RADIO RECORD

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 March 1930, Page 3

RADIO RECORD

. NOTES FOR LISTENERS-®

(By

“Reception”)

BYRD TRANSMISSION. brilliantly successful. The tests between 4YA-2YA-2ME and 2XAF were successful late Sunday night Sydney included some local • tatic’ in their re-broadcast of New Zealand stations, but speech was quite dearly understood from every angle. 2XAF had a long chat with both 2YA and 4YA. A triangular talk was clearly heard in Wellington between 2YA, 2ME and 2XAF, Wellington, Sydney and New York. On short wave reception everything was O.K. from both Australia and New Zealand. 4YA passed on by 2YA to 2ME and back from 2ME o,u short wave was beautifully clear and'

with plenty of volume. The Dunedin broadcast was passed through the land line and cable to Wellington, and thence re-broadcast by 2YA on to Sydney. Further tests were to be carried out by the quartet this week from midnight (New Zealand time). Commander (Admiral) Byrd was to speak from Dunedip. on Wednesday last, a,nd at the time of writing the indications appeared favourable fdr : clear reception in America. The Sunday night tests ended at approximately 1.30 a.m. on Monday. Mr A. Ochs, owner and publisher of the “New York Times,” was to be the ' principal speaker from New York to Commantler Byrd and Mr Emanuel Cohen, head of the Paramount News Reel, -also Captain Raleigh, Commander Byrd’s manager in U.S.A., and Governor Byrd, 9.1 Virginia, brother of Commander Byrd, were invited to speak to Admiral B_yr.d. . . . Saturday last was the anniversary oj the special transmissions to Commander Byrd at “Little America” from WGY .through the short wave station 7XA.F .and 2XAD. It was the final of special" week-end transmission from WGY Schenectady, New York.

DETECTING ICEBERGS BY RADIO

professor Barnes, an American scientist, has recently invented an apparatus which should effectively remove one of the greatest dangers associated with ocean travel, namely, the possibility of collision with icebergs. It has been discovered that an iceberg is ten per cent air—air that is thousands of years old, and which was trapped with the snow that fell on the high ice caps at the Jslorth and South Poles. When the began to melt in warmer currents the air comes to the surface with a hissing sound, plainly audible at a considerable distance, when there are no ship noises to drown it. Professor Barnes hoped that a high frequency microphone connected to a senseline radio amplifier would be able to pick up the from p,nder the sea. The initial tests were however, for no sound GCjuld "be heard. A low-pitched microphone, which had been taken with the expedition accidentally, when pressed into commission developed a loud noisp, and it was discovered that the source was the constant melting and crackling of the bprg below the waterline. At a six-mile range it was found the noise of the melting berg could plearly be separated from all sounds on ship.

FROM A LONELY LIGHTHOUSE. A tribute to the value of broadcasting comes from a lighthouse-keeper on Stephens Island. It speaks for itself. “Hearing an announcement made from 2YA recently, reminded me that Iliad not thanked you for the way in which you had arranged to have us keepers advised of the Tutanekai’s arrivals and departures. I must say that there are jip’ half measures about you people; you do a thing thoroughly, and the service that we receive from your stations leaves nothing to be desired. Just what a receiving set means in a lighthouse-keeper’s home, when the keeper pan keep in touch with all that is going on mst as the city dweller who can get his daily paper, can easily be imagined. The Island stations, some of them with a mail once a month only, are no longer left out in the co.ld. With your excellent news sessions, concert programmes and even c.hildrep’s. sessions well, one has to be placed as we are to realise fully what a difference it all makes.”

THE ART OF GOOD LISTENING. Some people have a curious way of criticising the broadcasting programmes. They don’t listen, and yet, strangely enough, feel perfectly competent to find fault with items they haven’t heard. “We never listen to “XYZ” they d. ec -l are because the programmes are no good. But you ask, didn’t you hear that programme that was put over the air on Friday night. “No, we didn’t bother,” is the usual reply, “but we’re sure it wasn’t up to mpch.” The British Broadcasting Corporation has issued a bulletin specially for the edification of their vast public, and we have pleasure in passing on a few extracts to opr fellow listeners on “The Art of Good Listening”: — (1) Make sure your set is working properly before you settle down to listen.

