THE RADIO WORLD

Southland Times, Issue 19291, 9 July 1924, Page 11

THE RADIO WORLD

(By “Reflex”). At the weekly meeting of the Invercargill Radio Club on Friday evening, Mr H. Macdonald will lecture on “The Construction of Small Transmitting Sets.” Since the local club commenced broadcasting, local radio dealers report that their sales have increased considerably, and the number of receiving sets in and about the city has steadily grown. Mr F. Hunter, of Wyndham, has oeen doing well with his receiving set, and has been getting Sydney frequently. On Saturday evening, for instance, he got the result of the All Black—N.S.W. test match clearly early in the evening. Up to the present 4AP has been using only gramophone records for their concerts, and with good results, the music sent out being received clearly as far north as Hawke’s Bay. A movement is now on foot to procure a piano, when the Club will put on first class programmes of vocal and instrumental items. The local Club boasts a membership of about 60, which is quite creditable. There must be many more radio fans in Invercargill, and in the interests of the hobby, a determined effort should be made to enrol as many enthusiasts as possible. Many of those who have attended lectures have been enabled thereby to greatly improve their installations, while other members of 4A.P. are always ready to help the new chum to make a start with this, tjie most fascinating of modern hobbies. Mr F. J. O’Neill, proprietor of 4YA, concert broadcasting station, Dunedin, submits the following list of concerts to be transmitted from that station: —To-night: Mrs Norman Blair, the Scotch singer, supported by leading artists; July 12, the Male Choir; July 13, sermon and choir; July 20, Third Artillery Band; July 26, Dunedin Tramway Band, with supporting vocalists. Never unscrew the caps of telephone receivers unless absolutely necessary. There is the double danger that the diaphragm may be bent, and the hair-like wire on the magnet coils broken. Crackling in the phones may be caused by a broken phone cord. After the phones have been used for some time, the fine braided wire in the cord gets broken in spots. The test for this is to shake the cord. If the noise continues with the shaking get a new phone cord. In reflex circuits where a crystal is used as detector, the volume of the signals is largely dependent upon the ratio of the audio amplifying transformers. An audio transformer with a ratio of 5 to 1 between the secondary and primary windings will give very satisfactory results, but even greater signal strength can be obtained by using a higher ratio transformer. Some aerials receive very much better in one direction than in another, and this applies particularly to long, low aerials, in which the lead-in is taken from the end of the aerial. Tests have been made recently, and it was found that an aerial not more than 100 feet in length and not less than 30 feet above the ground, has very little direction effects. In aerials where the directional effects are noticeable it usually will be found that the ' horizontal length is equal to, or more than four times the vertical height, and in constructing an aerial, fans should try to avoid such a condition. Occasionally the set screws holding the phone tips to the connections inside the receivers become loose, thereby causing either a total stoppage of the signals or a constant crackling in the phones. The remedy for this is obvious, but some fans make the mistake of tightening up the setscrews with the diaphragm from the receivers. This is one of the many things that should not be done when making the minor repairs in a set. Always use a screwdriver, unless it is the object of the operator to spoil the diaphragm or the receiver. According to the Star, a daily newspaper of Johannesburg, Transvaal, Africa, under date of March 14, N. Grant Dalton, a radio amateur of that town picked up radio broadcasting from Europe and America on the same evening. This linking of three continents was secured when Mr Dalton, using a three-tube set, picked up 2LO of London, and WGY of Schenectady, N.Y. The first Radio World’s Fair will be held in New York during the last week in September. During this week a series of trans-oceanic broadcasting tests will be made under the supervision of a committee of American experts. During the transAtlantic tests from WOR in February, 1923, Miss Edith Bennett, a well-known soprano, gave a recital which, it is claimed, was recorded as heard in 102 different countries, and went out to an audience of over 5,000,000. Miss Bennett has again l>een engaged to broadcast on September 22 and 28, and confidence is expressed by the organisers that on this occasion her voice will be heard round the world. Mi’ W. McLean, of Union street, Milton, Otago, writes that using a three-valve set on a recent Saturday night he heard KGO, Oakland, California, broadcasting from a theatre in San Francisco. The play was “King Arthur,” and Mr McLean says that the dialogue was very clear and he could hear quite plainly the chorus girls, and also the laughter of the audience. That evening KGO finished at 6.35 p.m., New Zealand time, Mr McLean also reports hearing the new Melbourne Radio Co.’s station, 3AR on 480 metres, using 150 watts power. This station, he says, announced that it is going up on higher power soon. Mr McLean states that owing to the Melbourne station’s wave-length oeing too close to the 450 metre ships’ wavelength, there was too much interference to get the music pleasantly. NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPREHENSIVE NEW ZEALAND SCHEME. If the scheme drawn up by the wireless interests of New Zealand is given effect co by legislation, the Dominion will give a lead to the world in efficiency in national broadcasting. Necessary legislation is now being perfected by the law draughtsmen, according to a Press Association wire, and a deputation representing the New Zealand Broadcasters’ Syndicate, a preliminary organisation to a company which will eventually control the whole of broadcasting throughout the Dominion, waited on the Minister of Public Works at Wellington yesterday to assure him of their support in the framing of a Bill which Is to be introduced to Parliament this session. The deputation consisted of Messrs Hope, B. Gibbons, Esmond Greig, F. W. Markman and E. A. Shrimpton (Chief Telegraphic Engineer). Mr Gibbons explained that a syndicate favoured the passage of the Bill which would give the necessary legislation to enable them to go ahead with the scheme. The proposal, he said, was based entirely on remarks made by the Minister at Dannevirke on November 20 of last year. At the present stage, operations were conducted by the New Zealand Broadcasters’ Syndicate preparatory to the formation of a general company, which it was proposed should have an authorised capital of £lO,OOO. Debentures would be issued to the value of £20,000, making a total available capital fund of £30,000, which it was hoped to be sufficient to permit the establishment of four 5,000 watt stations, one in each province. The company would consist of listeners-in, the trade, and Government representation. The Minister said that the Bill was still in the rough draft form, and when it was finalised it would be presented to Parliament. /He did not think the context as originally intended would be altered, but at the same time he pointed out that the machinery could not be perfected at the very start. •