RADIO'S DAILY SERVICES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23883, 10 August 1939, Page 5

RADIO'S DAILY SERVICES

WORLD-WIDE MESSAGES VALUE TO NEW ZEALANDERS Varied and valuable are the daily services to New Zealanders of the Post Office radio stations, although the average member of the general public may rarely have occasion to make direct use of them. The three traffic stations maintained by the department—Auckland, Wellington, and Awarua—keep the Dominion in touch with matters of importance to,the whole community. They constitute a safety service for ships, a 24-hour continuous watch being maintained so that distress signals transmitted from sea on the 600 metre band can be heard and acted upon. There have been many direct practical evidences of the value of this continuous listening service. An important contribution to the daily news supply is made through Awarua, which »icks up the British official press news direct from the British Post Office wireless station at Rugby and forwards it by telegraph to Wellington for general distribution. International affairs affecting the Commonwealth of British Nations constitute a' feature of this highly informative survey, and the messages thus received by Awarua aggregate close on half a million words per annum. Another news despatch, which Wellington radio receives once a week, comes from the League of Nations radio, Geneva, giving about 300 words relating to the general activities of the League. Once a week the Geneva station also broadcasts a short message dealing with health matters in certain P3rts of the world. This is of importance to the Department of Health, ss it may announce an outbreak of an infectious disease in some country with which New Zealand has regular communication. Precautions against the 'rtroduction of disease into the Dominion are thus made more effective oecause of the early warning over the radio. The daily weather forecasts prepared for the guidance of farmers, aviators, and New Zealanders. generally would not be so complete but for the extensive areas covered by the Post Office radio stations in the daily collection of meteorological information. At noon (ship time) every day, vessels in the Tasman broadcast reports concerning weather conditions in their locality These are picked up for the information ol the Dominion Meteorological Office 7he Wellington radio station receives daily reports on weather conditions from most of the islands in the Pacific and also the Chathams. Another source of meteorological data secured by radio is that broadcasted by the Australian Air Force station at Melbourne. A budget of about 500 words ol lNew Zealand news is broadcast daily at 10.30 p.m. from Wellington radio for the peneral benefit of ship? in the South Pacific and to Pacific radio stations which make it available to the island residents. This free news service is greatly appreciated over a very wide range from the equator down to the Chalhams.