, and commenced his tour there just after the New Year. ‘ - Artists of international reputation trained and brought forward by Mr Foster include such well-known names as- those' of Essie -Aekland, Ethel Osborn, Rosa Alba, Rowena Ronald, Merle Miller (New Zealand),' Marjorie Beeby, Marjorie Neeld, Nora Hill (who , are 'fulfilling engagements in the United States), and Dorothy Gadsden (Paris).' Other prominent artists who received tuition in Mr Foster’s studio include Miss Heather Kinnaird and Mr Raymond Beatty, two vocalists, who met with success on. their tour of- the New Zealand stations last- year, and several other New Zealanders and Australians. _ Mr Foster will give two talks from 4YA this month, the, first being pn January 23 and the second oh J anuary 26. STRAY SPARKS ■ By the last American ihail 4YA received a batch. of letters from United States and Canadian listeners, who have logged the Dunedin station’s programmes., All the letters are dated late November, so that it will be seen the writers were watching for the new station almost as soon as it-commenced ■ working. In some cases 4YA is reoprted when IYA and 3YA could not be heard. : ” ‘ • * Beethoven’s nine symphonies will be presented by 4YA on consecutive Thursday evehiiigh, the first .being on Thursday next.; 1 The Australian Broadcasting mission has acquired the lease of “ Cyclone House,” Hardware street, which will' provide ah outlet for the: commission’s increasing activities. At is proposed at the,earliest 'opportunity to transfer The-gßroductions Department to Cyclone-House. ; A studio vgiJl also ■bo erected there, ’ This will'’•"enable ‘plays arid (musical ; shows to be broadcast. ; * * * * An epoch-making achievement in communication took place ia America recently, when the hill-top radio station .of the American Radio Relay League! hear. Hartford,- Conn., started a ehhtinuotis schedule of.trausmissions with Harvard University's Blue HillDbservatory, near'Boston, oh a .megacycles. (about 2J metres). . ••,• • " - Miss Constance Burt (soprano) and Mr Clement Williams (baritpne) will be heard from 4YA on Monday' night. Miss Burt will sing works ,by French and _ German composers, . and Mr Williams: a group of children’s pictures; Mr v Williams will again. appear oh Thursday and Miss Burt on Friday. * * * «• During a recent glider flying contest which took place in Germany' shortwave telephony was used. The carrying distance . was about 45 kilometres (about 27 miles), and the 20w. power was supplied by 'font-operated - dynamo.; This little transmitting post ■ acted as a liaison between the committee on the field and the contestants during their flights. Special very light receivers of about 711 b were built "for this purpose. • • • • Another tale of the secret service will be played by Kay Seven arid the Embassy Players on Monday night at 9.5. This_ will be broadcast 'from the main station. • * » » The New Zealand "Broadcasting Board has completed touring arrangements with Moaame.Russell-Fergusson, who_ specialises in Hebridean songs, playing her own accompaniments on the harp, and has entered into a .dontract with Leo Cherriiavsky, violinist, to tour the main stations. Leo.Chernavsky. at one. time a member of the famous but now disbanded trio of that name, will play at the various national stations over a period of eight weeks. Mr A. H. Fisher, an ex New Zealand cricket representative, will speak from the national station on Saturday night,, hi* subject being ‘New Zealand Cricket, Past and Present—Choosing a Test Team.’ •' MOON AFFECTS RADIO SCIENTISTS CONVINCED Tie old question as to whether the moon-has any effect on radio reception has now been answered in the affirmative,' Scientists have convinced themselves that the rise and fall of the world’s tidal waters, due to the moon’s pull,. have their counterpart in the stratosphere; and that the radio-reflec-ing_layers that* surround the earth have their ups and downs accordingly. Moreover, the moon is now-supposed to be charged with electricity. This also would be likely to affect radio reccp-. *tiori-' from distant stations, so, what with one thing, arid another, the influence of the moon is assuredly considerable. _ One of the most lonely radio stations in the world is undoubtedly station VIQ, Willis Islets Radio, on a coral reef in the Pacific Ocean, about 300 nautical miles from the mainland of Australia. This station is served by two - officials only, who stay there each time for a period of 14 months.

