EMPIRE BROADCASTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19718, 18 August 1927, Page 15

EMPIRE BROADCASTING.

MR. MARCUSE'S PROPOSALS. EXPERIMENTAL TRANSMISSIONS. BY THERMION. The recent announcement of an importsilt step in the direction of short-wave broadcasting from England to the British Dominions by a well-known amateur, Mr. Gerald Marcuse, is referred to in numbers iust to hand of a London radio journal. It is stated the intention is to conduct experimental relays of the British Broadcasting Corporation programmes on wavelengths of 23 and 53 metres. For this purpose Mr. Marcuse's transmitter has ■ been completely rebuilt, and at the request of the Radio Society of Great * Britain permission has been granted for 4be transmissions. Commenting upon the proposal, the Wireless World states: "It is interesting to see how in this case history has repeated itself, for it was the Radio Society of Great Britain which in the early days obtained the permission from the Post ''Office which enabled the Marconi company to commence regular broadcast transnussions, thereby paving the way for the introduction of broadcasting on a bigger scale. But why should we have proceeded by stages to the establishment of .our broadcasting service in this country? The original Marconi broadcasts constituted an interesting experiment, but there was no reason why it should have ever existed. Now again there is, in our view, so serious a risk that the establishment of the experimental station of Mr. Marcuse will only be an excuse for delaying a more satisfactory project, that we might almost ■wish that* permission for Mr. Marcuse to conduct these experiments should not be granted. The very fact that the authorities seem so ready to give permission fills us with suspicion that the object is" to postpone the Empire station." New Zealand listeners, however, welcome Mr. Marcuse's transmissions, as it will undoubtedly be some considerable time before regular short-wave broadcasting is conducted by the engineers of the British Broadcasting Corporation, who ' have expressed a desire not to have such » service unless it is technically perfect. It is unfortunate that there is a time difference of almost 12 hours between England and New Zealand, and that as a result early-morning listening will be necessary to hear Mr. Marcuse's broadcasts.