WIRELESS NOTES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 29 March 1930, Page 5

WIRELESS NOTES

RADIO FOR AIRCRAFT DUUiCTION FINDING Testimony has recently been borne to (he value of radio as a means of guiding aircraft. The. utility of wireless in ibis connection is well recognised in England, Europe and the United States of America, iind'thu case of the British airship ItlOO remaining over the English Channel nil night without being in sight of laud lias directed attention to l.lio relation between various forms of wiieless communication and air travel. •j'lu, commander of the RIOO reported Unit he knew exactly where he was at all limes, having constantly taken crosshearings by wireless. Thus it was a simpie matter to calculate his position. There is a strong body of opinion m Australian radio circles that the airways of Australia should be. made safer by means of radio. On at least three occasions during the historic flights of the Southern Cross radio beacons would have been of great value to the navigator of Ihe machine in enabling him to learn the exact position of the aeroplane during storms. There are three principal methods by which aircraft in liight can be assisted by radio, all of which might be used with advantage to develop national air services. These methods are:—

(1) The use of a transmitter ,and receiving set on a 'plane, by means of which an airman can signal to ground stations. The latter, being fitted with direction-finding apparatus, can in a few minutes plot the precise position and acquaint the aviators. (2j A station can send out two signals at an angle of about 90deg. These are received by the pilot. Provided that they blend at equal strength he knows that he is travelling straight for the signal ; otherwise he must veer either to the right or the left according as the signals conn: in strong or weak. (6) A 'plane can carry direction-find-ing apparatus, by means of which it can fly straight to a given station, either a broadcasting station or a wireless beacon.

Intelligent Listening. In the 8..8.C. Year Book for 1930 there is a chapter on "Intelligent Listening.' The chapter states, inter alia, that one of the reasons why broadcasting is not universally cultivated by. people who are most able to avail themselves of its services is that we do not sufficiently use discrimination in our listening. We have attempted times out of number to explain to listeners that broadcasting has to cover so many phases in which not an .individual, but a million listeners, have to be reached in a day's broadcasting activities. It stands to reason that a broadcasting programme will not always measure up l( expectations. When we are wanting n classic programme and arc being treated to a song scena instead, it does nefc do to immediately castigate the hrcjidcastiug programmes because our particular taste is not being catered for en that occasion. Our turn will come another time. A good plan is to treat our broadcasting programme as we do our theatrical entertainment. Before we go to a theatre we do not as a rule choose a talkie or a play haphazardly without first having ascertained something about either, so with our broadcasting. Before we listen in to an evening's entertainment it would behove us to scan the daily programme and find out what is on for our entertainment. After having selected the jlcms we want, tune into them at the limes prescribed, and tune out of them when ijicy are finished, That is the secret of the success of intelligent listening. To hear what we like gives us a pleasnraglc feeling, and broadcasting should <>;ive listeners that if we will only learn how lo use our sets with discrimination by not abusing, our ownership of them by having the wireless turned on from early morning till late at night.. According to the 8.C.C., a very much more selective use would be made of programmes if we looked at the programmes beforehand and decided what we wanted to hear. The B.C.C. stales: "ft is the common failure to exercise intelligently this privilege of selection that has kept so many intelligent people from giving broadcasting a regular and appointed place in their hours of leisure."

To be an intelligent listener capable of constructive and not destructive criticism is not hard. It requires only tho exercise of a. little thought in our*likes and dislikes in broadcasting programmes. Listen in to what we want to hear—tune out what we do not want to hear. Sibcct of Colour Lighting. Colour lighting in broodeasting studios has an important effect upon the quality of orchestral music. This is the considered opinion of well -known American musical directors. Hawaiian artists produce of their best when the lighting stimulates moonlight, amber colours being very useful for this purpose/ Bright lights, high lights, and vivid settings are the best for the perionnance of American jazz. Taken oil Ihrough, the most appropriate are neutral colours, and this is noticeable even in our New Zealand studios.