A MAORI PAGEANT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19860, 2 February 1928, Page 17

A MAORI PAGEANT.

BROADCAST FROM 2YA. BX THBHMIOK. There is keen anticipation regarding the transmissions from 2YA, Wellington, on Monday and Tuesday evenings next when the Maori radio pageant descriptive of the life of the Maoris in New Zealand will be broadcast. The success which met the previous broadcast of Maori songs and Voices —that from Otaki College—gives promise to listeners of an outstanding broadcast. The programme will be backed by an account of Maori history. The programme on February 6 will extend from 8 p.m. to 10.30 p.m., and on February 7 will be repeated, starting at 11 p.m. .and continuing until 1 30 a.m. for the special benefit of overseas listeners. The programme will be relayed on both occasions through IYA. It is understood that there is also a likelihood of some Australian stations rebroadcasting the programme on Tuesday evening, the start of which corresponds with 8.50 p.m., Sydney time. The work involved in the organisation of tho particular broadcast must be tremendous, and it seems a pity that New Zealand does not possess a short- wave broadcasting station capable of making such an entertainment available to the world. ARTISTS FOR RADIO. A CIRCUIT PROPOSED. Radio broadcasting as a source of entertainment is unique in that it is necessary to provide programmes throughout the year containing different material on successive nights. Where the number of performers capable of broadcasting well is limited, as in New Zealand, it is not easy to avoid the monotony resulting from the frequent and regular broadcasting by the same artists, no matter how great their ability. To provide the desirable variety in the broadcasts it would be necessary to import talent from overseas, and the writer was interested to learn during tho course of a short conversation with Mr. W. J. Bellinghain recently, that the Broadcasting Company is alive to the possibility of organising, in conjunction with Australian broadcasting interests, a form of radio circuit. With such an arrangement, interchange of Australian and New Zealand broadcasting artists would be made possible and would assist considerably in maintaining the interest of listeners fn both countries. Owing to the huge expense involved it would, of course, be impossible for the Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand to commit itself at present to such an undertaking. As the number of licensees grows, however, a broadcasting circuit would be possible, and it should be kept steadily in mind by the Broadcasting Compariy. * TELEVISION DEVELOPMENT. FORECAST OF MARCONI. Civilisation can look forward confidently to a day when radio will transmit to theatre screens exact pictures of events being enacted simultaneously in distant places. This is the prediction of Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of wireless transmission, made in a recent interview. The inventor also forecasts that in the not distant future electrical power will be carried through the air by radio beams instead of wires. "Television already has been achieved, and its general use is close at hand—just how close I would not care to predict," says Senator Marconi. "I look for the development of television to a point where the action in a whole race course or football field can be shown at a distance I cannot foresee as a commercial possibility television in the home, but it is a possibility for theatres. "As to the transmission of power, that, perhaps, is something for which I may again be called visionary. With the concentration of the radio beam to the point of no divergence of the rays from the parallelism, I believe that in time we shall find ways to impress hiige volumes of power upon the transmitting mechanism and to receive practically all of that power over distances of perhaps twen£y miles." The inventor also advances the belief that the development of radio will preclude the building of extensive wire systems in regions not vet developed. "I do not imagin" there will be any great system of telegraph and telephone wires in undeveloped regions like Africa, Asia, South America ano Australia," he says. "Radio will servo every purpose." RADIO AND AVIATION. SOME EXPERT OPINIONS. Radio will be an important factor in ocean aviation; it isi predicted by Mr. Arthur Goebel, winner of the Dole prize for the flight from California to Hawaii. Discussing the conditions which prevailed during his flight, Mr. Goebel disclosed that he had made the entire flight under radio-beacon direction. "We would have drifted off our course very badly had it r.ot been for the radio-beacons," he declared. During a large part of the flight cloudy weather made astronomical observations impossible, and he depended entirely upon the signals coming through the headset. The system adopted in the American radio-beacons used for guiding aircraft in the Hawaiian flight is simple, but .effective. A radio path one mile wide was marked out for the fliers. In this path the code letters "A" and "N" were received with equal clarity on the aeroplane's receiving set. If the machine veered to the right the letter "N" would have blurred. If it veered to the left, the letter "A" would have likewise faded. As long as both letters were being received the fliers knew they were in the right path. Mr. B. E. Smith, a Brooklyn expert, who assisted in the design and installation of radio equipment in most of the aeroplanes undertaking recent transatlantic flights, has indicated some of their details. "I he transatlantic planes used sets with a transmitting range of 10 to 1000 miles," he said. "They are all operated on high wave-lengths, which are preferable for important operation, as it is within the range of commercial receivers." Mr. Smith explained that types of sets varied according to the specific uses required of thern, and the sv<?ighfc varied from 121b. to oOa). COMMUNITY RADIO. NOVEL ENGLISH IDEA. 'A small but active and ambitious corporation has been formed under the name of Community R;>dio. Limited, for the purpose of providing communities with l'aoio service in much the same way in which they row receive gas, water E.nd electrical supplies. It has begun its operations at St. Ann's, in the Blackpool district of Lancashire For the fee of two shillings a week, which covers all charges including Jicpnces. a cable is introduced into a subscribers house, terminating in a loud speaker, connected with the central station, and giving continuous service of a varied programme from noon to midnight. No receiving apparatus, antenna or other equipment i 3 needed by the subscriber. There are confident expectations that this simple system will come into yerj wide Jose*