TALKING WITH AMERICA

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 17152, 30 September 1926, Page 3

TALKING WITH AMERICA

WIRELESS AMATEURS SUCCESSFUL TESTS Fifty-three thousand rt'ords of official lest messages found their way across Hie L'aeilic Ocean during the fourteen davs of the trans-Pacific tests conducted by' the Wireless Institute of Australia and the American Radio Relay League (states the Sydney Daily Telegraph). The tests were organised to demonstrate Iho fflectiveness of present-day amateur stations in communicating over distances of 8000 or 9000 m'ilues, and also for the purpose of discovering the must effective stations in each of the Australian States. Three months have elapsed, since the start, of the tests, hut log sheets and reports continue to arrive at the institute from amateur stations in many countries. Though it has not been possible, to complete tho inoro technical deductions from the> mass of information received, it is clear that amateur radio stations were able to maintain reliable and perfect- contact across the Pacific through atmospheric conditions which were in all eases described as the worst experienced since the very short wavelengths came into general use. The chief competitive section of the tests, in which. 97 Australian stations participated, was one in which stations bad to send -an officio] test message of 500 words to an amateur station in America, and receive a similar one in the shortest possible time and with the lowest power. In this test alone our Australian amateurs handled 50,000 words with errors which could be counted 1 on tho 'lingers of one hand—a wonderful demonstration of the ability of amateur operators. The finest performances of all stations in the Commonwealth was that of 7DK, owned and operated by Trevor Wat-kins, of Hobart, Tasmania. With a transmitter using half the power oi that consumed by a household electric globe and with a simple two-valve receiver, Mr. Wat-kins sent and received message after message without an error. The leading performers in the various States were.—Victoria : 3EF. H. W, Maddicfe, Elwopd. New South Wales: 2TM, 'if. Turner. Mosnian. Queensland: 4AX. Teighton, Gibson, Greenslopes, Brisbane. PROBABLE WORLD'S RECORD. Though acting as official traffic station for the institute and not competing, station 2YI, owned 1 and operated by P. Nolan, of Bellevai'e hill, made what was probably a world's record for the reliable and' accurate working of an amateur experimental station. Mr. Nolan was responsible for sending and 1 receiving all. tho official messages concerning the conduct of the test, and, in addition, all progress reports and instructions since the tests. During the intervals be also handled 9000 'words of lest message's without a single error. Commenting on the tests in a radio message received from Hartford (U.S.A.) the officials of the American Radio Relay League said : " Reports here all call attention I" the line signals and steady wave.- ni your stations, ami compliment your operators ou splendid way they handle key. The enthusiasm arid interest of hundreds taking: part was unbounded 1 . The tests have undoubtedly been greatest success hero since the early trans. Atlantic ■communication tests." Apart from tho technical information gained the. tests have definitely proved that amateurs can handle bulk traffic with absolute accuracy across the Pacific.