NEWS and COMMENTS \

by “ HENRY

THE EMPIRE SERVICE DISTRIBUTION OF PROGRAMMES The following article by Peter Goss, received from the 8.8. C., deals in a comprehensive manner with the distribution . of programmes in the Empire service;— ' One of the fundamental principles underlying the operation of the Empire broadcasting service is that listeners in all parts of the British Empire possessing short-wave receivers shall be given ah opportunity to hear a broadcast programme from London each day, during the course of the evening hours, local time.. To this end, and owing to the vast difference in time between Great Britain and the various parts of the Empire, the Empire programmes have. been divided into a series of six transmissions, , which are radiated at intervals, throughout each 24 hours of the . year. Each transmission is intended, specifically for reception in a certain part of the Empire during the evening hours, local time; but, in practice,- listeners in many parts of the world are able to hear programmes from the Empire station which are not specifically intended for reception in their part of the globe, although they cannot always hear them with the same quality of reception and at a convenient local listening hour. An .-'analysis of the Empire programmes for one. day reveals the complex problems which must he faced in an endeavour to supply listeners in all parts of the globe with a daily broadcast programme. At the time of writing the Empire broadcasting day in London begins at 8 a'.m. (G.M.T.) with the opening pf transmission 1. intended snecifically for reception by listeners in the Antipodes. In the eastern States of Australia the beginning of this transmission will be heard at 6 p.’m. on the same day, and in New Zealand at -8 n.m. The programme opens, as do all Empire transmissions, with the chimes which precede Big Ben, the most popular of Empire broadcasters. In view of the fact that this transmission comes outside the .normal broadcasting hopes of-the national regional programmes in Great Britain, it must ’necessarily include a large number of items prepared especially by the staff of the Empire department. In addition, a number of* recordings of the more important pro-. grammes . broadcast-in the Home service are included. “ LIVE ’’ AND RECORDED ITEMS. Many of the more important items broadcast- in? the national and .regional' programmes- for tjba 'benefittof .listeners in Great" Britain are’ recorded in this way -and later radiated to Empire listeners in all Empire transmissions. Similarly, the outstanding programmes which are broadcast “ live,” as we say. in one transmission are recorded and later. broaddhst in subsequent Empire transmissions for the benefit of listeners in other parts of the world. It may be asked why the officials responsible for the compilation of the Empire programmes do. not record a greater number of programmes which are broadcast in the Home country for the benefit of Empire listeners. Firstly, in view of the uncertain finality of short-wave reception, a special nrodnetion technique is highly desirab’e for Empire programmes. For instance, many Empire listeners have complained that the artists taking part ip the Home programmes speak ton fast for them to be intelligible overseas. The use of, certain “ effects ” and the superimnosition of speech over music in broadcast plays are similarly deprecated. Secondly, judging from the vast volume of correspondence# which is received. from Empire listeners, programmes of long duration are not appreciated. In the ease of dramatic productions a considerable degree of Concentration on the part of the listener is essent'al. and this must be accentuated s when listening to short-wave transmissions. Thirdly, many listeners imagine that in the process of recording progfammes for subsequent broadcast transmission no additional cost is involved. This is not the case. While the actual technical costs of recording are low. the process necessitates the payment of heavy additional fees to artists, musicians, and other contributors For this reason, a very large number of programmes are produced ■‘especially for overseas listeners by the staff of the Empire department.

THE SEPARATE TRANSMISSIONS. Transmission 1 ends at 10 n.m. with the Empire news. News bulletins are broadcast daily in all Empire transmissions. each bulletin being designed to rover the events of imnortance which have taken place throughout the world during the 24 hours preceding its transmission. The Empire news, bulletins are compiled by the news section of the Empire department, consisting of a news,editor and three assistants. The contents of the Empire news bulletins are supplied by two of the lending British news agencies, which provide tape machines in the offices of the Empire department. In the selection of items for each news bulletin. consideration is riven to the ' particular interests of listeners in that part of the world for which each transmission is intended. As a supplement to the news bulletins, a limited number of topical talks are broadcast, and weeklv market notes and general commercial intelligence are included in all transmissions. AVhilo the popularity of the Empire news bulletins has been much evident in correspondence received from listeners, there is no doubt that they are appreciated by isolated listeners and in' the colonics than in the main centres of population in the dominions, where other news services are accessible. Transmission 2. which is of two and three-quarter hours’ duration, opens at 11 a.m.. and is intended mainly for reception by listeners in Malaya and the Far East, where the difference in time varies from six _ to nine hours. As transmission 2 coincides with the morning programmes broadcast frqm the national and regional transmitters, listeners overseas at this time are fortunate in that they hear, not only many of the special Empire programmes, but a considerable number of “ live ” excerpts from the Home pro'irammcs. Jinny of the most outstanding broadcasts in the TL'ine programmes of pavfir.ilrr interest ‘ to overseas listeners.

