NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20116, 29 November 1928, Page 5

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

A new company is being formed in England, under tho name " Wireless Pictures, r 1 /.nr 0 firm have R capital of £425,000, and business will consist of constructing and selling radio picture receivers.

Assisting Madame Humphrey Steward's party, which will make its; first appearance before the microphone at IYA next Wednesday evening, will be Miss Mavis Grevatt, styled, " the girl with the golden harp, who contributed to tbe..demonstration programme from IYA last year.

In Groat Britain and the United States architects are now giving full consideration to radio requirements in house building. Fixtures for aerials are incorporated in plans, which also show locations for receivers and a wiring system which enables loud-speakers to be shifted from room to room and plugged into wall sockets wired to the set.

Arrangements have been made by IYA which will enable the broadcasting of descriptions and results of tho Takapuna Jockey Club's meeting at Takapuna tomorrow and on Saturday. Interspersed with studio items, there will be a short description of every race, together with an announcement of tho final results.

An interesting feature in the Christchurch Orchestral Society's concert, which is to be broadcast by 3YA, Christchurch, next Wednesday evening, will be the performance for the first, time of a composition by Mr. Angus Gunfer, the society's conductor. It is a Goncertstuck in *D Minor for violin and orchestra, and the soloist will be Miss Joan Carter, one of Mr. Gunter's pupils.

" The Desert Song," which was the successor to " Rose Marie" at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, at present shares with " Rio Rita" and " The Vagabond King," the distinction of being the outstanding theatrical attraction in Australia. The second act of this musical play will be broadcast from 3LO, Melbourne, on Tuesday evening.

Ge.nis from Rizef's opera, " Carmen," sung by Madame Irene Ainslev's parly, will bo an attraction on tho programme to be broadcast from IYA on Tuesday evening. Madame Ainsley herself will sing tho role of Carmen, w'hila the other vocalists will be Miss Nancyo ilanna. Miss Mariorie Fair, Miss Treno' Frost, Mr. Lambert Harvey, Mr. Len Keven, Mr. it- C. Burr and Mr. A. E. Davies.

The Marconi Company has just received the British Broadcasting Corporation's order for the supply of two high-power broadcasting transmitters with an unmodulated aerial energy of 50 kilowatts. These stations will he 'erected at Potters Bar, near London, in pursuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation's scheme for covering the whole of Great Britain with a smaller number of broadcasting stations of a higher power than those at present in use.

A now broadcasting station is on'tho air from Sydney. It is tho old 2UW, which was sold some weeks ego to Radio Broadcasting, Ltd. Now transmitting apparatus has been installed, and after a few nights and days of testing, 2UW is now definitely on the air again using the wavelength of 267 metres. Mr. J. M. Prentice is in charge of tho announcing and programmes; to_ listeners in New Zealand ho will need no introduction. He is telling Ihe hod-time stories "on original lines"

Transmission over long land-lines has been very thoroughly tried out in the eastern States of Australia within the past few months, mainly in order to find out what may bo expected if relay stations are erected in tho inland districts. Over 4000 miles of trunk lines were used, with varying, but, on tho whole, satisfactory, results. Transmissions wore made to* Sydney from covered transmissions from Orange, Goulburn, Lismore, Windsor, Newcastle and Grafton in New South Wales, arid Richmond, Melbourne and Daudcnong in Victoria, while relays were also arranged to Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide, In some castis speech and solo music came through well, but concerted, instrumental and choral music was choked in transit, in other cases distortion and interference was met with. However, the tests showed that if amplification is correctly carried out at points en route and extraneous noises are eliminated, working over long trunks presents, no difficulty*