TWO-WAY RADIO

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 February 1947, Page 2

TWO-WAY RADIO

POWER BOARD ADVANCE SPEEDING-UP WORK OF FAULT TRUCKS NEW SYSTEM SAVES HOURS In an endeavour to hasten the repair of line faults in the Grey Electric Power Board’s extensive district, radio equipment has been installed at headquarters in Greymouth and in the board’s fault trucks and cars. When the sets commence operations, probably early next month, the ’ risk of power failures idling coal mines in the district for periods of up to a day will be considerably reduced and black-outs in the town as a result of faults in the board's system will be shortened. Excessive travelling by repair gangs will be eliminated, and communication by radio between the trucks and the base station at Greymouth will facilitate the co-ordina-tion of men working on different sections of the system. War Assets Purchase When the War Assets Realisation Board began to dispose of surplus radio equipment, the Gfey Power Board purchased five portable ZCI receiver and transmitting sets. Four will be installed in fault cars, and the other has been set up in the Power Board building. The Post and Telegraph Department has allocated to the board wave lengths suitable for the sets after slight modifications have been completed. In the meantime, an aerial has been erected over the board’s building, and experiments will be carried out shortly to determine the type of aerial which will give the best service,

At the present time there is no system whereby cars operating at points in the scattered district can be brought together on a job and sometimes trucks which may have been repairing faults near Totara Flat may have returned to Greymouth only to be dispatched to effect repairs near Ahaura. With the trucks remaining in constant communication with the Greymouth office by radio they can be immediately advised of new work required and excessive travelling will be cut to a minimum. Widespread District The equipment is expected to effect communication with fault cars anywhere in the board’s district which stretches from Kurnara to Inangahua Junction, but as atmospheric conditions may at times be unfavourable to reception by the trucks which will be equipped with small aerials only, permanent masts will be erected at suitable positions. Trucks stopping at these points can “hook up” and communicate quite easily with the base. It is expected that permanent masts will be located first at Ahaura, Blackwater and Reefton.

In certain line-work, gangs of men must be stationed at several points along a single length of line and before any steps can be taken by any one gang, tne others must be notified. At present this means that a vehicle has to be used to send a message from one group to another, but the use of radio between two or three trucks will reduce to minutes what was formerly the work of hours.

This is particularly important when power stoppages of any length of time are likely to idle the coal mines in the district, and the board expects that by preventing a single mine from being idle for one day to pay for the entire cost of the new equipment. Simple to Operate The compact sets, though Simple to operate, will be attended by men who have passed examinations and obtained special operators’ certifiThe machines were manufactured in New Zealand for use in the Pacific theatre during the war and are specially treated to stand tropical conditions and moist amosphere. The modifications, which are required by the Post and Telegraph Department, will eliminate the chances ot interference with amateur radio transmitters and police and shipping wave bands. The obtaining of _ a quartz crystal to effect the modifications is the stumbling block .at present, but once this piece of equipment arrives, the board can commence its new arrangements. The first local body on the West Coast to use radio to improve its commuriications system, the Grey Power Board is also one of the first power boards in New Zealand to operate radio equipment. One other board, Waimea (Nelson) commenced operations several months ago.