SEARCHERS OF THE ETHER ITEMS FOR THE OK-ERS STATIC DECREASING. Static decreased greatly in volume toward, the latter part of last week, and no time should be lost in looking for additions to the log. Those who have not logged any early morning Americans should try for these now, as they have increased in volume. Any hetrodyne whistle on a frequency occupied by an Australian station should be investigated, because sometimes the North American station is sometimes “ on top,” and can generally be logged. , V Reception of Australian stations, is still very good, and as ive are now past the longest day, reception of these stations should improve gradually in volume, and they should come in earlier in the evenings. ThiSj however, will not be noticeable for quite a while yet. So far as is known no new Commonwealth station has commenced operations. Those reporting to 2GZ, Orange, New South AVales, on 99 k.c., should address the report to 12 Spring street, Sydney, New South AVales. FREQUENCY TESTS. Do not forget the United States fre-. quency tests commencing nest Wednesday and continuing until the following Tuesday night (January 8 to January 14 inclusive). The following are the best;— ■ AVednesdays: AVCAL, 1,250k.c., 9.30 to 9.50 p.m.; AVLB, 1,250h.c. 10.10 to 10.30 p.m. Thursdays: AVQBC, 1,360k.c., 8.50 to 9.10 p.m. Fridays: AVGAR, 1,45‘Jk.c., 9.20 to 9-.40 p.m. . Saturdays: AVAA 7 J, 920k.c., 9.20 to 9.40 p.m.; AVSUI, SSOk.c., 10.40 to 11 p.m. " Sundays: KTUL, 1,400k.c., 8.50 ,to 9.10 p.m. Tuesdays: KGMB, 1,320k.c., 10.10 to 10.30 p.m. ; KGU, 750k.e., 10.30 to 10.60 p.m. The above times are New . Zealand summer time. SPECIAL PROGRAMMES. January 5: KMBC, Kansas City, Mo., 950k.e,, 11 to 12 p.m. January 9: AA r RUF, Gainesville, Fla., 830k.c,, 7to 8 p.m. ’ The former station uses 1,000 watts and is on the same channel as 2UE, Sydney. Therefore the best way of recognising this station is by the items heard while 2UE is announcing. AVRUF .is, a 6,000 watt station, and operates on the . Same frequency as 3GI, Longford, Victoria, but as it; is-heard early in the evening, ho: interference should be caused by the latter. SHORT-WAVE FLASHE§. Conditions during the last week have been slightly for the better, and some fairly good loggings have been made by various listeners. The high-fidelity transmitter, AV9XBA’, has been heard on its early morning session at quite good volume. The Americans, AV9XF and W3XAL, have provided excellent signals when closing about 7 p.m. The former sometimes closes at 6.30 p.m. The closing announcement of AA r 9XF is a recording of the station announcement made in several different languages, including Spanish, French, and German. The VK’s on 20, 40, and 80 metres are still providing plenty of amusement, and new ones can always be logged with a little patience. Central and South American amateurs on 20 metres are heard occasionally in the late afternoons, one of the best being TI2FG, Costa Rica, which announces “ TI2, France, Germany.” About 11.30 p.m. amateurs in the Philippine Islands have been heard calling the A r K’s and J’s on 20 metre phone. Those trying to' log American amateurs on the. 80 metre hand should try between 3.9 and 4 megs., which is the authorised phone band. A few American police and airport stations have been heard calling instrutions.

such as the Royal wedding, the changing of the guard, the Armistice Day service at the Cenotaph, and many others, are radiated at this time. Many of the Empire programmes, particularly those broadcast in transmission 2, are contributed from the regional studios, and prove exceedingly popular with a large number of listeners in the Empire who have sentimental associations witli the provinces. The programmes broadcast in transmission 3, which are beard each evening by listeners in India, Ceylon, and the Near East, coincide with the afternoon programmes broadcast in Great Britain., Listeners to this transmission, in addition to hearing a numbei of the Home programmes, receive a certain number of special Empire productions, notably vaudeville programmes and talks. A balance in programme material is thus maintained. Many of the more important broadcasts covering sporting events such as the Derby, the Grand National, and the boat race, are broadcast “live” in this transmission. Listeners to transmission 4, living in all parts of Africa, are more fortunate than others, in that they hear the British programmes broadcast between the hours of 5.15 p.m. and 10.45 p.m. in Great Britain. Programmes broadcast in the latter half of this transmission are also heard by listeners in the West Indies and South America. Transmission 5, which is designed to servo listeners in Canada, Newfoundland, the AVdst Indies, and British listeners generally in North and South America, is broadcast between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. This transmission, like transmission I, gives lit Lie opportunity for relaying items from the Home programmes, and necessitates the compilation of snecial Empire programmes and the employment of a limited number of recordings, of the Home broadcasts. Transmission 6, which has recently been inaugurated for the especial benefit of listeners in Western Canada, begins at 3 a .’in. in Great Britain and 6 p.m. on the previous evening in AA Testern Canada. Incidentally, this same transmission provides a brenkfrst-hour programme for listeners in India and Ceylon, ami many letters of appreciation from the East have resulted.