(2) Choose your programmes as carefully as you choose which theatre to go to. It is mat .as important to you to enjoy yourself at home as in the theatre. (3) Listen as carefully at home as you do in the theatre or concert hall. You can’t get the best out of a programme if your mind is wandering or if you are playing bridge or reading. Give it your full attention. Try turning out the lights so that your eye is not caught by familiar objects in the room, your imagination will be twice as vivid. (4) .If you only listen with half an ear, you haven’t the quarter of a right to criticise. (5) Thrink of your favourite occupation. Don’t you like a change sometimes? Give the wireless a rest now and tlien.

RADIO IN 1913. TELEPHONY WITHOUT WIRES. A very interesting clipping frp.pi a magazine dated June, 1913, has beep forwarded to us by a correspondent. The article, which incidentally is headed “Telephony Without Wires,” dis-' cusses the possibilities of wireless telephony over a moderate distance, and gives a brief account of some experiences conducted along these lines. After reading this article, it is amazing to think that only thirteen years ago people considered the maintaining Of a conversation by radio of a distance o.f a mere twenty-five miles a marvellous achievement. What a contrast to the recent two-way radio telephony tests betwee,n New Yo,rk and Sydney! The article in question is given below: —“Qn.e of the most remarkable experiments in the science or voice reproductions ye,L made has recently been brought to public notice by Mr H. Grindejl Mathews, the young inventor of the aerophone system of wireless telephony. Mr Mathews stationed himself in a closed strongroom

In a large building. The walls of the strongroom consisted of nine inches of armour steel, njne inches qf firebricks, and six feet o.f concrete, but notwithstanding this Mr Mathews easily carried on conversation with another, operator in a room at the other end of the building. At the time of writing he proposes to carry out another, test of pis apparatus by an epideavp.ur to talk through five miles of rock between Cl;e,ps|ow and Tinte.rn. By me.ans of man-lifting' kites, Mr Mathews hopes to raise his receiving aerials sufficiently high to enable him to carry on a conversation between Chepstpw and Cardiff, a distance of oyer twenty-five miles. Mr Mathews explains that the (vibrations produced by his electrical apparatus are not in the form of Hertzian waves, like Marconi’s wireless telegraphy, but that the discharges are of such frequency that there are no appreciable breaks "between.

LOCAL RECEPTION. Reception seems to he clearing again,' static being less pronounced this week as compared with last week. The ’schools were fitted up with receiving sets for the reception of Admiral Byrd’s speech from Dunedin, but they were not very good, being only weakly heard. Reception of short waves has been spoiled by static especially on the 50-100 metre band. Sydney 2ME and England are still testing every evening and morning, being received very well. POLICE RADIO. High-powered cruising automobiles fitted with receiving sets on which messages describing bank bandits, the missing girls, and fugitives from the police can be picked up from headquarters, is to 'be the future equipment of the Montreal police if the plans now awaiting presentation to the City Cou.nc.il are finally approved. In many other Canadian towns similar systems of police communication are in use and are regarded as indispensable.

BUCKLED BATTERY PLATES. An accumulator that has been allowed to sulphate to any extent is also extremely liable to further disablement known as buckling. Taken by itself, sulphating if it has not gone too far is usually amenable to a little persuasive treatment, but when this doubly complicated stage has set iff the case becomes a rather hopeless one, and it usually means that the,, positive plates at least, if not the entire set itself, will have to be scrapped. Short circuits are set up, and the paste falls out of the grids. Where buckling has set in to any appreciable degree it is advocated that the positive plates are at once replaced by others, or else that the affected cell or cells, be put out of service altogether. But. when unaccompanied by buckling or where the buckling is only slight, matters may be somewhat remedied. The faulty cell should be charged at approximately half its normal rate. A sulphated cell placed in charge at a normal Irate invariably buckles, so great care should be taken in this respect. Once on charge the restoration of the cell to a healthy life is then very largely a mere mater of time. It is found that the electrolytic action of the charging current, which may be gradually increased as the treatment proceeds, slowly disintegrates the white scaly deposits, until at length: after persistent applications it gradually disappears .altogether. On no account should current be drawn from the cell during this time, nor is it wise 1 to stop or interrupt the charging current unless perhaps it is to empty out the old acid or turn and fill up again with new, of correct specific gravity'