PUBLIC UTILITY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26749, 19 April 1948, Page 2

PUBLIC UTILITY

RADIO TELEPHONE SERVICE COMMUNICATION WITH MOTOR VEHICLES P.A. AUCKLAND, Apl. 16. A radio mast which has made its appearance on the summit of Mount Eden heralds a new era of telephonic communication in Auckland. It will be used by the Post and Telegraph Department for a mobile, very high frequency radio telephone service to enable public utilities to communicate with motor vehicles moving about the city. Situated on top of the mountain the mast is a 40ft self-supporting ironbark pole. The radio equipment will be contained in a box, and an underground cable linking the transmitter to the city telephone exchange has been installed. As the service grows more equipment will be needed on the mountain and it is proposed to erect a building there some time in the future. The St. John Ambulance Association. the fire brigades, power boards, and taxi proprietors are among those who have expressed an interest in a radio telephone service of this nature. With this medium ambulance headquarters, for instance, can divert a vehicle out on a call to another case in the same locality. At present drivers, on completing an assignment, have to ring in from the hospital by ordinary telephone for further instructions.

Two-way radio experiments along similar lines have been conducted for some time by the Police Department in Auckland. The equipment used has been designed by a commercial radio expert with the assistance of Constable R. A. Brien, of the Central Police Station. It is believed to have proved highly successful and already messages transmitted from stations equipped with the apparatus to patrol cars have led to the arrest of lawbreakers.