RADIO RECORD

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 September 1934, Page 3

RADIO RECORD

NOTES FOR LISTENERS-IN

(By

“Reception”)

CAR SETS. GROWING POPULARITY At first sight a Wireless set on a car might seem not only superfluous, but absurd. That has been the opinion of many ihbtorists who have hot experienced the pleasures of car radio; it may have been the early opinion of the million or more American motorists ...who have their cars radioequipped. But it is not the opinion of those motorists in this country who, far from being “radio mad.” now regard a Wireless set as essential. New motorists may think that, whatever the iherits of car radio, there will' be time to fit it when they have blastered th’e art of driving; and in this decision, pefhaps, they would have the support of the majority. One thing at a time has always been a safe maxim; all the same, even the new motorist need not rule radio out as something to be considered in the distant future, certainly not on the score that a wireless set is diverting or that its manipulation adds to the complications of driving. One does not rule out a Windscreen wiper on this score, yet turning on or tuning a wireless set in a car calls for no more effort. As for. music on the air diverting the driver’s attention at a critical moment, an argument often advanced by those who have had no experience with car radio, it is no more diverting of disconcerting than conversation by one’s passengers. As a matter of fact, of the two, wireless or a party of chattering passengers, the latter can be infinitely more dangerous by drawing the pilot’s attention from his driving. In such a conversation the driver is usually a party, and sometimes the leUdef. But who wants to listen to news, jazz or grand opera while on the road? Do many really listen when the set is in their own homes? Nine hours out of ten while a set is in operation, in car or home, it is merely providing a pleasant background. Few drivers Who have had a wireless set in, their cars have decided that it is not worth While. At first, car radio is a novelty, but later the driver comes to regard it as a necessity, especially those who use their cats for business and undertake long journeys alone. It enables them to keep in touch with the news, weathef forecasts, and, in winter, the road conditions.

RADIO ECHOES. A PUZZLING PROBLEM Among the many puzzling problems that have been presented to those whose duty it is to investigate the phenomena of wireless transmission is that of long delayed echoes (writes N. M. Goddard, 8.E., in, the “Sydney Morning Herald”). By that is meant duplicate and triplicate reception of a signal an appreciable time after the first reception, which Would be the direct message between the transmitting and receiving points. This is distinct from the second or third reception, which may be accounted for by the fact that the signal may have taken two paths, or that due to a signal which may have gone twice or more times round the world. In the latter case, the intervals between the signals are only small fractions of a second, but in the case of long-delayed echoes the intervals between first, second, and subsequent receptions are measured in fractions of a minute. The existence of this type of echo seems to have been suspected first about seven years ago when short wave signals from PCJJ, in Holland, were found by a Norwegian amateur, Hals by name, to be followed by echoes about three seconds later than the first signal. In 1928 a special series of transmissions from this station were listened to by experienced observers in Holland, Norway, and England. Echoes at various intervals up to 30 seconds were heard, but there was no uniformity about the results, more echoes being heard at one place than at the others, while the time intervals were not equal. Since .then other observations have been made, but the subject is far from exhausted. Various theories have been advanced to account for these echoes, which appeared to have been brought about by some extra-terrestrial influence distinct altogether from those that cause fading and make .long distance communication possible. It has been difficult to account for the observed results, but it seems that the sun has a considerable effect, a view that is strengthened by the fact that during an eclipse of the sun in 1929 there were no echoes during the period of totality. An early suggestion was that signals which re-appeared a few seconds after they had been first received were reflected from the moon, but the distance there and back is such that only about three seconds would be accounted for by this journey.

A theory, suggested by Professor Stormer, of Norway, is that there are masses of electrons shot out from the sun, which form reflecting clouds of electrons at distances from the earth several times that from the earth to the moon. The signals are supposed to penetrate the normal atmospheric reflecting and refracting layers, which are responsible for long-distance transmissions, and fading and travel out to the electron clouds in space and back again to the earth. A directly contrasting explanation is that put forward by Dr. Van der Pol, of Holland.

He suggests that the waves do not leave the immediate vicinity of the earth, but that they enter that region of the atmosphere which is known as the Heaviside layer, when it is in a particular critical condition, and travel within for an appreciable time, subsequently being reflected out again to make their appearance at the surface of the earth some seconds after they had first left. Still another explanation, due to Professor E. V. Appleton, is somewhere between the two suggestions previously referred to. It may be that the waves are trapped in between two or more of the reflecting layers which exist in the upper atmosphere, and after reflection back and forth, which takes an appreciable time, ultimately escape and re-appear on earth again.

