New Zealand a DX-ers Paradise

Manawatu Times, Volume 59, Issue 217, 17 September 1934, Page 6

New Zealand a DX-ers Paradise

RADIO CONDITIONS IN AUSTRALIA During .his month’s holiday in Australia, Air AV. A. Waters, of Palmerston North, president of the Manawatu Radio Club, spent a portion of his time looking into matters connected with rndio broadcasting. One very no ticeable feature in Sydney was that as there are eight stations in the metropolitan area, the majority of owners did not use aerials and merely listened to the local stations. In half a dozenhomes which he was in ho failed to pick up 2YA, while one owner of t. six-valve set said lie had got 3LO Melbourne once. This inability to get out beyond Sydney was the result of no aerials and the power of the local stations, coupled, with a .fairly high noise level due to electric trains and trains. One New Zealander who formerly lived in Palmerston North stated that New Zeillandcrs lived in it DA’ paradise if they only realised it.

Mr Waters visited the modern factory of Amalgamated Wireless, whore everything in radio is made, including all types of modern valves, the latter being a new industry for Australia. The process was extremely interesting when otic followed it through from the mixing of the chemicals for the coated filaments to the finished vafve. The 10-kilowatt transmitter for tho IA’A (Auckland was also seen in the process of manufacture, several panels of which are completed while tho crys-tal-controlled oscillator was undergoing accuracy tests in the laboratory. All the Australian B stations earn thoir revenue to keep ou the hir by advertising, and in some cases employ a large staff in connection with programme organisation. The charges for making an announcement over the air ran as high as £1 per minute. The broadcasting of tho cricket Tests caused a big demand for radio sets and incidentally increased power consumption of all tho stations through listeners sitting up all tho nght. The police in Melbourne reported that burglaries dropped considerably during the nights of the Tests, either due to the burglars listening in to the cricket or being unable to operate through their intended victims not being in bed. One radio firm stated that it had sold 250,000 valves in the past two months, a good deal of the demand being duo to listeners getting sets in good working order for the cricket broadcasts. Talking of the economic outlook, Mr AVaters stated that New South AATnles, outwardly appeared further on the road to recovery than N.Z., -the unemployment register having fallen from the peak of 130,000 to 42,000. A former resident of Palmerston North who ha« been living in Sydney for the past two years stated that nobody worried about the 25 per cent, exchinge, as it was there to stay. The election issue promised to be bitterly fought, all parties using tho radio freely for the purpose of propaganda. Some stations broadcast radio plays which contained thinly-disguised political characters. This was tho novel way adopted to catch listeners who would otherwise not. have listened to a straight-out Dolitical speech.