HOSPITAL RADIO

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 16 August 1929, Page 4

HOSPITAL RADIO

HAWERA INSTALLATION.

BIG TASK COMPLETED. OFFICIAL OPENING AT EARLY DATE.

Two years ago the installation of radio at the Hawera Hospital was hut a dream—to some it appealed as an impracticable vision. To-day, thanks to the generosity of the public and the persistence of those to whom the dream first appeared, the project is an accomplished fact and in a few days the promoters will have the satisfaction of seeing the installation officially declared open. Yesterday a representative of the “Star,” who had made enquiries as to the progress of the work, was invited to make an inspection of the: plant and had the pleasure of witnessing a demonstration of radio reception in hospital per medium of an installation which was a revelation in the neatness of its workmanship and in the scope of its design.

The visitor was hrst taken to a little room off the main corridor which bore evidence of being used as a sewing room. At first glance it seemed that the sewing-machine occupied the whole of the space, but a second glance, which travelled behind the door, revealed a small table on which were three small cabinets. “Not a very big box of tricks, is it?” asked the installing engineer proudly as he noticed the visitor’s surprise. The nearest cabinet on the table proved to be a six. valve Atwater Kent radio set; the one next in the row was an electric gramophone with a special pick-up device which enables gramophone music to oe broadcast throughout the hospital when there are no concerts on the air. The third cabinet was an amplifier—an instrument through which the sound is passed to increase its volume for transmission throughout the system. Along the outer edge of the table are three switches, ono for e'ach of the cabinets mentioned; on the wall above the table is a master switch and a switch which cuts in and out of the aerial; on the table a red light glows as an indication that the plant is in operation—and that is all so far as the untrained eye of the layman can perceive. But when he is told that it is possible for 24 patients in each of three wards to listen-in to the radio by means of pillow phones, that there 'are two loud speakers in the children’s ward and two more in the nurses’ home, the

visitor begins to realise that there is much more in this plant than meets the eye—and if he enquires he will be shown and told tilings’ iwhich will assist him to some small understanding of the months of painstaking work which has made radio in the hospital an accomplished fact. 0 A MILE OF CABLE.

In the first place it should 'be stated that there is a mile of lead-covered cable utilised in the reticulation of the building, but this fact the visitor has to accept as it i 3 given, far he will see no sign of any of it as he walks from one ward to the other, so neatly has the wiring been done. If, like the man from Missouri, he desires to be shown, he can undertake the journey, per foot, along the tunnel beneath the building which secrets the water pipes and electric lines 'of the institution; but if he is wise he will accept the engineer’s word for the length of that lead-cover-ed 'cable. iA point he will ibe able to appreciate, however, is the neatness of the workmanship which has enabled all this wiring to be done in a manner which .makes it appear as though it were part of the original design of the building. The lines from the little receiving room disappear into the white plaster wall, encased in what appears to be a slight protuberance in the wall itself. If he then proceeds to the children’s ward, ho will find on the wall inside the door a little black switch and running down to the floor from this ‘what appears to be a pipe encased in the piaster, but what is in reality a wooden casing, painted white and enclosing the cable which has been brought to the ward under the flooring. At the floor level it disappears beneath a shield of aluminium, flush with the skirting board, reappearing again on the wall near the first bed. There is found a little white box with a plug-hole, into which the pillow-phone —a 'cushion with a hole in the centre — may be plugged. From there the white line, indicating the presence of the cable, runs along the wall, bending round window and radiator corners and coming up again beside each bed. At doorways the cable disappears beneath the floor, to reappear again on the other side. This cable installation alone is a remarkably fine piece of workmanship.

FINELY ADJUSTED MECHANISM.

It was stated when the nvork was first undertaken, that telephony played a ■bigger part in the installation than radio, and an inspection makes the meaning of this statement fairly .clear. The delicate .part of the engineering work has been to so balance the installation that the plugging-in of a large number of pillow-phones will not reduce the strength of reception, or the plugging-ou't of some of .them will not increase the volume on those remaining.

In the 'children’s ward .there are, as stated, two loud speakers, one at either end of the room. The volume of .sound on these can be reduced or increased by the nurses on duty by the manipulation of the wall switch'at the door—--11 and this without interfering iwith reception elsewhere. In the other three wards each bed has its pillow-phone and the strength of reception is regulated from the receiving room. The patient who does not wish to listen-in can disconnect his phone by pulling out the plug and remain undisturbed by; the listening-in of the other patients. At present there are 72 pillow-phones, but ultimately there will be So—24 ini each of the three main wards, three ini the annexes to the children’s whrd and 10 in t he isolation ward. ' .The two loud speakers in the nurses’ home are operated from a separate radio set... The .separate installation in the nurses’ quarters has boon made for the s'ake of economy, flic staff being thus enabled to enjoy their own radio without utilising the bigger power required for the operation of the main plant. THE CONTRACTORS. 'Since Sunday last Mr Keith H. Thow, representative of Standard Telephones and Cables, Ltd., of Wellington, has been in 'Hawera supervising the completion of the work, which has occupied the sub-contractor, Mr W. W. Davy, of Hawera, during the last three months. Mr Thow said that while the ' supply of materials and the designing

of the telephone system had been the work of his firm, he uvished to make it clear that the wiring had been the work entirely of the local firm of Davy’s Electrical Supplies and it was of a standard “which would not be excelled anywhere. ” He particularly desired to express on behalf of Standard Telephones and Cables, Ltd., appreciation of the excellence of the work of the local sub-contractor. Mr Davy, smilingly, passed on the compliment to Mr H. Squire, the member of his staff who. he said, had carried out ■the greater part of the work. A CHANIGED ATMOSPHERE. In a few days, it is expected, the local radio committee twill receive the “0.K.” of the consulting engineer, Mr C. K. Russell and then, in all probability, arrangements will !be made for an official opening ceremony. It is to be hoped that members of the public will have an opportunity t-o experience for themselves, through" a visit to the children’s ward where the loud speakers broadcast music, the difference radio can make to the atmosphere of a hospital. Yesterday, when the “Star” representative was there late in the afternoon, the small occupants of the cots _ were doing full justice to the evening meal to the accompaniment of subdued, but bright music coining over the air from Wellington. At the far end of the ward two small pyjama-clad boys, obviously in the convalescent stage, were having a, merry time on the floor in noisy play—until the ward sister “spotted them.’’ The chimes of five o’clock rang out from the Wellington Post Office and soon afterwards the “Radio Aunty” was telling her bedtime stories and sending birthday greetings to children far and near.

Those who have worked and paid for the installation of radio at the Hawera Hospital may well feel repaid by an inspection of‘the final stage of the bigtask to which they- set their hands many month's ago.