Whatever may be the reason , for these echoes, the fact remains that they do take place, and, with a view to providing data which may result in the elucidation of the mystery, a scheme of “mass listening” has been recently organised in England and Europe. Listeners and experimenters from as wide a field as possible have banded together into an association known as the World Radio Research League, under the guidance of Professor Appleton, to listen to and furnish reports on a number of special transmissions arranged for from the 8.8. C. short-wave station, GSB, the League of Nations station, HBL, at Geneva, and the German short-wave stations, DJD, DJC, and others at Zeesen. From the reports received, jt is hoped that further light may be thrown on the phenomenon' of long delay echoes. All this work may seem a waste of time and energy to those who are not engaged in or interested in research. Perhaps it is, but there is no knowing that it may not produce an explanation of some perplexing problems associated with short-wave transmission. The early experiments and efforts of Marconi no doubt seemed equally aimless at the time.

“CARTOON MUSIC.” Do we greybeards who can remember back to the war —World, not the Civil —realise what radio has done to the newly sprung generation? (writes a correspondent to the Editor of the New York “Times”). Blushingly we admit a liking for music written by Brahms, Beethoven, a little Wagner, Tschaikovsky, Victor Herbert, on and up and even including Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” But the radio generation has heard only “hot” dance bands with sour flutes and trembly trombones until they are firmly convinced this is music. “The Ride of the Valkyries,” for example, to them is “dead.” In fact, any rhythmic sound to which one cannot tramp time with his feet is dead, like Latin or Greek. The radio, also known as “the Great American Medicine Show,” because of its sponsored products, has brought this about, and one cannot but ponder that the young have in some way been short-changed. If, in music, one turns from Brahms’s “Cradle Song” or the “Evening Star,” to give ear to the lia-cha-cha back-step, certainly something’s been lost in the transition. In fact, to call the foam of radio miss-tunes that froth over the air waves daily and nightly really music is scientifically incorrect. It’s much like mistaking a news cartoon for a Corot painting, which is the one great complaint against radio. Mechanically and electrically it is an astounding miracle.

So why, with the thousands of great and worthwhile musical works available, do the sponsors persist in debasing a nation’s taste with this overflow of plain cartoon music? AN EFFICIENT EARTH A good many readers have asked me to describe a first-rate earth connection. There are many ways of making an earth, but probably the best of all is one that has been used with a good deal of success. It consists of a sheet of copper about 12in wide by 3ft long, and buried vertically in the ground, right under the aerial wires if possible. Don’t jump to the conclusion that because you want three square feet of sheet copper this sort of earth is going to be an expensive one. There is not the least need to buy the burnished kind of copper that is used for a chassis and so on. Go round to a metal dealer and purchase your sheet copper in the rough. You will then find that it won’t run to very much. It is very cheap. Many earth connections become faulty in time because the earth wire is soldered to them. If you think for a moment you will see that in somewhat acid soil this is simply asking for trouble. You have a copper earth plate to which is fixed an earth wire, probably of phosphor bronze, by means of solder, wnich is itself an alloy of several metals. Place dissimilar metals in contact in an acid medium and everything is ready for electrolytic action. One listener dug up some years ago a biscuit tin earth-contact of which nothing remained but the wire forming the beading round the rim! The earth lead for this ideal contact consists of a piece of copper tape fixed to the plate by means of rivets Rivets of suitable size can be purchased from any tool-shop, and rivetting is a very simple business. In the meantime, if you are burning to get the ideal earth connection into use, either try your prentice hand at rivetting or ask the man from whom you purchased the copper to do it for you.

“COVENT GARDENERS.” “There is one old ruffian who proudly admits that he keeps a wireless set merely for the pleasure of catching an announcer in a mistake so that he may write a “snotty” lettei - to thd 8.8. C. about it,” said Mr. St. John Irvine, the well-known critic, recently. Possibly there is a similar type of individual in New Zealand. Indeed, judging by the letters and communications received, the number of people ready to catch out an announcer is enormous (says “Ether,” in the Wellington “Dominion”). On the whole, New Zealand announcers rarely stray from the straight and narrow path. Until quite recently very few glaring lapses were noticeable. The fact remains, however, that comparatively recently errors have tended to creep into some announcements. This has. it would seem, afforded an intriguing pastime to some listeners. It would be manifestly un : fair to mention names or indeed too many facts, because the radio authorities themselves probably know their own shortcomings better even than the public. Strange as this seems and true as it is, it seems even stranger that one continues - to hear over the air repeated statements concerning “the Covent Gardener Orchestra.” Who is this philanthropically-minded' ihiisical gardener? It is time the gentleman was decently laid to rest in his own garden.