A RADIO OCCASION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23006, 8 October 1936, Page 7

A RADIO OCCASION

PIONEER STATION'S BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY OF 4ZB The function held last evening in the studio of station 4ZB to celebrate the fourteenth anniversary of the formation of the Otago Radio Association was invested with a special significance, in that it also recalled the inauguration, in 1922, of the pioneer broadcasting station of New Zealand. There .was a large attendance, and included among those present were Dr R.. Jack, the "grand old man" of broadcasting in New Zealand, and the majority of the members of the original committee of the association. The president (Mr JR. Bruce) occupied the chair. HISTORY TRAVERSED The announcer, Mr D. Silverstone, opened the proceedings by traversing the history of the association from its formation up to the present day, and said that the committee proposed that night to re-create the history of the Otago Radio Association from its inception and tell the listeners something of the place it occupied in New Zealand broadcasting, as owner of station 4ZB, the pioneer broadcasting station of New Zealand. PIONEER OF BROADCASTING After extending a welcome to those present, Mr- Bruce said that, while there was very little doubt that 4ZB was the pioneer broadcasting station of New Zealand, there was no doubt whatever that Dr Jack was the pioneer of broadcasting in New Zealand and possibly in the southern hemisphere. Mr Bruce went on to deal with the struggle made by the members in the early days of the station to make both ends meet, and specially mentioned the assistance given by the city electrical engineer (Mr H. H. .Henderson), Dr Jack and his assistant, Mr J. Sutherland, Mr G. T. Edgar, and Messrs A. Mackie and T. Finlayson, of the testroom staff. He then introduced Dr Jack and called on him to address the meeting. THE PAST AND THE FUTURE

Dr Jack congratulated the association on having attained its fourteenth birthday, and expressed pleasure that it was still flourishing. Touching on the past history of broadcasting in Otago, he said that he always dated things from the end of 1920, prior to which enthusiasts listened in to Morse reception, which, even then, was quite fascinating. At the end of 1920, he went for a trip to the Old Country, and was fortunate enough to buy valves and a quantity of equipment left over from the war, and towards the end of the spring of 1921 these were set up at Otago University in a wireless telephony apparatus. He found it most exciting to hear speech from one 500 m to another, and on rushing to his own home near the University he was surprised to find that the reception was even stronger. After this, the transmissions were heard in Roslyn, St. Clair, and as far afield at Shag Valley, from which locality Mr Frank Bell forwarded some particularly useful data. Thus commenced the operations of the first transmitter in New Zealand or Australia to broadcast wireless telephony. The first concert was transmitted in 1922, and at that time, even in Great Britain, there were no regular broadcasts, so that everyone connected with the station received a great thrill at the time. It was interesting, too, to find about, that time such pioneers as Ralph Slade, Frank Bell, and Lawlor Shiel conducting two-way short-wave transmissions to England, and excitement ran high as from day to day fresh records were broken, So much for past history; but to talk of the future was a different matter, for if one uttered a prophecy which did not come true, then one was discredited. All one could say was what might happen in the future. There had recently been great developments in new valves, one of which, known as the electron amplifier, amplified to the extent of about 10.000 or so, and, keeping noise level down, assisted in giving better reception; Whether, when television started, as it was now about to do, there would be a gradual change to shortwave for all broadcasts, it was difficult to say, but interference would certainly be less if shorter waves were used. Television on seven metres was to begin, and transmissions of voice on the same wavelength, and if reception on such wavelengths was to be used, trial transmissions on them might be attempted as well. It was probable, moreover, that the difficulty of distance would also be surmounted. The stages of television now being gone through would not have to be passed again, so that very shortly, it should be possible to get a clear, flickerless picture, quite satisfactory to watch. Additional clearness, the transmission of colour and the procuring of a stereoscopic effect which would give depth to the pictures, would surely come, and following this, not merely the transmission of films, but actually things. It might even be possible to send a television broadcast of the best plays in London.

One noticed, Dr Jack continued, a tendency to go in for shorter and shorter wavelengths, and even now, wavelengths of 16 centimetres were being used in direction finding, objects as far away as 12 miles having been detected in this way. Among the still shorter wavelengths one might find properties as yet unknown, and then one came to the range of heat-waves which had not been investigated as closely as they might. Shorter stillwere light waves, then the waves from X-rays and from radium and similar substances, and finally, cosmic rays, which really consisted of electrified particles. These rays had rather peculiar properties. They could penetrate through thick sheets of lead and they travelled very long .distances, so that if such exceedingly short waves could be handled there was no knowing what might be done with them. Radio science seemed to be moving towards the use of shorter and shorter wavelengths, and who knew but that in the future listeners might not be able to pick up and learn with them something of the great beyond, and of the vast world beyond our own.

EARLY DAYS Mr J. Loudon, who presided over the inaugural meeting of the association, spoke briefly and congratulated the members on the success they had achieved. Mr G. T. Edgar, one of the original vice-presidents, recalled the proceedings of the early meetings, and paid a tribute to the work of Dr Jack, to whom, he said, every member of the association was under a debt of gratitude, for had it not been for his •assistance the formation of the association might have been delayed for a number of years. „.--.,« Mr J. T. Cooper and Mr R. S. Black, members of the first committee, also spoke, touching on the difficulties encountered in the early days, and the secretary, Mr D. G. Mitchell, who was also the station's first operator, introduced a novel note by giving an amusing and interesting re-creation of what was one of the earliest broadcasts to be carried out in Australia or New Zealand. A noteworthy feature was the fact that he used for the purpose the plant which was operated 14 years ago, and played over the first record to be broadcast from the station. The Government radio inspector (Mr F. O'Grady) congratulated the association on its progress, and mentioned in passing such stalwarts as Dr Jack, Messrs R. Bruce. R. T. Stedman, J. T. Cooper. D. G. Mitchell, J. Sutherland and J. Passmore. all of whom had made history in the cavalcade of broadcasting. Messrs T. K. S. Sidey, R. T. Stedman. J. J. Hayes and H. Tattersfield. announcers during the early years of the station's life, and Messrs A. Brown, G. Kerr, R. Wilson and Misses M. Thurston and M. Connelly, who have done the announcing during recent years and up to the present, also spoke a few words. The station then resumed its usual programme.- and the guests were entertained at supper by the members of the committee.