RADIO NOTES

Patea Mail, Volume XLIX, 26 November 1928, Page 3

RADIO NOTES

CURRENT TOPICS. RECORD TRANS-ATLANTIC TALK. By Audiotrou. The longest and most expensive trans-Atlantic telephone call yet made since the service was inaugurated took place in September, when an American staying at the Savoy Hotel rang up a business associate in New 5 ork and spoke for 95 minutes. The conversa- ; tion cost £285. The connection urns i made about half-past nine and the talk was interrupted only by two small breaks lasting a few seconds.

WIRELESS NEWS lOR THE ARCTIC. A wireless “newspaper” has been u;ai gniated }..y ’oroadeasting station KGO, San Francisco, for the exclus.vi benolit of isolated settlers in Alaska and Arctic regions fusther north. The bulletin, which will be broadcast ever} Honday, will be a summary of world Happenings during the past week.

RADIO ANY HOUR! That a neighbour requires sleep is no reason why a wireless listener Mould switch oil' his loud speaker, even at one o’clock in the morning. This was the somewhat surprising declai alien of the judge at Camden, New ,tersev, when last month a woman complained that she and her husband were having their rest disturbed by the neighbours ’ loud speaker. Record.available go to show (hat uie Ne\ Zealand listener is much more considerate, for the welfare of his mug hour in the small hours of the morning. It would be ungracious to sug gest that this is because the New Zealand ibroa''|casfnng stations adopt more Puritan hours than those in America. PRACTICAL USE’ OF BROADCASTING.

Broadcast receivers, in addition ti the regulation wireless apparatus, will form part of the equipment on Jive new steam fishing trawlers which were recently launched at Selby, England. In their voyages to Iceland and the White Sea, the trawlers will cover a distance of 3000 miles on each trip, and the broadcast receivers arc intended to keep the men cheerful during long periods of inaction.

RADIO OLYMPIA, 1928. Lust September .saw the opening of the seventh annual British exhibition to be held in London in the interest: of The first jof these exhibitions took place in London in September, 1922, and was prior to tin official inauguration of British broad casting, although 'the experimental transmissions from Writtlo, which wore the prelude to the official activities of the British Broadcasting Company, had already served to whet the appetites of the British public for broadcasting on a more permanent and satisfactory basis. It is interesting to recall that for the first exhibition special permission had to be obtained from the Postmaster-General for halfhem' concerts to be broadcast specially for the purpose of indicating to the public visiting the exhibition what might be expected in the future of wireless sets, which it was the purpose of the radio exhibition to induce them to buy. We have much to bo thankful for the way in which broadcasting in this country was established at the onset. Had it not been for the .far-sightedness of those who were then responsible for authorising the service, the manufacture and supply of receiving equipment might have remained in the hands of a lew selected firms, with the result that to-day not ouly might prices have remained high, thus limiting the popularity of the service, but the absence of competition and rivalry which to-day exists between the linns comprising the radio industry, would have stunted development and would have undoubtedly resulted in a much less varied choice of receivers and accessories than we now enjoy. The Radio Olympia this year is the largest ever held, and no less than 277 stands have been allotted. There is a. spacious dance floor in the building, and every stand has ample room in which to effectively display radio apparatus. The show lasts a week and the exhibits are restricted to. British-made articles. GENERAL NOTES.

With the advent of summer more static must be expected, and last week proved this to be correct. However, daylight reception is not much interfered with by static unless thunderstorms are near. Weaker signals from Australian stations may be expected and 'allowing for summer time in New Zealand we should not expect to hear the Aussie’s until after dark here. Nevertheless, station 213 L has been coming in very strongly later in the evening, and 2FC at varying strength — some nights strong and others very weak. 4YA Dunedin is weak until seven o’clock, ibut 3YA, Christchurch comes in excellently, both in the afternoon and evening. 2YA, Wellington, has been distorting a lot lately.