THE WELLINGTON RELAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20244, 2 May 1929, Page 20

THE WELLINGTON RELAY.

IS IT A PRECEDENT? Listeners in town and country had good cause to bo pleased with Sunday evening's relay.of tho Wellington band concert. To transmit a full programmo of music over '1.50 miles of telegraph wire with perfect clarity was a feat of which the telegraph nngineers and tho Broadcasting Company may well bo proud, especially as no trial run was held beforehand. Those who have had occasion to talk T?ith Wellington by telephone in years past and again more recently know well what excellent service is given by the now trunk lines. Tho concert transmission showed that they are quite equal to any in the world. This is tho moro creditablo be■cause tlio lines run over long stretches of bleak mountainous country and maintenance cannot bo easy. The transmission was simply a test, and the Broadcasting Company has nothing to say on the question whether concerts will bo relayed between main stations in the near future. Obviously it will depend on whether the telegraph Department has circuits available when required, and if so, whether it can let the company use them at a 1 rental which will make such transntissions feasible. At ordinary toll rates, «i concert an liour unci a-lialf tang would no doubt be much more cosily than a local programme. Ihe department has long been doing its'best to develop night traffic, and it is open to doubt whether it would hive circuits available on week nights as well as Sundays. . Even if tho test leads to no immediate results, it shows what'listeners can expect soma time in the future when New Zealand broadcasting has so far developed that relay networks over both islanus are financially possible.