RADIO NOTES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 3 December 1927, Page 9

RADIO NOTES

(By "Electron"). (Questions from owners of receiving sets referring to trouble they may have of information they require should be addressed to "Electron,! .'Mail" Office. Answers will be published ill, this column). WE MAY SOON HEAR TEE KING The King may soon address his 450 million subjects' throughout the world by word of mouth. Tins communication was made ill viow of the recent progress and success of short-wave broadcasting by 2FC Sydney, 20.5 metres -for oversea' recoption and 442.f0r reception in Australia and New Zealand. THE SHORT WAVE ADAPTOR Great interest is being created ill the radio world with the short wave adapter. This small instrument is something like a one tube receiver to look at, with the exception that it has no batteries and is connected to the ordinary broadcast services by means of a flexible cord. The detector valve of the biglsot is removed and tbecord from the short-wave adaptor is plugged into the socket from which the tube, has been taken. This make a 3 tube S.W, receiver (in the case of a 5 valvo set) as only 2 tubes of the larger set are used. Many listeners who are interested in short-waves, and who have one of these say the results are wonderful, SSW, PCJJ, RFN, W.G.Y, and many other stations situated in every quarter of the globe are received by this tiny instrument;- Any listeners who would like particulars of, this S.W. circuit ran. have them by writing to "Electron care of "Mail Office". Short-waves are destined to stay and are going to play a fair share in the broadcasting of the future, providing these present devolmenls are pushed on until the transmissions can be relied, on for stability. In view of this it is hardly right that areceiver can be said to be complete without a S.W. adaptor. GUY FAWKES DAY AND RADIO November sth, 1605, was the first attempt to put Parliament "on the air. 2UW HEARD IN AMERICA A letter from Chiela Vista, California, U.S.A., states that 2UW has been received regularly since 13th September. BANJOIST AND COMEDIAN ' The man responsible for so many of the comedy effects produced by Joe Alonson's Synco, symphcmists at 3Lt> Melbourne is the inimitable Ned Tyrrell who is such a handy man of many parts that one is never surprised at what he does next. He even astonished Joe. Alon-, son at times, and it is not ati.uncommon fact to see that popular-conductor, with a look of anxiety on his face when Ned goes on the air, but he is always able to carry on unheard patter in such a way'that the players are not, upset or 'thrown out of their beat. DOES THE MOON AFFECT RADIO At one time or another during the past history of mankind the jncon has been blamed for nearly everything. The very word "lunacy" means nothing else but "moonstruck/' Radio has nWdeyeloped theories of lunar influence. British amateurs have, however, been making careful experiments. They find that the mooriidoes influence radio, at least in so far as long distance work in short-waves is concerned. A full moon means good reception, a dark moon means poor rei ception. These observations are sure to, attract the attention which they so well deserve. Both the sun and the moon raise tides in the sea. They also'creato tides in the atmosphere, although minute ones. There is reason to believe that they produce tides in the upper atmospheric region, so important in radio transmission—the heaviside layer. Probably it is some fluctuation of the aerial tides, varying the- relative positions of the sun and tue moon and perhaps creating bulges or hollows in the ionized heaviside region, which must be held "responsible for those> interesting vibrations of reception which have been observed. It is to be hoped that other observers will repeat and extent! this work, as undoubtedly they \sfill. )