S.O.S. MYSTERY

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 May 1934, Page 4

S.O.S. MYSTERY

3YA. EXPLANATION. [PEB PRESS. ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, May 12.Ml- Hands, general manager of the Broadcasting Board, says (hat the gramophone record which was responsible for the S.O.S. message has been withdrawn from future use. The fact that the signal was picked up was a remarkable tribute to the efficiency of the radio operators who heard it, because the signal was very faint, and only a very practised ear could pick it out of the effects accompanying the song. Awarua had apparently tuned in to 3YA for the nine o’clock weather report. Normally distance signals were only listened for on 600 metres.

Mr Hands said he considered that the Awarua operator was perfectly right in sending out the message to ships to stand by. He concluded that the affair was one of the most remarkable things he had ever experienced. “INDISCREET.” [by CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] MELBOURNE, May 13. Referring to the mysterious “5.0.5.” cabled yesterday and to the New Zealand explanation published/ in • Australia to-day, Mr J. Malone, the Chief Inspector of Wireless Activities at Melbourne, described the action of Station 3YA, Christchurch, in broadcasting a nautical theme with storm effects, including an “5.0.5.” as rather indiscreet. He added that there was the danger of distracting the attention of the operators at sea at the very moment that a genuine distress signal might be on the air.